Armenian chess players to participate in Individual Speedway European Championship

PanARMENIAN.Net - At the 10th European Individual Chess Championship due on March 6-18, 2009, Budva, Montenegro, Armenia will be represented by 7 chess players, including 2008 Olympic champions Vladimir Hakobyan, Tigran Petrosyan, Artashes Minasyan, Armenia's champion Arman Pashikyan, grand masters Tigran Kotangyan, Zaven Andreasyan and the international master Arthur Chibukhchyan.

So far, the Armenian chess players showed no outstanding results in this tournament. Only Levon Aronian won the 3rd place in 2004 and 2005, and Sergaey Movsisyan, the Armenian Chess player, representing Slovakia, won a silver medal last year.



The European Championship is open to all players representing the Chess Federations which comprise the European Chess Union regardless of their title or rating. There is also no limit of participants per federation.



This year European Individual Chess Championship will host 310 chess players. The opening ceremony will be held on March 5.

The championship will be 11 rounds, played in the Swiss system in accordance with the ECU Tournament Rules and FIDE Laws of Chess.

The playing time will be 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.



The first tour kicks off on March 6, with tournaments days from March 6-17 and a day off on Mar. 18.



The prize fund is euro 120 000:1st prize - euro 15 000, 2nd prize - euro 12 000, 3rd prize - euro 10 000.





The Individual European Championship 2009 is qualification event for the next World Cup. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 22 players will qualify.





The first unofficial European Championship was held in Munich from Sep. 14-26, 1942 and organized by the president of German Chess Union Edhardt Post.

Under wartime conditions, Jewish chess players, as well Germany's adversaries were not included in the list of participants.



The 1st official Individual European Chess Championships took place in Saint Vincent Jul. 3-14, 2000.

During 2000-2008 the Individual Championship was held in Macedonia, Georgia, Turkey (in 2003, 2004, 2006), Poland, Germany and Bulgaria.