Four players are in the joint lead at the European Individual Chess Championship 2017 in Minsk, after 5 rounds played. GMs Ivan Cheparinov, Hrant Melkumyan, Yuriy Kuzubov and Daniel Fridman all scored 4.5 points and are at the top of the list day before the rest day.
Standings after 5 rounds:
1-4 Cheparinov, Melkumyan, Kuzubov and Fridman 4.5 points
5-31 Rodshtein, Kovalenko, Naiditsch, Matlakov, S.Zhigalko, Riazantsev, D.Mastrovasilis, Bocharov, Jojua, Kantans, Dubov, Demchenko, Anton, Kozul, Bosiocic, Pashikian, Paichadze, Onischuk, Tomashevsky, Shimanov, Yilmaz, Antipov, KOvalev, Howell, Sargissian, Saric and Gelashvili 4 points, etc.
Top pairings of the 6th round:
Melkumyan vs Cheparinov, Fridman vs Kuzubov, Matlakov vs Kovalev, Naiditsch vs Kozul, Saric vs Rodshtein, Demchenko vs Tomashevsky, Onischuk vs Howell, Anton vs Bosiocic, Dubov vs Pashikian, Jojua vs Riazantsev, Antipov vs Kovalenko, Mastrovasilis vs Sargissian, Zhigalko vs Paichadze, Kantans vs Shimanov, Bocharov vs Yilmaz, Bacrot vs Gelashvili, etc.
IM Daria Charochkina drew with GM Alexander Donchenko, while her compatriot WGM Olga Girya defeated GM Ivan Rozum with Black pieces. Girya is the best ranked women player so far with 3.5 points, followed by Charochkina and WFM Bibisara Assaubayeva with 3 points.
Today is the rest day, and the battles continue on Monday, 5th June 2017 from 3.30 pm (local time).
Organizers provided live broadcast of 100 boards, along with professional commentary in English and Russian, done by Evgeniy Miroshnichenko and Sergey Shipov. Live games can be followed on the Official Website of the Championship, or through the ECU website, section LIVE.
The European Individual Championship 2017 is a qualification event for the next World Cup. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 22 players will qualify. The total prize fund is 100 000 EUR, including the special prizes.
The Championship takes place from 29th May to 11th June in the Sports Palace in Minsk.
The event is organized by the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus, the Ministry of Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Belarus, Minsk City Executive Committee and Belarus Chess Federation under the auspices of the ECU.
