The European Championship kicked off in Vrnjacka Banja

by Klaus Besenthal
3/4/2023 – The European Individual Chess Championship (EICC) started on Friday in the Serbian town of Vrnjačka Banja. Since the top half of the ratings list was paired against the lower half for the opening round, there were predominantly wins by the favourites, although there were also some exceptions to this ‘rule’. The symbolic first move in the game between Vuk Damjanovic and Gabriel Sargissian, the top seed, was made by ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili and Dragan Lazic, President of the Serbian Chess Federation. | Photos: European Chess Union

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Most favourites prevail

If you go through the boards of the first round in order, you find a favourite who was unable to win his game for the first time on board 8: Russian GM Andrey Esipenko had to settle for a draw against Azerbaijani FM Vugar Manafov.

Dmitrij Kollars, one of the four German grandmasters participating in the tournament, met the same fate. On board 35, Kollars drew against an IM from Armenia. Alexander Donchenko, Rasmus Svane and Frederik Svane won their games.

Vasyl Ivanchuk

Among the prominent grandmasters who dropped half a point against an underdog in round 1 was Ukraine’s Vasyl Ivanchuk

Gabriel Sargissian

Gabriel Sargissian, on the other hand, got the expected win on top board

The game of the day was played on board 36, where Hungarian FM Matyas Palczert (born 2007) managed to give a rapid mate attack against Polish GM Bartosz Socko.

 

Results - Round 1

Bo. No.     Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts.   Name Rtg   No. PGN
1 243
 
 FM Damjanovic Vuk 2361 0 0 - 1 0 GM Sargissian Gabriel 2699
 
 1 PGN
2 2
 
 GM Martirosyan Haik M. 2686 0 1 - 0 0 FM Hagner Bennet 2361
 
 244 PGN
3 245
 
 FM Szwed Jacek 2361 0 0 - 1 0 GM Anton Guijarro David 2685
 
 3 PGN
4 4
 
 GM Navara David 2685 0 1 - 0 0 FM Samani Yamac 2357
 
 246 PGN
5 247
 
 IM Novkovic Milan 2356 0 0 - 1 0 GM Moussard Jules 2684
 
 5 PGN
6 6
 
 GM Predke Alexandr 2684 0 1 - 0 0 IM Tadic Stefan 2353
 
 248 PGN
7 249
 
 IM Filip Lucian-Ioan 2349 0 0 - 1 0 GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw 2682
 
 7 PGN
8 8
 
 GM Esipenko Andrey 2680 0 ½ - ½ 0 FM Manafov Vugar 2349
 
 250 PGN
9 251
 
   Danov Lyubomir 2349 0 0 - 1 0 GM Gelfand Boris 2674
 
 9 PGN
10 10
 
 GM Saric Ivan 2674 0 1 - 0 0 IM Milosevic Milos 2347
 
 252 PGN
11 253
 
 IM Nyysti Sampsa 2345 0 0 - 1 0 GM Sarana Alexey 2668
 
 11 PGN
12 12
 
 GM Shevchenko Kirill 2668 0 1 - 0 0 FM Atakishiyev Elmar 2344
 
 254 PGN
13 255
 
 IM Bashirli Nail 2343 0 0 - 1 0 GM Najer Evgeniy 2666
 
 13 PGN
14 14
 
 GM Ivanchuk Vasyl 2664 0 ½ - ½ 0 FM Sahakyan Aleks 2343
 
 256 PGN
15 257
 
 FM Van Foreest Machteld 2341 0 0 - 1 0 GM Cheparinov Ivan 2661
 
 15 PGN
16 16
 
 GM Bacrot Etienne 2659 0 1 - 0 0 IM Fitzsimons David 2338
 
 258 PGN
17 259
 
 FM Adan Bermudez Sergio 2338 0 0 - 1 0 GM Grandelius Nils 2658
 
 17 PGN
18 18
 
 GM Korobov Anton 2658 0 1 - 0 0 FM Bazakutsa Svyatoslav 2335
 
 260 PGN
19 261
 
 FM Yordanov Lachezar 2335 0 0 - 1 0 GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2655
 
 19 PGN
20 20
 
 GM Santos Latasa Jaime 2655 0 1 - 0 0 FM Burcu Cagatay 2331
 
 262 PGN

...242 boards

All available games - Round 1

 
 

Replay games from all rounds on Live.ChessBase.com

Links

Klaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.