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Matthias Blübaum started the tournament with a draw but then scored six wins in a row to become sole leader. After three draws in rounds 8 to 10 Blübaum was caught by Sargissian, and before the last round both had 8.0/10 and shared first place. However, Blübaum was first on tiebreak.
The tournament hall
In the final round Blübaum played with White against Saric and Sargissian played with White against Jaime Santos. Sargissian decided to play it safe and drew after only six moves. After this quick draw of his closest rival Blübaum knew that he needed only a draw against Saric to win the title because he had the best tiebreak of all players who could theoretically reach a score of 8.5/11.
The decisive game: Blübaum against Saric
But Saric needed to win against Blübaum to become European Champion 2022. The Croatian Grandmaster tried to reach a double-edged position by going for the King's Indian but Blübaum quickly simplified by opting for the King's Indian Exchange Variation. This soon led to a drawish endgame and though Saric tried to get chances the game was drawn after 44 moves, which gave Blübaum the title.
In this game Blübaum showed a very professional approach against the King's Indian, but in round three he went for a sharper approach against the King's Indian.
Final standings after 11 rounds
| Rk. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | ||
| 1 |
|
GM | Bluebaum Matthias | 2642 | 8,5 | 2594 |
| 2 |
|
GM | Sargissian Gabriel | 2681 | 8,5 | 2578 |
| 3 |
|
GM | Saric Ivan | 2687 | 8,0 | 2589 |
| 4 |
|
GM | Cheparinov Ivan | 2672 | 8,0 | 2585 |
| 5 |
|
GM | Santos Latasa Jaime | 2648 | 8,0 | 2546 |
| 6 |
|
GM | Yilmaz Mustafa | 2624 | 8,0 | 2530 |
| 7 |
|
GM | Ponomariov Ruslan | 2636 | 8,0 | 2523 |
| 8 |
|
GM | Durarbayli Vasif | 2628 | 8,0 | 2509 |
| 9 |
|
IM | Gadimbayli Abdulla | 2451 | 7,5 | 2637 |
| 10 |
|
GM | Iskandarov Misratdin | 2577 | 7,5 | 2631 |
| 11 |
|
GM | Guseinov Gadir | 2661 | 7,5 | 2589 |
| 12 |
|
GM | Ter-Sahakyan Samvel | 2632 | 7,5 | 2567 |
| 13 |
|
GM | Sargsyan Shant | 2639 | 7,5 | 2567 |
| 14 |
|
GM | Kobo Ori | 2510 | 7,5 | 2564 |
| 15 |
|
GM | Moussard Jules | 2630 | 7,5 | 2558 |
| 16 |
|
GM | Tari Aryan | 2653 | 7,5 | 2553 |
| 17 |
|
GM | Anton Guijarro David | 2694 | 7,5 | 2551 |
| 18 |
|
GM | Kuzubov Yuriy | 2639 | 7,5 | 2547 |
| 19 |
|
GM | Kozul Zdenko | 2619 | 7,5 | 2545 |
| 20 |
|
GM | Nesterov Arseniy | 2522 | 7,5 | 2540 |
| 21 |
|
GM | Indjic Aleksandar | 2605 | 7,5 | 2536 |
| 22 |
|
GM | Martirosyan Haik M. | 2633 | 7,5 | 2531 |
| 23 |
|
GM | Bernadskiy Vitaliy | 2606 | 7,5 | 2530 |
| 24 |
|
GM | Ragger Markus | 2647 | 7,5 | 2521 |
| 25 |
|
GM | Lagarde Maxime | 2626 | 7,5 | 2518 |
| 26 |
|
GM | Abasov Nijat | 2630 | 7,5 | 2518 |
| 27 |
|
GM | Petrosyan Manuel | 2637 | 7,5 | 2518 |
| 28 |
|
GM | Bartel Mateusz | 2616 | 7,5 | 2502 |
| 29 |
|
GM | Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo | 2594 | 7,5 | 2496 |
| 30 |
|
GM | Brkic Ante | 2607 | 7,5 | 2483 |
...317 players
The first 20 players qualify for the World Cup.
Games
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