The European Individual Chess Championship is a chess tournament organised by the European Chess Union . It was established in 2000 and has since then taken place on a yearly basis.
Apart from determining the European champions (open and women's), another objective of this tournament is to determine a number of players who qualify for the FIDE World Cup and the FIDE Women's World Cup (formerly the knockout Women's World Championship ).
View of the tournament hall from the Open (Zegrze) 2005 event
The European Individual Championship consists of two separate tournaments , an open event and a women's event, held at different times of the year and hosted in different cities. Both are Swiss system tournaments , with a varying number of rounds. Historically, the only exception to this was the first Women's Championship tournament in 2000, which was held as a knockout tournament.
Apart from the first edition in 2000, where in case of a tie the Buchholz rating was used as a tie-breaker, rapid play playoff matches are used to determine the medal winners as well as the world championship qualifiers.
There have been a number of controversies associated with the tournament:
At most venues, participants and accompanying persons have been obliged to stay at the "official hotel", appointed by the local organizers. The room rates for participants, however, have been significantly higher than for other hotel guests.[ 1] [ 2] ACP in 2003. Also the standard of the hotels as well as of the food has been a focus of complaints by players and journalists.
As the European Championships are part of the FIDE World Championship cycle, starting with the 2001 edition, the new, faster FIDE time control was used. This led to many complaints by the participants about increased stress, incessant time trouble and a steep deterioration of the quality of the games.[ 3] [ 4]
Year
Venue
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Players/rounds
2000
Saint-Vincent , Italy
Pavel Tregubov (RUS )
Aleksej Aleksandrov (BLR )
Tomasz Markowski (POL )
120 / 11
2001
Ohrid , Macedonia
Emil Sutovsky (ISR )
Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR )
Zurab Azmaiparashvili (GEO )
203 / 13
2002
Batumi , Georgia
Bartłomiej Macieja (POL )
Mikhail Gurevich (BEL )
Sergey Volkov (RUS )
101 / 13
2003
Silivri , Turkey
Zurab Azmaiparashvili (GEO )
Vladimir Malakhov (RUS )
Alexander Graf (GER )
207 / 13
2004
Antalya , Turkey
Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR )
Predrag Nikolić (BIH )
Levon Aronian (GER )
74 / 13
2005
Zegrze , Poland
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (ROU )
Teimour Radjabov (AZE )
Levon Aronian (ARM )
229 / 13
2006
Kuşadası , Turkey
Zdenko Kožul (CRO )
Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR )
Kiril Georgiev (BUL )
138 / 11
2007
Dresden , Germany
Vladislav Tkachiev (FRA )
Emil Sutovsky (ISR )
Dmitry Jakovenko (RUS )
403 / 11
2008
Plovdiv , Bulgaria
Sergei Tiviakov (NED )
Sergei Movsesian (SVK )
Sergey Volkov (RUS )
323 / 11
2009
Budva , Montenegro
Evgeny Tomashevsky (RUS )
Vladimir Malakhov (RUS )
Baadur Jobava (GEO )
306 / 11
2010
Rijeka , Croatia
Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS )
Baadur Jobava (GEO )
Artyom Timofeev (RUS )
408 / 11
2011
Aix-les-Bains , France
Vladimir Potkin (RUS )
Radosław Wojtaszek (POL )
Judit Polgár (HUN )
393 / 11
2012
Plovdiv , Bulgaria
Dmitry Jakovenko (RUS )
Laurent Fressinet (FRA )
Vladimir Malakhov (RUS )
348 / 11
2013
Legnica , Poland
Alexander Moiseenko (UKR )
Evgeny Alekseev (RUS )
Evgeny Romanov (RUS )
286 / 11
2014
Yerevan , Armenia
Alexander Motylev (RUS )
David Antón Guijarro (ESP )
Vladimir Fedoseev (RUS )
257 / 11
2015
Jerusalem , Israel
Evgeniy Najer (RUS )
David Navara (CZE )
Mateusz Bartel (POL )
250 / 11
2016
Gjakova , Kosovo
Ernesto Inarkiev (RUS )
Igor Kovalenko (LAT )
Baadur Jobava (GEO )
245 / 11
2017
Minsk , Belarus
Maxim Matlakov (RUS )
Baadur Jobava (GEO )
Vladimir Fedoseev (RUS )
397 / 11
2018
Batumi , Georgia
Ivan Šarić (CRO )
Radosław Wojtaszek (POL )
Sanan Sjugirov (RUS )
302 / 11
2019
Skopje , North Macedonia
Vladislav Artemiev (RUS )
Nils Grandelius (SWE )
Kacper Piorun (POL )
361 / 11
2021
Reykjavík , Iceland
Anton Demchenko (RUS )
Vincent Keymer (GER )
Alexey Sarana (RUS )
180 / 11
2022
Brežice , Slovenia
Matthias Blübaum (GER )
Gabriel Sargissian (ARM )
Ivan Šarić (CRO )
317 / 11
2023
Vrnjačka Banja , Serbia
Alexey Sarana (FIDE )
Kirill Shevchenko (ROU )
Daniel Dardha (BEL )
484 / 11
2024
Petrovac , Montenegro
Aleksandar Inđić (SRB )
Daniel Dardha (BEL )
Frederik Svane (GER )
388 / 11
2025
[ 5]
2026
[ a]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the 2020 European Championship in Podčetrtek , Slovenia was postponed to 2022.[ 6]
Year
Venue
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Players/rounds
2000
Batumi , Georgia
Natalia Zhukova (UKR )
Ekaterina Kovalevskaya (RUS )
Maia Chiburdanidze (GEO ) Tatiana Stepovaya-Dianchenko (RUS )
32 / K.O.
2001
Warsaw , Poland
Almira Skripchenko (MDA )
Ekaterina Kovalevskaya (RUS )
Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (GEO )
157 / 11
2002
Varna , Bulgaria
Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL )
Lilit Mkrtchian (ARM )
Alisa Galliamova (RUS )
114 / 11
2003
Silivri , Turkey
Pia Cramling (SWE )
Viktorija Čmilytė (LTU )
Tatiana Kosintseva (RUS )
113 / 11
2004
Dresden , Germany
Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS )
Peng Zhaoqin (NED )
Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL )
108 / 12
2005
Chișinău , Moldova
Kateryna Lahno (UKR )
Nadezhda Kosintseva (RUS )
Yelena Dembo (GRE )
164 / 12
2006
Kuşadası , Turkey
Ekaterina Atalik (TUR )
Tea Bosboom-Lanchava (NED )
Lilit Mkrtchian (ARM )
96 / 11
2007
Dresden , Germany
Tatiana Kosintseva (RUS )
Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL )
Nadezhda Kosintseva (RUS )
150 / 11
2008
Plovdiv , Bulgaria
Kateryna Lahno (UKR )
Viktorija Čmilytė (LTU )
Anna Ushenina (UKR )
157 / 11
2009
Saint Petersburg , Russia
Tatiana Kosintseva (RUS )
Lilit Mkrtchian (ARM )
Natalia Pogonina (RUS )
168 / 11
2010
Rijeka , Croatia
Pia Cramling (SWE )
Viktorija Čmilytė (LTU )
Monika Soćko (POL )
158 / 11
2011
Tbilisi , Georgia
Viktorija Čmilytė (LTU )
Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL )
Elina Danielian (ARM )
158 / 11
2012
Gaziantep , Turkey
Valentina Gunina (RUS )
Tatiana Kosintseva (RUS )
Anna Muzychuk (SLO )
103 / 11
2013
Belgrade , Serbia
Hoang Thanh Trang (HUN )
Salome Melia (GEO )
Lilit Mkrtchian (ARM )
169 / 11
2014
Plovdiv , Bulgaria
Valentina Gunina (RUS )
Tatiana Kosintseva (RUS )
Salome Melia (GEO )
116 / 11
2015
Chakvi , Georgia
Natalia Zhukova (UKR )
Nino Batsiashvili (GEO )
Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS )
98 / 11
2016
Mamaia , Romania
Anna Ushenina (UKR )
Sabrina Vega (ESP )
Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL )
112 / 11
2017
Riga , Latvia
Nana Dzagnidze (GEO )
Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS )
Alisa Galliamova (RUS )
144 / 11
2018
Vysoké Tatry , Slovakia
Valentina Gunina (RUS )
Nana Dzagnidze (GEO )
Anna Ushenina (UKR )
144 / 11
2019
Antalya , Turkey
Alina Kashlinskaya (RUS )
Marie Sebag (FRA )
Elisabeth Pähtz (GER )
130 / 11
2021
Iași , Romania
Elina Danielian (ARM )
Yuliia Osmak (UKR )
Oliwia Kiołbasa (POL )
117 / 11
2022
Prague , Czech Republic
Monika Soćko (POL )
Gunay Mammadzada (AZE )
Ulviyya Fataliyeva (AZE )
123 / 11
2023
Petrovac , Montenegro
Meri Arabidze (GEO )
Oliwia Kiołbasa (POL )
Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (POL )
136 / 11
2024
Rhodes , Greece
Ulviyya Fataliyeva (AZE )
Nataliya Buksa (UKR )
Lela Javakhishvili (GEO )
182 / 10
^ Israel was awarded the 2024 Championship, but it was moved due to the Israel-Hamas war . Israel was instead offered to host the 2026 edition.
^ Krasenkow, Michal , "Youth on top in Batumi", New in Chess Magazine OCLC 20735159 ^ Geuzendam, Ten; Jan, Dirk, "New in Chess Magazine OCLC 20735159 ^ Tischbierek, Raj, "Himmelhoch jauchzend, zu Tode betrübt", Schach , vol. 2001, no. 7, pp. 4–31, ISSN 0048-9328 ^ Van Wely, Loek , "Sometimes the King Wore no Clothes", New in Chess Magazine OCLC 20735159 ^ ECU (25 September 2024). "Communique of the ECU Board Meeting and ECU General Assembly 2024 – CL No3/2024" . European Chess Union . Retrieved 29 September 2024 . ^ "EICC 2020 – European Individual Chess Championship 2020" . Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2020 .
For complete tables / results, refer to The Week in Chess website:
