European Individual Chess Championship


The European Individual Chess Championship is a chess tournament organised by the European Chess Union. It was established in 2000 and has since then taken place on a yearly basis.
Apart from determining the European champions, another object of this tournament is to determine a number of players who qualify for the FIDE World Cup and the knockout Women's World Championship.

Mode of play

The tournament is held separately for men and women as a Swiss system tournament, with a varying number of rounds. The only exception was the first Women's Championship tournament in 2000, which was held as a knock-out-tournament. As with all chess competitions, the "men's" section is in fact an open tournament in which female players may participate, but not vice versa. In 2002, Judit Polgár narrowly missed the bronze medal in the men's competition by losing a play-off match against Zurab Azmaiparashvili. In 2011, Polgar won the bronze medal in the men's competition at Aix-les-Bains, France.
Apart from the first edition in 2000, where in case of a tie the Buchholz-Rating was used as a tie-breaker, rapid-play play-off matches were used to determine the medal winners as well as the world championship qualifiers.

Controversy

There have been a number of controversies associated with the tournament:
YearVenueGoldSilverBronzePlayers/rounds
2000Saint-Vincent, Italy120 / 11
2001Ohrid, Macedonia203 / 13
2002Batumi, Georgia101 / 13
2003Silivri, Turkey207 / 13
2004Antalya, Turkey74 / 13
2005Zegrze, Poland229 / 13
2006Kuşadası, Turkey138 / 11
2007Dresden, Germany403 / 11
2008Plovdiv, Bulgaria323 / 11
2009Budva, Montenegro306 / 11
2010Rijeka, Croatia408 / 11
2011Aix-les-Bains, France393 / 11
2012Plovdiv, Bulgaria348 / 11
2013Legnica, Poland286 / 11
2014Yerevan, Armenia257 / 11
2015Jerusalem, Israel250 / 11
2016Gjakova, Kosovo245 / 11
2017Minsk, Belarus397 / 11
2018Batumi, Georgia302 / 11
2019Skopje, North Macedonia361 / 11
2020Podcetrtek, Slovenia

Results (women)

YearVenueGoldSilverBronzePlayers/rounds
2000Batumi, Georgia
32 / K.O.
2001Warsaw, Poland157 / 11
2002Varna, Bulgaria114 / 11
2003Silivri, Turkey113 / 11
2004Dresden, Germany108 / 12
2005Chișinău, Moldova164 / 12
2006Kuşadası, Turkey96 / 11
2007Dresden, Germany150 / 11
2008Plovdiv, Bulgaria157 / 11
2009Saint Petersburg, Russia168 / 11
2010Rijeka, Croatia158 / 11
2011Tbilisi, Georgia158 / 11
2012Gaziantep, Turkey103 / 11
2013Belgrade, Serbia169 / 11
2014Plovdiv, Bulgaria116 / 11
2015Chakvi, Georgia98 / 11
2016Mamaia, Romania112 / 11
2017Riga, Latvia144 / 11
2018Vysoké Tatry, Slovakia144 / 11
2019Antalya, Turkey130 / 11
2020Mamaia, Romania