Everything is set for the European Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships 2016, which start tomorrow in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The Championships will be the main event of the Paul Keres 100 Festival, dedicated to the 100th birth anniversary of Paul Keres, Estonian Sportsman of the 20th century and often referred as “The Eternal Second” in the chess world, one of the greatest players of all time.

The event starts with the European Individual Rapid Chess Championship, which will be held on 15th and 16th December. The Rapid competition will be played according to the Swiss system, in 11 rounds, with the time control 15 minutes game + 10 seconds per move starting from the first move.

The European Rapid and blitz championship will have 581 participants, including top names as Radjabov, Wojtaszek, Zhigalko, Andreikin, Onishchuk, Ponomariov, Kovalenko, Inarkiev, Malakhov, Navara, Leko, Dreev, Vitiugov, Movsesian, etc. Scroll down for the full participants list.

The event will continue with the European Blitz Chess Championship, which will take place on 17th and 18th December. The Blitz competition will be played according to the Swiss system, in 13 paired rounds, with the time control 3 minutes game + 2 seconds per move starting from the first move.

Both Championships are open to all players representing Chess Federations which are ECU members (FIDE zones 1.1. to 1.10), regardless of their title and rating.

The total prize fund for the competitions will be €30,100 (€20,000 for the Rapid and €10,100 for the Blitz Championships).