Grandmaster Maxim Matlakov from Russia (2714) emerged winner of the 18th European Individual Chess Championship 2017 with 8,5/11 points.

The Russian scored the same points as Baadur Jobava (GEO, 2713) and Vladimir Fedoseev (RUS, 2690), but thanks to better tie-breaks he became the new European Chess Champion, while the other two won silver and bronze respectively.

Maxim Matlakov gold, Baadur Jobava silver, Vladimir Fedoseev bronze

The best ranked women players were WGM Olga Girya (RUS, 2476) and IM Elisabeth Paehtz (GER, 2474) with 6.5 points, and WGM Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS, 2470) with 6 points.

The best women players Olga Girya (RUS), IM Elisabeth Paehtz (GER) and WGM Aleksandra Goryachkina (RUS)

The best senior player was GM Zurab Sturua (GEO, 2555), the 2014 World and 2015 European Senior Chess Champion. The best players U18 were IM Haik M. Martirosyan (ARM, 2516), IM Aram Hakobyan (ARM, 2449), IM Kirill Shevchenko (UKR, 2491) and IM Alexey Sarana (RUS, 2472), all with 7 points.

Best U18 players – IM Haik M. Martirosyan (ARM), IM Aram Hakobyan (ARM), IM Kirill Shevchenko (UKR)

Final Standings

The European Individual Championship 2017 was a qualification event for the next World Cup. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 22 players qualify.  

The total prize fund was 100 000 EUR, including the special prizes.

Senior winners – GM Zurab Sturua (GEO), GM Michele Godena (ITA) and GM Ran Soffer (ISR)

At the closing ceremony, the European Chess Union was represented by Mr. Johann Poecksteiner, the ECU Board member.

Top boards of the 11th round – the crucial games in progress

The Championship was played as 11-round Swiss System tournament, with time control 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game + 30 seconds increment per move, starting from move one.

13-years old WFM Bibisara Assaybayeva from Russia achieved IM norm at the Championship

The organizers provided live broadcast of 100 boards, along with professional commentary in English and Russian, done by Evgeniy Miroshnichenko and Sergey Shipov.

One of the young stars, Russian FM Andrey Esipenko, scored 6.5 points

During the Championship, the European Chess Union organized the 3rd ECU Arbiters’ Refreshment Course, which was held from 6th to 8th July, with the attendance of 35 participants from 9 different countries. The lecturer was IA Tomasz Delega (Poland), ECU Arbiters’ Council Secretary and FIDE Rules Commission Secretary. More about the course here.

GM Sergei Zhigalko, best ranked Belarus player with 7.5 points, earned his ticket to the next World Chess Cup

The Championship took place from 29th May to 11th June in the Sports Palace in Minsk.

The event was organized by  the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus, the Ministry of Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Belarus, Minsk City Executive Committee and Belarus Chess Federation under the auspices of the ECU.

Official Website

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