European Individual Championship - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The European Individual Chess Championship is a chess tournament organized by the European Chess Union

European Chess Union

The European Chess Union is an independent association for the interests of European chess. It is based in Lausanne Switzerland.-Member Federations:* Albania - Federates Shgiptare te Shahul* Andorra - Federació d'Escacs Valls d'Andorra...

. It was established in 2000 and has since then taken place on a yearly basis.
Apart from determining the European Champion, another object of this tournament is to determine a number of players who qualify for the FIDE world championship.

History

A tournament purporting to be the first European Championship (Europameisterschaft) was held in Munich, 14–26 September 1942, organised by Ehrhardt Post

Ehrhardt Post

Alfred M. Ehrhardt Post was a German chess master and functionary.-Biography:At the beginning of his career, he won and tied for 3-6th at Hanover 1902 . He tied for 7-8th at Coburg 1904 and 12-13th at Barmen 1905...

, the Chief Executive of Nazi Grossdeutscher Schachbund. But given that players from Germany's enemies (Soviet Union, Great Britain and Poland) were unable to participate (because of World War II), and Jewish players barred (because of Nazi policy), this tournament was simply a manifestation of Nazi propaganda and has never received any form of official recognition as a championship. Reuben Fine's comment in "Chess Marches On" (1945), page 136: "Alekhine has participated in a number of European shindigs, including one so-called 'European Championship' ....his competitors were at best second-rate second-raters." The last opinion is curious as Alekhine

Alexander Alekhine

Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...

(World Champion), Keres

Paul Keres

Paul Keres , was an Estonian chess grandmaster, and a renowned chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s....

(pretendent for the title), Bogoljubow

Efim Bogoljubow

Efim Dmitriyevich Bogolyubov was a Russo-German chess grandmaster who won numerous events and played two matches with Alexander Alekhine for the world championship.-Early career:...

(former World Champion challenger), Stoltz

Gösta Stoltz

-Biography:Stoltz played a few matches with strong chess masters. In 1926, he lost to Mikhail Botvinnik at a team match Stockholm – Leningrad in Stockholm. In 1927, he drew with Allan Nilsson in Göteborg . In 1930, he won against Isaac Kashdan in Stockholm. In 1930, he lost to Rudolf Spielmann ...

(winner, ahead of Alekhine, at Munich 1941), and Junge

Klaus Junge

Klaus Junge was one of the youngest German chess masters.-Biography:...

(co-winner, with Alekhine, at Prague 1942) made Munich 1942 the world's strongest tournament in 1942. The next-strongest tournaments were Salzburg 1942, New York (US Championship) 1942, Mar del Plata 1942, Prague (Duras Memorial) 1942, and Moscow (Championship) 1942.

The line-up at Munich 1942 was as follows:

#	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
1		x	1	½	½	1	1	1	0	1	½	1	1	8½
2		0	x	1	½	0	1	½	1	½	1	1	1	7½
3		½	0	x	1	½	1	0	½	1	1	½	1	7
4		½	½	0	x	1	0	1	1	½	1	½	1	7
5		0	1	½	0	x	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	7
6		0	0	0	1	½	x	½	0	1	½	1	1	5½
7		0	½	1	0	½	½	x	1	½	0	0	1	5
8		1	0	½	0	0	1	0	x	0	½	1	½	4½
9		0	½	0	½	½	0	½	1	x	0	0	1	4
10		½	0	0	0	0	½	1	½	1	x	½	0	4
11		0	0	½	½	0	0	1	0	1	½	x	0	3½
12		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	1	1	x	2½

Wertungsturnier – Qualification Tournament

#	Player	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Total
1		x	½	0	½	1	1	½	1	1	1	½	1	8
2		½	x	½	½	½	½	1	0	1	1	½	1	7
3–5		1	½	x	½	½	1	½	0	½	½	½	1	6.5
3–5		½	½	½	x	1	0	0	½	1	½	1	1	6.5
3–5		0	½	½	0	x	1	½	½	½	1	1	1	6.5
6		0	½	0	1	0	x	0	1	1	½	1	1	6
7–8		½	0	½	1	½	1	x	½	0	½	1	0	5.5
7–8		0	1	1	½	½	0	½	x	0	1	0	1	5.5
9		0	0	½	0	½	0	1	1	x	0	1	1	5
10		0	0	½	½	0	½	½	0	1	x	½	1	4.5
11		½	½	½	0	0	0	0	1	0	½	x	1	4
12		0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	x	1

Two books have appeared to date on this event. They are: Europa-Schach-Rundschau: Band 1 Europameisterschaft Munchen 1942 by Alfred Brinckmann

Alfred Brinckmann

Alfred Brinckmann was a German chess International Master, author and functionary from Kiel.-The chess player:He participated eight times in German Chess Championship in the period 1921-1949...

(probably published 1943), and A müncheni sakkmesterverseny Európa bajnokságáért 1942 (Kecskemét 1942) by Gedeon Barcza

Gedeon Barcza

Gedeon Barcza was a Hungarian chess master.In 1940, Barcza took third place, behind Max Euwe and Milan Vidmar, at Maróczy Jubiläum in Budapest. In September 1942, he took sixth place at the first European Championship in Munich; the event was won by Alexander Alekhine...

.
The games of the second group (Wertungsturnier – Qualification Tournament) were, in the main, published in a small booklet by Erich Friebel, published (in Vienna?) in 1990.

Mode of play

The tournament is held separately for men and women as a Swiss system tournament

Swiss system tournament

A Swiss-system tournament is a commonly used type of tournament where players or teams need to be paired to face each other for several rounds of competition. This type of tournament was first used in a Zurich chess tournament in 1895, hence the name "Swiss system". The Swiss system is used when...

, 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

Judit Polgár

Judit Polgár is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. She is by far the strongest female chess player in history. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, the youngest person ever to do so at that time.Polgár was ranked No...

narrowly missed the bronze medal in the men's competition by losing a play-off match against Zurab Azmaiparashvili

Zurab Azmaiparashvili

Zurab Azmaiparashvili is a chess Grandmaster from Georgia. In the September 2010 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2637, making him 114th in the world and Georgia's number two.-Career:He became a Grandmaster in 1988...

.

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

A number of recurrent issues have been marring the event from the very beginning:

At most venues, participants and accompanying persons were obliged to accommodate at the "official hotel", appointed by the local organizers. The room rates, however, would be significantly higher than for other hotel guests. This in fact triggered the founding of the ACP
Association of Chess Professionals
The Association of Chess Professionals is a not-for-profit organisation, the closest thing in existence to a trade union for professional chess players. According to Article 2 of its terms:-History:...

. Also the standard of the hotels as well as of the food has been a focus of complaints by players and journalists.

As the European Championships are part of the FIDE World Championship cycle, starting with the 2001 edition, the new, faster FIDE time control was used. This led to many complaints by the participants about increased stress, incessant time trouble and a steep deterioration of the quality of the games.

A more indirect problem is the uncertainty whether a player's qualification for the World Championship will be of any value at all due to the inconsistent staging of the World Championship Tournaments since the change of the tournament format in 1999. For example, the 2002 European Championships provided five qualifying spots for the 2003 World Championship which in fact never took place.

Overview of results (Men)

Year	Venue	Players/rounds
2000	Saint-Vincent, Italy Saint-Vincent, Italy Saint-Vincent is a town and comune in the Aosta Valley region of north-western Italy. Saint-Vincent , is a popular summer holiday resort with mineral springs .-Geography:...	120 / 11
2001	Ohrid Ohrid Ohrid is a city on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid in the Republic of Macedonia. It has about 42,000 inhabitants, making it the seventh largest city in the country. The city is the seat of Ohrid Municipality. Ohrid is notable for having once had 365 churches, one for each day of the year and has... , Macedonia Republic of Macedonia Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...	203 / 13
2002	Batumi Batumi Batumi is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast and capital of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia. Sometimes considered Georgia's second capital, with a population of 121,806 , Batumi serves as an important port and a commercial center. It is situated in a subtropical zone, rich in... , Georgia	101 / 13
2003	Istanbul Istanbul Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and... , Turkey	207 / 13
2004	Antalya Antalya Antalya is a city on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Turkey. With a population 1,001,318 as of 2010. It is the eighth most populous city in Turkey and country's biggest international sea resort.- History :... , Turkey	74 / 13
2005	Zegrze Zegrze Zegrze is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Serock, within Legionowo County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Serock, north-east of Legionowo, and north of Warsaw.... , Poland	229 / 13
2006	Kuşadası Kusadasi Kuşadası is a resort town on Turkey's Aegean coast and the center of the seaside district of the same name in Aydın Province. Kuşadası lies at a distance of to the south from the region's largest metropolitan center of İzmir, and from the provincial seat of Aydın situated inland. Its primary... , Turkey	138 / 11
2007	Dresden Dresden Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area.... , Germany	403 / 11
2008	Plovdiv Plovdiv Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe... , Bulgaria	323 / 11
2009	Budva Budva Budva is a coastal town in Montenegro. It has around 15,000 inhabitants, and it is the centre of municipality... , Montenegro	306 / 11
2010	Rijeka Rijeka Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants... , Croatia	408 / 11
2011	Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It is situated on the shore of Lac du Bourget, by rail north of Chambéry.-Geography:... , France	393 / 11

Overview of results (Women)

Year	Venue	Players/rounds
2000	Batumi Batumi Batumi is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast and capital of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia. Sometimes considered Georgia's second capital, with a population of 121,806 , Batumi serves as an important port and a commercial center. It is situated in a subtropical zone, rich in... , Georgia	32 / K.O.
2001	Warsaw Warsaw Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most... , Poland	157 / 11
2002	Varna Varna Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011... , Bulgaria	114 / 11
2003	Istanbul Istanbul Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and... , Turkey	113 / 11
2004	Dresden Dresden Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area.... , Germany	108 / 12
2005	Chişinău Chisinau Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc... , Moldova	164 / 12
2006	Kuşadası Kusadasi Kuşadası is a resort town on Turkey's Aegean coast and the center of the seaside district of the same name in Aydın Province. Kuşadası lies at a distance of to the south from the region's largest metropolitan center of İzmir, and from the provincial seat of Aydın situated inland. Its primary... , Turkey	96 / 11
2007	Dresden Dresden Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area.... , Germany	150 / 11
2008	Plovdiv Plovdiv Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe... , Bulgaria	157 / 11
2009	St. Petersburg, Russia	168 / 11
2010	Rijeka Rijeka Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants... , Croatia	158 / 11
2011	Tiflis, Georgia	158 / 11

External links

For complete tables / results, refer to the The Week in Chess-website:

2000: Men´s results (1–60 places only) Women´s results Women´s final match
2000: Men´s complete results Russchess.com
2001: Men´s results Women´s results
2002: Men´s results Women´s results
2003: Men´s and Women´s results
2004: Men´s results Women´s results
2005: Men´s results Women´s results
2006: Men´s and Women´s results
2007: Men's results
2008: Men´s and Women´s results
2009: Official site of the 10th championship, Budva 2009