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 (open and women's), another objective of this tournament is to determine a number of players who qualify for the FIDE World Cup and the FIDE Women's World Cup (formerly the knockout Women's World Championship).
The European Individual Championship consists of two separate tournaments, an open event and a women's event, held at different times of the year and hosted in different cities. Both are Swiss system tournaments, with a varying number of rounds. Historically, the only exception to this was the first Women's Championship tournament in 2000, which was held as a knockout tournament.
Apart from the first edition in 2000, where in case of a tie the Buchholz rating was used as a tie-breaker, rapid play playoff matches are used to determine the medal winners as well as the world championship qualifiers.
There have been a number of controversies associated with the tournament:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 European Championship in Podčetrtek, Slovenia was postponed to 2022. [5]
Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally the title can be revoked for cheating.
Judit Polgár is a Hungarian chess grandmaster, widely regarded as the strongest female chess player of all time. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, at the time the youngest to have done so, breaking the record previously held by former world champion Bobby Fischer. She was the youngest player ever to break into the FIDE top 100 players rating list, ranking No. 55 in the January 1989 rating list, at the age of 12.
Nigel David Short is an English chess grandmaster, columnist, coach and commentator who has been the FIDE Director for Chess Development since September 2022. Short earned the title of grandmaster at the age of 19 and was ranked third in the world by FIDE from July 1988 to July 1989. In 1993, he became the first English player to play a World Chess Championship match, when he qualified to play Garry Kasparov in the PCA world championship in London, where Kasparov won 12½ to 7½.
Michael Adams is an English chess grandmaster and is an eight-time British Chess Champion. His highest ranking is world No. 4, achieved several times from October 2000 to October 2002. His peak Elo rating is 2761, the highest achieved by an English chess player.
Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk is a Russian and Swiss chess grandmaster who was the Women's World Chess Champion from 2008 to 2010 and Women's World Rapid Chess Champion in 2021. She was European women's champion in 2004 and a two-time Russian Women's Chess Champion. Kosteniuk won the team gold medal playing for Russia at the Women's Chess Olympiads of 2010, 2012 and 2014; the Women's World Team Chess Championship of 2017; and the Women's European Team Chess Championships of 2007, 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2017; and the Women's Chess World Cup 2021. In 2022, due to sanctions imposed on Russian players after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she switched federations, and as of March 2023 she represents Switzerland.
Koneru Humpy is an Indian chess player best known for winning the FIDE Women's rapid chess championship in 2019. In 2002, she became the youngest woman ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster (GM) at the age of 15 years, 1 month, 27 days, beating Judit Polgár's previous record by three months. In October 2007, Humpy became the second female player, after Polgár, to exceed the 2600 Elo rating mark, being rated 2606.
Antoaneta Stefanova is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster and Women's World Champion from 2004 to 2006. She has represented Bulgaria in the Chess Olympiad in 2000 and the Women's Chess Olympiad since 1992.
Xu Yuhua is a Chinese chess grandmaster and former Women's World Champion (2006–2008). She was China's third women's world chess champion after Xie Jun and Zhu Chen. She has been followed by Chinese women's world chess champions Hou Yifan, Tan Zhongyi, and Ju Wenjun.
Nino Khurtsidze was a Georgian chess player. She was awarded the FIDE titles of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) in 1993 and International Master (IM) in 1999. She won the World Girls U-20 Chess Championship in 1993 and 1995. Khurtsidze also won the World Girls U-16 Chess Championship of 1991 in Guarapuava, Brazil, the European U-20 Girls Championship in 1992, the Men's Georgian Chess Championship in 1998 and the women's Georgian championship five times.
Hou Yifan is a Chinese chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion and the second highest rated female player of all time. A chess prodigy, she was the youngest female player ever to qualify for the title of grandmaster and the youngest ever to win the Women's World Chess Championship.
The Asian Chess Championship is a chess tournament open to all players from Asian chess federations. It's held with the Swiss system and consists in two divisions, Open and Women's, the latter of which is reserved to female players. Both sections determine the Asian champions and qualify a certain number of players for the FIDE World Cup and knockout Women's World Chess Championship respectively. The Championship is regulated by the Asian Chess Federation.
The Pan American Chess Championship, also American Continental Championship is an individual chess tournament organized since 1945. It is often a qualifier for the FIDE World Cup.
The World Rapid Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under rapid time controls. Prior to 2012, FIDE gave such recognition to a limited number of tournaments, with non-FIDE recognized tournaments annually naming a world rapid champion of their own. Since 2012, FIDE has held an annual joint rapid and blitz chess tournament and billed it as the World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships. FIDE also holds the Women's World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship. The current rapid world champion is grandmaster Magnus Carlsen. Anastasia Bodnaruk from Russia is the current women's rapid world champion. Carlsen has won the event a record five times.
Ana Matnadze is a Georgian-Spanish chess player. FIDE awarded her the titles Woman Grandmaster (WGM), in 2002, and International Master (IM), in 2006. Matnadze was European and world girls champion in her age category.
Maria Kouvatsou is a Greek chess Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She was the 1999 World Under-20 Girl's Chess Championship winner, won the Greek Women's Chess Championship in 2000, and has represented Greece in three Chess Olympiads.
Sopiko Guramishvili is a Georgian and Dutch chess player, author, and commentator who holds the titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). Having represented Georgia for the bulk of her playing career, she has been an under-16 girls' World Youth Champion and an under-18 girls' Georgian national champion. She has a peak FIDE rating of 2441 and has been ranked as high as No. 42 in the world among women.
Women's European Individual Chess Championship 2017 was a Swiss-system tournament in Riga, to decide the women's European individual chess champion. The title was won by Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia for the first time.
Irina Vyacheslavovna Zakurdjaeva is a Russian chess player who holds the title of Woman Grandmaster.
Irina Iosifovna Turova, née Irina Slavina, is a Russian chess player who holds the titles of Woman Grandmaster (2001) and International Master (2004). She won the Russian Women's Chess Championship in 2003.
The African Junior Chess Championship is an annual chess tournament open to players in Africa who are under 20 years of age. The tournament was first held in 1980, and since its second edition in 1989, has been held annually with the exception of 2010. Beginning in 2002, a separate championship for girls has been held concurrently with the open championship.
For complete tables / results, refer to The Week in Chess website:
