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The entrance to the European Rapid and Blitz Championships
The European Rapid championship, and the European Blitz championship just took place this weekend, December 16-18, in Warsaw, Poland. The event is singularly held under the auspices of Bronislaw Komorowski, the Polish president, as well as the European Parliament, reaffirming the prestigious status the noble game has there. The list of sponsors, led by MetLife Amplico Insurance, include a list of heavy-hitting names ranging from IBM, to local teelcommunications companies, hotels, and more. Impressive.
The playing hall with players anxious to get started
When one thinks of events such as the European Rapid and Blitz championships, the names that come to mind are invariably part of the 2700 club, and just as predictably, the top finishers are there. However, this event is one that also breaks (shatters) the barriers of rating, age, and gender, and while one will assuredly see players such as Ian Nepomniachtchi, Etienne Bacrot, Arkadij Naiditsch (who recently helped Germany win an unprecedented European Team championship), and Judit Polgar, who was third at the overall European Individual Championship earlier this year, the huge field had nearly 750 participants.
Judit Polgar, a regular participant, came 4th in the Blitz, and 15th in the Rapids
Top Polish player Radoslaw Wojtaszek took bronze in the European Blitz
The list also ranged from 84-year-old Stanislaw Szczepaniec, rated 2058, but who had a 2200 performance, all the way down to five-year-old Helena Kucharska! Note that she played in both the rapid and the blitz events, matching her 1250 rating to any and all, however, don't think for a minute think she was the only five-year-old. One last detail, she was not last in either event, or next-to-last.
A picture from the parallel children's event? There was none, this is a picture from
the main event!
Which led to scenes such as this
The European Rapid Championship, played at 15 minutes plus a ten-second increment, was won by Georgian GM Baadur Jobava, a Playchess regular, who took the title with an impressive 11.0/13 ahead of seven players tied at 10.5/13 who played a playoff to determine the silver and bronze medals. After the dust settled, Russian junior Sanan Sjugirov took Silver, and Polish GM Robert Kempinski took the Bronze.
Rk |
Name |
Tit |
FED |
Rtg |
Pts |
TB1 |
TB2 |
TB3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jobava, Baadur | GM |
GEO |
2678 |
11.0 |
100.00 |
117.50 |
10 |
| 2 | Sjugirov, Sanan | GM |
RUS |
2622 |
10.5 |
101.00 |
117.50 |
8 |
| 3 | Kempinski, Robert | GM |
POL |
2603 |
10.5 |
97.50 |
114.00 |
9 |
| 4 | Korobov, Anton | GM |
UKR |
2660 |
10.5 |
103.00 |
119.00 |
9 |
| 5 | Erdos, Viktor | GM |
HUN |
2623 |
10.5 |
104.00 |
122.00 |
8 |
| 6 | Movsesian, Sergei | GM |
ARM |
2710 |
10.5 |
94.00 |
109.50 |
9 |
| 7 | Olszewski, Michal | GM |
POL |
2539 |
10.5 |
90.00 |
106.00 |
10 |
| 8 | Mista, Aleksander | GM |
POL |
2587 |
10.5 |
91.50 |
107.00 |
10 |
| 9 | Volokitin, Andrei | GM |
UKR |
2695 |
10.0 |
102.00 |
118.50 |
8 |
| 10 | Shirov, Alexei | GM |
ESP |
2705 |
10.0 |
99.50 |
116.50 |
8 |
| 11 | Wojtaszek, Radoslaw | GM |
POL |
2705 |
10.0 |
97.50 |
115.00 |
9 |
| 12 | Bacrot, Etienne | GM |
FRA |
2714 |
10.0 |
97.50 |
114.50 |
9 |
| 13 | Tomczak, Jacek | IM |
POL |
2544 |
10.0 |
90.00 |
105.50 |
9 |
The competition was intense
One true pleasure for reporters, is the high quality photography provided by the official site
As to the European Blitz Championship, played at three minutes plus a two-second increment, the surprise winner was 22-year-old Armenian GM Hrant Melkumian, who tied first on 20.0/26with veteran Russian Alexey Dreev, and Polish star Radoslaw Wojtaszek, who has seconded Vishy Anand for the World Championship. In the playoffs between the three, Dreev took silver and Wojtaszek was bronze.
Rk |
Name |
Tit |
FED |
Rtg |
Pts |
TB1 |
TB2 |
TB3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melkumyan, Hrant | GM | ARM | 2615 | 20.0 | 182.50 | 215.00 | 9 |
| 2 | Dreev, Aleksey | GM | RUS | 2710 | 20.0 | 191.00 | 223.00 | 10 |
| 3 | Wojtaszek, Radoslaw | GM | POL | 2705 | 20.0 | 190.50 | 224.00 | 9 |
| 4 | Socko, Bartosz | GM | POL | 2635 | 19.5 | 189.00 | 223.00 | 9 |
| 5 | Korobov, Anton | GM | UKR | 2660 | 19.0 | 186.00 | 218.00 | 9 |
| 6 | Polgar, Judit | GM | HUN | 2710 | 19.0 | 182.50 | 211.50 | 8 |
| 7 | Riazantsev, Alexander | GM | RUS | 2710 | 19.0 | 181.00 | 210.50 | 9 |
| 8 | Moranda, Wojciech | GM | POL | 2568 | 19.0 | 175.00 | 205.50 | 8 |
| 9 | Jaracz, Pawel | GM | POL | 2542 | 18.5 | 177.00 | 209.00 | 8 |
| 10 | Volokitin, Andrei | GM | UKR | 2695 | 18.0 | 177.50 | 208.50 | 7 |
| 11 | Shimanov, Aleksandr | GM | RUS | 2549 | 18.0 | 176.00 | 207.50 | 9 |
| 12 | Timofeev, Artyom | GM | RUS | 2659 | 18.0 | 175.50 | 203.00 | 6 |
| 13 | Gajewski, Grzegorz | GM | POL | 2616 | 18.0 | 174.00 | 206.00 | 8 |
| 14 | Kravtsiv, Martyn | GM | UKR | 2601 | 18.0 | 166.00 | 196.00 | 7 |
LinksThe games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client and get immediate access. Or you can get our latest Fritz 13 program, which includes six months free premium membership to Playchess. |
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