The IX European Individual Chess Championship is taking place in Plovdiv, Bulgaria,
from April 21st to May 3rd 2008, with one free day, on Monday, April 28. The
tournament halls are in the Novotel Plovdiv. The championship is an 11 round
Swiss, playing time is 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest
of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one.
The total prize fund in the men's section is 92,200 EUR (first 15,000, 2nd 10,000,
third 8,000, fourth 6,500, fifth 5,500 etc.) and in the women's section 34,500
EUR (first 6,000, second 5,000, third 4,000, fourth 3,000, fifth 2,000, etc.).
According to Bulgarian law all prizes are taxable (10%).
Special rules (note especially the last one) state:
- Any player who doesn’t shake hands with his/her opponent before the
game starts (and doesn’t do it after being asked to do so by the arbiter)
or deliberately insults his/her opponent or the officials of the event, will
immediately and finally lose the relevant game.
- Players are not allowed to leave the playing venue (Playing area, Refreshment
area, Players restrooms, Smoking area) without permission of the arbiter.
Violation of this rule could be punished up to declaring the game to be lost.
- It is strictly forbidden to bring a mobile phone, not authorized by the
chief arbiter, into the playing hall. If a player’s mobile phone rings
in the playing venue during play, that player shall lose the game.
- As long as the game is in progress a player may talk only to an arbiter
or with his opponent.
- In case of pre-arranged results the chief arbiter has to decide that the
result of the respective game is 0-0.
The Championships are qualification events for the next World Cup and the next
World Championship for Women: 22 players from the men's section and 13 players
from the women's section will qualify.
Participants
We have counted 96 grandmasters in the field, with 70 in the "Super-GM"
category of 2600 rating points or higher. Compare that to the recent Russian
Team Championships in Sochi: there we had 90 GMs, with 16 sporting ratings
over 2700 (which took our breath away at the time). In Plovdiv There are 105
IMs (in Sochi there were three) and a bunch of WGMs, WIMs and WFMs. Very nearly
500 strong chess players, together with their seconds, partners, relatives,
friends – how does Plovdiv, the Bulgarian Chess Federation and the European
Chess Union do it?
Top players (2600 and higher) of 337 men |
1 |
GM Movsesian Sergei |
2695 SVK |
2 |
GM Vallejo Pons Francisco |
2684 ESP |
3 |
GM Volokitin Andrei |
2684 UKR |
4 |
GM Almasi Zoltan |
2674 HUN |
5 |
GM Nikolic Predrag |
2674 BIH |
6 |
GM Akopian Vladimir |
2673 ARM |
7 |
GM Fedorchuk Sergey |
2671 UKR |
8 |
GM Motylev Alexander |
2666 RUS |
9 |
GM Bologan Viktor |
2665 MDA |
10 |
GM Georgiev Kiril |
2665 BUL |
11 |
GM Timofeev Artyom |
2664 RUS |
12 |
GM Efimenko Zahar |
2660 UKR |
13 |
GM Roiz Michael |
2659 ISR |
14 |
GM Tomashevsky Evgeny |
2658 RUS |
15 |
GM Fressinet Laurent |
2656 FRA |
16 |
GM Predojevic Borki |
2651 BIH |
17 |
GM Areshchenko Alexander |
2650 UKR |
18 |
GM Moiseenko Alexander |
2650 UKR |
19 |
GM Ivanisevic Ivan |
2649 SRB |
20 |
GM Sakaev Konstantin |
2649 RUS |
21 |
GM Baklan Vladimir |
2647 UKR |
22 |
GM Socko Bartosz |
2644 POL |
23 |
GM Sargissian Gabriel |
2643 ARM |
24 |
GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij |
2642 UKR |
25 |
GM Beliavsky Alexander |
2641 SLO |
26 |
GM Fridman Daniel |
2640 GER |
27 |
GM Delchev Aleksander |
2639 BUL |
28 |
GM Riazantsev Alexander |
2638 RUS |
29 |
GM Mchedlishvili Mikheil |
2635 GEO |
30 |
GM Nepomniachtchi Ian |
2634 RUS |
31 |
GM Tiviakov Sergei |
2634 NED |
32 |
GM Volkov Sergey |
2633 RUS |
33 |
GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime |
2632 FRA |
34 |
GM Asrian Karen |
2630 ARM |
35 |
GM Smirin Ilia |
2630 ISR |
36 |
GM Solak Dragan |
2630 SRB |
37 |
GM Sutovsky Emil |
2630 ISR |
38 |
GM Nielsen Peter Heine |
2629 DEN |
39 |
GM Tregubov Pavel V |
2629 RUS |
40 |
GM Istratescu Andrei |
2628 ROU |
41 |
GM Khalifman Alexander |
2628 RUS |
42 |
GM Kobalia Mikhail |
2627 RUS |
43 |
GM Najer Evgeniy |
2627 RUS |
44 |
GM Rodshtein Maxim |
2626 ISR |
45 |
GM Guseinov Gadir |
2625 AZE |
46 |
GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw |
2625 POL |
47 |
GM Caruana Fabiano |
2620 ITA |
48 |
GM Miton Kamil |
2620 POL |
49 |
GM Mamedov Rauf |
2617 AZE |
50 |
GM Pantsulaia Levan |
2617 GEO |
51 |
GM Potkin Vladimir |
2617 RUS |
52 |
GM Vitiugov Nikita |
2617 RUS |
53 |
GM Kovacevic Aleksandar |
2616 SRB |
54 |
GM Petrosian Tigran |
2615 ARM |
55 |
GM Hracek Zbynek |
2613 CZE |
56 |
GM Kryvoruchko Yuriy |
2612 UKR |
57 |
GM Gurevich Mikhail |
2611 TUR |
58 |
GM Grachev Boris |
2610 RUS |
59 |
GM Kritz Leonid |
2609 GER |
60 |
GM Pelletier Yannick |
2607 SUI |
61 |
GM Galkin Alexander |
2606 RUS |
62 |
GM Golod Vitali |
2606 ISR |
63 |
GM Fedorov Alexei |
2603 BLR |
64 |
GM Gustafsson Jan |
2603 GER |
65 |
GM Kuzubov Yuriy |
2603 UKR |
66 |
GM Huzman Alexander |
2602 ISR |
67 |
GM Berg Emanuel |
2601 SWE |
68 |
GM Gajewski Grzegorz |
2601 POL |
69 |
GM Banikas Hristos |
2600 GRE |
70 |
GM L'Ami Erwin |
2600 NED |
|
|
Top players (2400 and higher) of 159 women |
1 |
GM Cramling Pia |
2539 SWE |
2 |
GM Stefanova Antoaneta |
2538 BUL |
3 |
IM Socko Monika |
2505 POL |
4 |
IM Muzychuk Anna |
2486 SLO |
5 |
GM Lahno Kateryna |
2479 UKR |
6 |
IM Danielian Elina |
2479 ARM |
7 |
GM Hoang Thanh Trang |
2477 HUN |
8 |
IM Ushenina Anna |
2474 UKR |
9 |
WGM Pogonina Natalija |
2470 RUS |
10 |
IM Cmilyte Viktorija |
2466 LTU |
11 |
IM Javakhishvili Lela |
2466 GEO |
12 |
GM Peng Zhaoqin |
2455 NED |
13 |
IM Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan |
2452 SCO |
14 |
WGM Zhukova Natalia |
2450 UKR |
15 |
IM Paehtz Elisabeth |
2449 GER |
16 |
IM Dzagnidze Nana |
2443 GEO |
17 |
IM Skripchenko Almira |
2443 FRA |
18 |
IM Ovod Evgenija |
2437 RUS |
19 |
IM Bojkovic Natasa |
2434 SRB |
20 |
IM Dembo Yelena |
2429 GRE |
21 |
IM Kovalevskaya Ekaterina |
2421 RUS |
22 |
IM Matveeva Svetlana |
2420 RUS |
23 |
IM Peptan Corina-Isabela |
2415 ROU |
24 |
IM Mkrtchian Lilit |
2413 ARM |
25 |
IM Vajda Szidonia |
2413 HUN |
26 |
WGM Melia Salome |
2413 GEO |
27 |
IM Tairova Elena |
2412 RUS |
28 |
IM Rajlich Iweta |
2411 POL |
29 |
IM Atalik Ekaterina |
2409 TUR |
30 |
IM Lomineishvili Maia |
2400 GEO |
|
Results and standings for the first two rounds will be provided here later
tonight.
Picture Gallery
Plovdiv, the second-largest city in Bulgaria (after Sofia), with a population
of 380,000
Saints Cyril and Methodius church
The two saints Cyril and Methodius were Byzantine Greek brothers born in the
9th century. They became Christian missionaries among the Slavs and are credited
with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe
the Old Church Slavonic language. The Cyrillic alphabet, which was based on
the Glagolitic alphabet, is still used in a number of Slavic and other languages.
You will know all of this if you have been paying
attention.
Plovdiv at night
The men's section in the ’Plovdiv’’ hall of the Novotel
Plovdiv
Top seed Sergei Movsesian (left), 2695, SVK, won his first round game against
*
Bulgarian GM Krasimir Rusev, 2516, convincingly in 36 moves
GM Julian Radulsky or Bulgaria, 2514, against Zoltan Almasi of Hungary, 2674
(Almasi won)
Hey, but who is behind the camera? Our photo reporter IM Dejan Bojkov, playing
in Plovdiv
The women's section of the European Individual Championships
GM Antoaneta Stefanova, second seed in the women's section (Elo 2538)
All pictures by IM Dejan Bojkov