EU Individual Open Chess Championship

Tournament hall at Liverpool's World Museum, 2008

The EU Individual Open Championship was first contested in Cork, Ireland in 2005, under the auspices of organising body, the European Chess Union (ECU). The event is open to members of chess federations within the European Union. Exceptionally, at the discretion of the organisers, guest players have also been allowed to compete; for example, when the host nation has non-EU neighbours.

The fifth championship, held in Arvier in 2010, was its last edition.

Background

The tournament has been held annually between 2005 and 2008, and again in 2010, sometimes in conjunction with the celebrations of cities awarded European Capital of Culture status. Financial backing has not been consistently high, but in the case of Liverpool 2008, the prize fund totalled £30,000, which was large enough to attract many of the EU's strongest players.

The events were run on an inclusive format, open to a range of players of varying standard, typically from Elo 1600 to 2700 or more, but unrated players are also eligible to play. Substantial prize money is awarded not just to the overall top finishers, but also to the highest finishing women and junior players. Additional prizes go to those showing the best rating improvement over the course of the tournament.

The time limits for play tended not to follow the FIDE format, but more closely resemble classical time limits, to give some assistance to players in the endgame phase.

Results

1st EU Individual Open, Cork 2005

The first European Union Individual Open Championship formed part of the programme of events celebrating Cork City's status as European Capital of Culture for 2005. Played over ten rounds, the event took place 21 March - 3 April 2005 in the Ballroom Suite of the Gresham Metropole Hotel, MacCurtain Street, Cork, Ireland. There were one hundred and fifteen participants and Hungarian grandmaster Zoltan Gyimesi won the event on tie-break from Mateusz Bartel of Poland, who drew level on points in the final round. The highest placed woman player was IM Viktorija Čmilytė of Lithuania with 6½ points.[1]

Place Player Title Rating Nationality Result
1-2 Zoltan Gyimesi GM 2602  Hungary 8½/10
Mateusz Bartel GM 2487  Poland 8½/10
3-5 Bartosz Soćko GM 2591  Poland 7½/10
Roland Berzinsh IM 2454  Latvia 7½/10
Mark Hebden GM 2521  England 7½/10
6-9 Slavko Cicak GM 2552  Sweden 7/10
Joel Benjamin GM 2554  United States 7/10
Normunds Miezis GM 2547  Latvia 7/10
Alexander Baburin GM 2523  Ireland 7/10

2nd EU Individual Open, Liverpool 2006

The second edition of the Championship took place at the World Museum, William Brown Street, Liverpool, England. Held 6–15 September 2006, the tournament entry totalled eighty-four. Going into the final round, host nation grandmaster Nigel Short was the only leading player to win, defeating Mark Hebden to capture clear first place with 7½/10. The highest placed woman player was IM Dagne Ciuksyte of Lithuania on 6½ points, repeating the achievement of compatriot Cmilyte, in the previous year's event.[2]

Place Player Title Rating Nationality Result
1 Nigel Short GM 2676  England 7½/10
2-9 Sarunas Sulskis GM 2514  Lithuania 7/10
Luke McShane GM 2614  England 7/10
Stephen Gordon IM 2443  England 7/10
Gawain Jones IM 2416  England 7/10
Luis Galego GM 2528  Portugal 7/10
Danny Gormally GM 2513  England 7/10
Klaus Bischoff GM 2533  Germany 7/10
Karel van der Weide GM 2446  Netherlands 7/10

3rd EU Individual Open, Arvier 2007

The third European Union Individual Open Championship took place June 15-24th 2007, in Arvier (Aosta Valley), Italy. There were one hundred and ten competitors and the tournament was open to the players of the twenty-seven countries of the European Union, plus four additional countries close to the host nation, these being Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. Serbian Nikola Sedlak took the contest on tie-break from local favourite Michele Godena, after both finished on 8/10. Godena was however awarded the Champion's title, due to Sedlak being a non-EU citizen. IM Cristina Foisor (ROM) was the top finishing woman player with 6½ points.[3]

Place Player Title Rating Nationality Result
1-2 Nikola Sedlak GM 2575  Serbia 8/10
Michele Godena GM 2558  Italy 8/10
3-6 Thomas Luther GM 2586  Germany 7½/10
Fabiano Caruana IM 2513  Italy 7½/10
Alexander Baburin GM 2545  Ireland 7½/10
Mišo Cebalo GM 2491  Croatia 7½/10
7-9 Sarunas Sulskis GM 2533  Lithuania 7/10
Nenad Sulava GM 2549  Croatia 7/10
Marcos Llaneza Vega IM 2455  Spain 7/10

4th EU Individual Open, Liverpool 2008

The fourth edition of the Championship saw a return to the venue of 2006—Liverpool's World Museum. Held September 9-18th 2008, during the city's reign as European Capital of Culture, there were one hundred and forty participants, from twenty member states, competing for a record prize fund. The event was won by Jan Werle of the Netherlands, the best tournament success of his chess career to date. He drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the final round, while Michael Adams, a half point behind, settled for an early draw with Emanuel Berg, thereby securing a share of second place. The women's top spot was shared between Jovanka Houska, Yelena Dembo and Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant, all on 6 points.[4]

Place Player Title Rating Nationality Result
1 Jan Werle GM 2591  Netherlands 8/10
2-4 Viktor Laznicka GM 2601  Czech Republic 7½/10
Michael Adams GM 2735  England 7½/10
Nigel Short GM 2655  England 7½/10
5-15 Alberto David GM 2568  Luxembourg 7/10
Erwin L'Ami GM 2610  Netherlands 7/10
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave GM 2681  France 7/10
Daniel Fridman GM 2637  Germany 7/10
Emanuel Berg GM 2592  Sweden 7/10
Étienne Bacrot GM 2691  France 7/10
David Howell GM 2561  England 7/10
Sergei Tiviakov GM 2645  Netherlands 7/10
Thomas Luther GM 2570  Germany 7/10
Jan Smeets GM 2593  Netherlands 7/10
Alexander Beliavsky GM 2606  Slovenia 7/10

5th EU Individual Open, Arvier 2010

The fifth edition of the championship took place 4-12 September in Arvier, Italy. There were forty-seven participants. Polish Grandmaster Pawel Jaracz took the title on tiebreak from other five players scoring 6½ points in 9 rounds, and Woman Grandmaster Monica Calzetta Ruiz from Spain was the top finishing woman with 5½ points.[5]

Place Player Title Rating Nationality Result
1-6 Pawel Jaracz GM 2543  Poland 6½/9
Sabino Brunello IM 2497  Italy 6½/9
Evgenij Agrest GM 2585  Sweden 6½/9
Lexy Ortega GM 2473  Italy 6½/9
Miguel Llanes Hurtado GM 2474  Spain 6½/9
Clovis Vernay IM 2460  France 6½/9
7-9 Sergio Estremera Panos IM 2337  Spain 6/9
Mihai Suba GM 2464  Romania 6/9
Mauro Barletta CM 2211  Italy 6/9

References

External links

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