The 2024 European Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships took place from 7-9 December in Skopje, North Macedonia, with the participation of 400 players coming from 38 European federations.
European Rapid Chess Championship 2024 was played on 7-8 December in 11 rounds, swiss system, with the total prize fund of 20.000 EUR + 1.000 EUR of Modern chess vouchers.
GM Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO, 2731 rapid rtg) emerged as the sole Winner of the event scoring 9.5 points. Fedoseev started the event with two draws against lower rated players, but then scored six consecutive victories to head into the last round as the sole leader. Needing only a draw to secure sole first place, Vladimir Fedoseev drew against GM Anton Korobov (UKR, 2608) and clinched the title.
GM Anton Korobov (UKR, 2608) and GM Jobava Baadur (GEO, 2624) tied for silver scoring 9 points, each. Having better tiebreaks, Anton Korobov claimed silver medal.
Baadur Jobava finished the event in the second place and won bronze medal.
The Closing ceremony of the event took place shortly after the last round, with the attendance of the ECU Vice President Mr. Alojzije Jankovic, President of the Chess Federation of North Macedonia Mr. Sasha Bogdanovikj, representatives of the Chess Federation of North Macedonia and other distinguished guests.
European Blitz Chess Championship 2024 took place on 9th of December with 13 rounds on the schedule played according to the swiss system.
GM Jorden Van Foreest (NED, 2599 blitz rtg) and GM Alexey Sarana (SRB, 2689 blitz rtg) tied for the top scoring 11 points, each and the tiebreaks determined the Winner. The first tiebreak criteria was a direct encounter and since Jorden Van Foreest scored a win against Alexey Sarana in the 7th round, he clinched the title and gold medal.
Fighting hard for the top, Alexey Sarana (SRB, 2689 blitz rtg) defeated GM Rauf Mamedov (AZE, 2629 blitz rtg), but eventually claimed silver medal.
GM Baadur Jobava (GEO, 2614 blitz rtg) and GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU, 2637 blitz rating) tied for bronze scoring 10.5 points and bucholz cut1 determined the medalists since the players didn’t have a direct encounter in the tournament. Having better tiebreaks, Baadur Jobava won bronze and Bogdan-Daniel Deac finished fourth.
The Closing ceremony of the event took place in the evening after the tournament with the presence of the representatives of the Chess Federation of North Macedonia and Awards for the Medalists and the winners of special prizes.
Final rankings of both tournaments can be found here.
Photo gallery from Closing ceremonies can be found on Official Facebook page of the event
Photos by ECU