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TOURNAMENT STANDINGS
European Championship Tournament

Ernesto Inarkiev9/11(+7 -0 =4)[games]
Igor Kovalenko8.5/11(+7 -1 =3)[games]
Baadur Jobava8/11(+6 -1 =4)[games]
David Navara8/11(+6 -1 =4)[games]
Francisco Vallejo Pons8/11(+5 -0 =6)[games]
Radoslaw Wojtaszek7.5/11(+5 -1 =5)[games]
Kacper Piorun7.5/11(+5 -1 =5)[games]
Laurent Fressinet7.5/11(+5 -1 =5)[games]
Alexey Goganov7.5/11(+5 -1 =5)[games]
Daniil Dubov7.5/11(+5 -1 =5)[games]
Nikita Vitiugov7.5/11(+5 -1 =5)[games]
Ivan Cheparinov7.5/11(+5 -1 =5)[games]
Evgeny Najer7.5/11(+6 -2 =3)[games]
Robert Hovhannisyan7.5/11(+4 -0 =7)[games]
Sergei Zhigalko7.5/11(+5 -1 =5)[games]
Mladen Palac7.5/11(+5 -1 =5)[games]
Ivan Salgado Lopez7.5/11(+5 -1 =5)[games]
Aleksey Dreev7.5/11(+5 -1 =5)[games]
David Anton Guijarro7.5/11(+4 -0 =7)[games]
Kirill Stupak7.5/11(+5 -1 =5)[games]
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu7.5/11(+4 -0 =7)[games]
Aryan Tari7.5/11(+5 -1 =5)[games]
Anton Demchenko7.5/11(+5 -1 =5)[games]
Samvel Ter-Sahakyan7.5/11(+6 -2 =3)[games]
Constantin Lupulescu7.5/11(+6 -2 =3)[games]
Olexandr Bortnyk7.5/11(+6 -2 =3)[games]
Ivan Saric7/11(+6 -3 =2)[games]
Alexander Zubov7/11(+3 -0 =8)[games]
Alexander Donchenko7/11(+4 -1 =6)[games]
Zaven Andriasian7/11(+5 -2 =4)[games]
Jan-Krzysztof Duda7/11(+4 -1 =6)[games]
Vladislav Kovalev7/11(+4 -1 =6)[games]
* (221 players total; 189 players not shown. Click here for longer list.)

Chessgames.com Chess Event Description
European Championship (2016)

Background

The European Individual Chess Championship was the 17th edition of the annual continental event that was first staged in 2000 in Italy. It started with 245 registrations, which was the lowest turnout since the 2006 event and which had been in steady decline since its peak attendance of 408 players in 2010. (1) There were twelwe withdrawals, six of whom were local Kosovars, apart from four Albanian players, and GMs Potkin and Alekseenko who withdrew before the start of the first round. Fedoseev withdrew before the start of the last round. Of the 233 participants there were 103 GMs and 28 IMs. Tournament director: Nysret Avdiu. Chief arbiter: Tomasz Delega. Number of games played: 1236.

Under the FIDE regulations, the top 23 placed players qualified for the World Cup (2017).

When

12 to 23 May 2016. Rest day: 18 May.

Where

The tournament took place at Pashtriku Hotel in Gjakova in Kosovo. (2)

Format

11 round Swiss system. (3)

Time Control

The rate of play was 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. Default time was 15 minutes for each round.

Tie breaks

Tiebreaks were applied in the following order:

1. Results of direct encounters between the tied players (applies only if all tied players have played each other)
2. Buchholz Cut 1 (the Buchholz score reduced by the lowest score of the opponents)
3. Buchholz (the sum of the scores of each of the opponents of a player)
4. The greater number of games played with black
5. The greater number of wins

Prizes

The total prize fund was EUR 120 000, distributed as follows:

Main prizes:

1st EUR 20,000 7th EUR 5,000 13th EUR 2,000 19th EUR 1,000
2nd EUR 15,000 8th EUR 4,000 14thEUR 2,000 20th EUR 1,000
3rd EUR 10,000 9th EUR 3,500 15th EUR 1,800 21st EUR 1,000
4th EUR 8,000 10th EUR 3,000 16th EUR 1,600 22nd EUR 1,000
5th EUR 7,000 11th EUR 2,500 17th EUR 1,400
6th EUR 6,000 12th EUR 2,000 18th EUR 1,200

Other prizes:

There were also ten prizes worth a total of EUR 5,500 for best performances above rating and five prizes totaling EUR 4,500 for the best results for seniors who turned 50 or more in 2016. There were also ten additional prizes of EUR 1,000 each to ACP premium members who didn't win a higher prize in the championship.

Comments

The first round produced no significant surprises, although Kryvoruchko, Sargissian and Howell drew their games with much lower rated opponents. Results almost invariably went with rating. 107 players won their first round games, nine others won by default, and there was one bye. There did not seem to be any women in the field.

The second round also had few surprises, although top seed Navara drew with #62 seed Hracek (2598) while #70 seed Ante Brkic defeated #13 seed Ivan Cheparinov. Thirty players finished the round with wins to stand on 2/2.

Round three saw further winnowing, with nine players registering their third consecutive wins, all of whom were rated over 2600 apart from Parligras (2599) and Sturua (2548).

Round four thinned the herd even further, with six players falling away from the lead after losses and draws. The three players on 4/4 were Wojtaszek, Inarkiev and Jobava. 231 players remained in the event.

Round five failed to produce any players winning their fifth game. The three leaders all drew, while Navara and Saric from the chasing pack won their games to join (or rejoin in the case of Navara) the lead. There were now five players on 4.5/5. Three players, all Kosovar locals, remain on zero.

Round six saw a lone leader for the first time, with Croatian GM Saric winning his game against Matlakov. His standing at the end of this round was sole first with 5.5/6, with a chasing pack of five players on 5/6, including the other four from round five with Kovalenko moving up into shared second following his win with Black against Parligras. Only one player, a Kosovar junior, had yet to get off the mark.

In round seven, Inarkiev beat Saric, and Navara beat Jobava to share the joint lead with 6/7. Saric fell back to the chasing pack of six players on 5.5/6. The local junior remained on zero. 228 players remained in the event.

Round eight saw a sharp tactical battle between Navara and Inarkiev for the lead in the event, with Inarkiev emerging as the winner of the game and sole leader at this point in the championship with 7/8 and a superb TPR of 2948. Navara (6/8) fell behind the chasing pack of Wojtaszek, Kovalenko and Goganov who were in joint second with 6.5/8.

Round nine and Inarkiev consolidated his sole lead with a win over Kovalenko who made a couple of blunders in the endgame. Inarkiev now led the event with 8/9, a point ahead of Wojtascek and Goganov on 7/9. One player in the field was still to get off the mark.

The penultimate round yielded the predictable number of draws as players standing to qualify for the World Cup sought to defend their potentially qualifying placements thus far. Nine of the top twelve games were drawn, including Inarkiev's game against Goganov (with Inarkiev retaining his full point lead over the field). The exceptions were Kovalenko's win against Fressinet, Nisipeanu's win over Khismatullin and Dreev's win over Yilmaz. The qualifiers will come from the large group of players who finish the event with seven points or more. However, as players standing on 6.5 or 7 points were placed 5th through to 42nd on placement, there was considerable tension leading into the last round, especially on the twenty one players with 6.5 points currently located at 21st to 42nd on the standings.

Ernesto Inarkiev drew with Piorun in the 11th and final round to become the 17th European Champion, scoring 9/11 and taking clear first place by half a point from outright second-placed Igor Kovalenko of Latvia. They, and the next 21 players from the event qualified for the World Cup (2017).

(1) Wikipedia article: European Individual Chess Championship; (2) https://www.google.com.au/maps/plac... & Wikipedia article: Gjakova; (3) Wikipedia article: Swiss-system tournament

Official site

https://web.archive.org/web/2016052...

Regulations

https://web.archive.org/web/2016052...

Complete results and standings

http://chess-results.com/tnr206558....

Previous: European Championship (2015). Next: European Championship (2017). See also European Championship (Women) (2016)

 page 1 of 25; games 1-25 of 617  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. Navara vs M Agopov 1-0222016European ChampionshipB84 Sicilian, Scheveningen
2. O Kanmazalp vs Wojtaszek 0-1382016European ChampionshipB53 Sicilian
3. Vitiugov vs M Erdogdu  1-0292016European ChampionshipD30 Queen's Gambit Declined
4. V Korchmar vs Ponomariov 0-1302016European ChampionshipA63 Benoni, Fianchetto, 9...Nbd7
5. F Vallejo Pons vs N Getz 1-0402016European ChampionshipC53 Giuoco Piano
6. M Codenotti vs M Ragger  0-1322016European ChampionshipB22 Sicilian, Alapin
7. M Matlakov vs M Yilmazyerli 1-0452016European ChampionshipA04 Reti Opening
8. V Dragnev vs Fressinet  0-1412016European ChampionshipB33 Sicilian
9. Kryvoruchko vs B Thorfinnsson  ½-½362016European ChampionshipC55 Two Knights Defense
10. N Birnboim vs J L Hammer 0-1552016European ChampionshipC03 French, Tarrasch
11. D Kerigan vs E Inarkiev 0-1202016European ChampionshipB40 Sicilian
12. I Cheparinov vs U Atakisi  1-0542016European ChampionshipD17 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
13. A Fejzullahu vs V Fedoseev 0-1262016European ChampionshipB15 Caro-Kann
14. S Nazarko vs K Piorun 0-1492016European ChampionshipA88 Dutch, Leningrad, Main Variation with c6
15. A Korobov vs A Ermeni  1-0272016European ChampionshipD34 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
16. N Saraci vs D Howell  ½-½212016European ChampionshipC11 French
17. P Makoli vs V Laznicka 0-1412016European ChampionshipB84 Sicilian, Scheveningen
18. Areshchenko vs S Smolin  1-0272016European ChampionshipB06 Robatsch
19. A Moiseenko vs J Lind  1-0272016European ChampionshipE81 King's Indian, Samisch
20. S Tifferet vs Dreev  0-1312016European ChampionshipA06 Reti Opening
21. E Postny vs N Sahitaj  1-0462016European ChampionshipE90 King's Indian
22. S Salihu vs Jobava 0-1422016European ChampionshipA48 King's Indian
23. M Bartel vs M Xheladini 1-0252016European ChampionshipA40 Queen's Pawn Game
24. B Sadiku vs Saric 0-1262016European ChampionshipA06 Reti Opening
25. N Grandelius vs K Vebic  1-0302016European ChampionshipA14 English
 page 1 of 25; games 1-25 of 617  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 4 OF 4 ·  Later Kibitzing>
May-23-16  et1: BUNA - I agree absolutely Adriekin must be the fifth player in the Russian team. But I am not sure if teams have 5 or 6 players. If there is a sixth player Inarkiev could be the one. Thank you.
May-23-16  twinlark: <notyetagm: Top 23 wins invitations to the 2017 World Cup>

Navara and possibly Wojtaszek might make it into the World Cup on the basis of ratings. If that is the case, then Ter-Sahakyan and Lupulescu might still qualify.

May-23-16  cro777: Without supporters, where would the winners be?

http://www.universodelajedrez.com/w...

May-24-16  Eyal: <twinlark: <notyetagm: Top 23 wins invitations to the 2017 World Cup> Navara and possibly Wojtaszek might make it into the World Cup on the basis of ratings. If that is the case, then Ter-Sahakyan and Lupulescu might still qualify.>

Yeah - and amomg the top 23 Vitiugov might qualify by rating as well; maybe even Inarkiev, if he manages to keep his new high rating (in such a case even Saric, with the best tiebreak among those who finished with 7 points, would qualify). Something to remember here is that several high rated players would qualify as semi-finalists of the previous World Cup (Svidler, Giri, Eljanov; and Karjakin probably won't participate in the next World Cup, since he's already qualified for the next Candidates even if he loses the match with Carlsen) - which should "vacate" a few rating spots.

<Without supporters, where would the winners be?

http://www.universodelajedrez.com/w...>

That's a photo from 2011 - there's an update...

https://twitter.com/katya_sekenova/...

May-24-16  PhilFeeley: I hope Saric gets a spot. He had an absolutely miserable second half, going 1.5/5, after leading at the half way point.
May-24-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  PawnSac: < znsprdx: @<CG>WHY is equal 2nd Goganov (Aleksey) not shown on your leader board - I asked earlier today

sonia91: <znsprdx> cg.com doesn't read kibitzing boards, you should either submitt a <correction slip> (link at the bottom of every page) or post in the chessgames.com chessforum >

I suspect part of the problem is CG does not have all of Goganov's games. In his personal game library I counted only 8 of the 10 tourney games.

May-25-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  alexmagnus: Ratings are not the first, but the last qualification criterium. Not people qualifying by ratings move down the ECC spots, but people qualifying via ECC move down rating spots.
May-25-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  Tabanus: <PhilFeeley: I hope Saric gets a spot.>

Saric is out. As I understand it, the 23 first on this list (incl. 16-year-old Aryan Tari) qualified: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr206..., + see <twinlark>'s post.

May-25-16  Eyal: For those who try to qualify for the World Cup there's also next year, btw. Actually, in this regard the situation of those who play in the second (odd-year) European Championship of the cycle is somewhat more convenient, since then they might benefit from the "double qualification" of players who already did it in the previous (even) year. For example, last year (http://chess-results.com/tnr157274....) no less than 6 of those who finished in the top-23 (Navara, Eljanov, Motylev, Smirin, Cheparinov, Sargissian) already qualified in 2014, so even no. 29 - with 7 points - got to qualify.
May-25-16  sonia91: <alexmagnus> From http://www.fide.com/FIDE/handbook/W...:

<Regulations for the FIDE World Chess Cup 2015

3. 1. Qualifiers - There are 128 qualifiers (in order of priority): World Champion + four (4) semi-finalists from the World Cup 2013, Women's World Champion, World Junior U-20 Champions 2013 & 2014, eighteen (18) rated players as described in 3.1.2, ninety (92) players from Continental Championships, the one (1) highest-placed participant of the ACP Tour who has not qualified with the previous criteria, two (2) FIDE President nominees, four (4) organiser nominees , three (3) qualifiers from FIDE-approved internet events. If there are no internet events, the spot(s) will be decided by the FIDE President after consulting the WCOC.
3. 1. 1. Replacements - World Champion, semi-finalists of the World Cup 2013, Women's World Champion, World Junior U-20 Champions and rated players can be replaced only from the average rating list. Continental and Zonal qualifiers will be replaced from their respective events, except that in the Zonal Tournament, the replacement must have scored 50% or more in the Zonal event. Otherwise the place passes to the Continental Championship. The average rating list has priority if a player qualifies either from the rating list or a zonal/continental event.
>

May-25-16  PhilFeeley: <Tabanus> Yes, I know the regs about the top 23. But as <eval> wrote, some already qualified by rating, etc., so it's possible Saric squeaked in. Is there anywhere that lists those who can go to the World Cup or is that not determined until later?
May-25-16  PhilFeeley: On another note, Hammer got hammered (couldn't resist). Ranked 10th, he came in at #82, with only 6 point.
May-25-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  OhioChessFan: Excuse me, didn't you use to be Ruslan Ponomariov?
May-26-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  alexmagnus: <sonia91> looks like they changed the rules in the last decade. I mean, the only non-rating-qualified winner of the World Cup - Aronian in 2005 - had a high rating but still counted as qualified via ECC 2004
May-26-16  waustad: The women's version of this starts today in Roumania.
May-26-16  Eyal: According to the regulations quoted by <sonia91>, rating should indeed have priority over the European Championship (as a "Continental Championship") when it comes to qualification - but I checked what happened in the recent World Cup, and in practice it's actually the other way around; the Championship has priority.

Looking at the rating list for the recent World Cup (http://www.fide.com/component/conte...), one can see that qualifiers according to rating went all the way down to no.26 in that list (Harikrishna), even though there were only 19 qualifying spots (18 + 1 replacement for the world champion); that's because Anand didn't participate, Kramnik & MVL qualified as semi-finalists of the previous World Cup, and three players - Jakovenko, Wojtaszek & Eljanov - qualified from the European Championship of 2014.

(A full list of the qualified players with the criteria for qualification can be seen here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess...)

May-26-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  alexmagnus: Talking about priorities, ratings and zonals, things get even weirder if the player if eligible for multiple zonals (as some zonals are national championships (US and Indian championships come to mind), some continental (actually IIRC all continental championships have zonal status), and some simply zonal tournaments with no championship status). Which zonal counts "first"?!
May-26-16  waustad: Today is the organizational stuff and opening. Games begin tomorrow in Roumania.
May-30-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  Tabanus: "Tournament standings" per May 30 (2016):

S Zhigalko vs M Gal, 2016 should be 1-0, and of the 23 qualifiers (to World Cup), Piorun, Dubov, Najer, Guijarro and Demchenko has 10 games, Goganov 9 games, Tari and Stupak 8 games, and Palac 7 games.

May-30-16  sonia91: <Tabanus> Dubov and Najer got a free point in round 1 because their opponents didn't show up: http://chess-results.com/tnr206558....
May-30-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  Tabanus: <sonja91> Ok. So only 15 missing games of the 23 qualifiers!
May-30-16  zanzibar: <TWIC> has 618 games vs. <CG>'s 617.

Hmmm...

http://theweekinchess.com/chessnews...

Jun-08-16  sonia91: <Eyal> I read again the regulations of the 2015 World Cup:

<3. 1. 1. [...]
In the exceptional case that the zonal/continental event is organized before the publishing of the January 2015 rating list, then the zonal/continental event has priority over the average rating list for qualifying purposes.>

Sep-15-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  Tabanus: I edited standings for the 73 players with 6.5 points and more. One more wrong game result found (slip sent).

Which game? That's a CG secret ;)

Jan-03-18  WorstPlayerEver: I bet there are a lot of computer moves in Ernesto's games ;)
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