Jobava wins European Rapid Championship

GM Baadur Jobava is 2011 European Rapid Champion

The European Rapid Chess Championship 2011, under the auspices of Bronisław Komorowski – the President of the Republic of Poland and the European Parliament, was played on 17th and 18th December 2011, in The Palace of Culture and Science, Plac Defilad 1, Warsaw, Poland.

The Championship was organized by the Warsaw Foundation for Chess Development in cooperation with the Polish Chess Federation, under the auspices of the European Chess Union.

The tournament was played over 13 rounds of Swiss system with the time control of 15 minutes for a game for a player, with an increment of 10 seconds per move. A fantastic number of 729 players competed.

Grandmaster Baadur Jobava from Georgia finished clear first with 11 points after the furious finish where he won four consecutive games. Last week Jobava convincingly won the 32nd Edoardo Crespi Trophy.

There was a huge tie on the 2nd place with seven players finishing on 10.5 points. In order to determine the medal winners, quick games with 5 minutes for white and 4 minutes for black, with an increment of 1 second per move, were played.

Finally the 18-years old Russian GM Sanan Sjugirov took the silver medal, while local chess fans are happy to see GM Robert Kempiński claiming the bronze.

The total prize fund was 20,000 € + item prizes worth 2,000 €. Main prizes 16,250 € and special prizes 3,650 €. First place was 4,000 € worth.

Earlier on Friday GM Hrant Melkumyan from Armenia won the 2011 European Blitz Chess Championship.

Final standings:

1. GM Jobava Baadur GEO 2678 – 11.0

2-8. GM Erdos Viktor HUN 2623, GM Korobov Anton UKR 2660, GM Sjugirov Sanan RUS 2622, GM Kempiński Robert POL 2603, GM Movsesian Sergei ARM 2710, GM Miśta Aleksander POL 2587 and GM Olszewski Michał POL 2539 – 10.5

9-13. GM Volokitin Andrei UKR 2695, GM Shirov Alexei ESP 2705, GM Wojtaszek Radosław POL 2705, GM Bacrot Etienne FRA 2714 and IM Tomczak Jacek POL 2544 – 10.0

14-36. GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2730, GM Polgar Judit HUN 2710, GM Bartel Mateusz POL 2653, GM Bryzgalin Kirill RUS 2467, GM Azarov Sergei BLR 2667, GM Jaracz Pawel POL 2542, GM Andriasian Zaven ARM 2619, GM Bologan Viktor MDA 2665, GM Zhigalko Sergei BLR 2651, GM Naiditsch Arkadij GER 2712, GM Timofeev Artyom RUS 2659, GM Howell David W L ENG 2633, GM Gajewski Grzegorz POL 2616, FM Kovalev Vladislav BLR 2446, GM Antoniewski Rafal POL 2559, GM Riazantsev Alexander RUS 2710, IM Neiksans Arturs LAT 2502, GM Mastrovasilis Dimitrios GRE 2621, GM Nyzhnyk Illy UKR 2561, GM Dziuba Marcin POL 2589, GM Ruck Robert HUN 2579, GM Gabrielian Artur RUS 2545 and Klekowski Maciej POL 2308 – 9.5 etc