European Youth Chess Championship 2017 started yesterday in Mamaia, Romania.
The Championship is played in 6 age categories: U8, U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18, boys and girls separately. The tournament is declared opened at the Opening ceremony which took place on Perla Square with the participation of the young players and their accompanying persons. The present were greeted by the ECU Secretary General Mr. Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou , ECU Deputy President Mr. Ion Serban Dobronauteanu , FIDE Deputy President Mr. Georgios Makropoulos the President of the Romanian Chess Federation Mr. Sorin Iakoban, the Mayor of Constanza Mr. Decebal Făgădău and the President of the Romanian Olympic Committee Mr. Mihai Covaliu.
The first round started yesterday at 3 pm (local time) in Mamaia Expozitional Center where all the tournaments halls are situated. The organizers provided live broadcast of 90 games which can be followed through the official website of the Championship or through the ECU website, section LIVE.
This year, the event attracted 1142 players and young stars, among them 215 titled players, 1 GM, 16 IMs and 2 WIM. Many surprises happened in the first round where top seeders met with significantly lower rated players. The top rated player of the tournament, who plays in Open U18 category IM Martirosyan Haik M. lost against FM Lazov Toni which makes this event more interesting and shows that we can expect big fights for the first places. Many games finished as draw, but after a long and hard battles.
The first three players in each group will be awarded medals; the first five players in each group will be awarded cups, diplomas and valuable prizes while 12 players will become European Youth Chess Champions for 2017!
The tournament is played according to the Swiss System in 9 rounds, with time control 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one.
Besides the chess events for participants, organizers enabled accompanying persons to participate on Fide Trainers Seminar which will be held during the Championship and chaired by GM Adrian Mikhalchishin, FIDE Senior Trainer and FIDE Trainers’ Commission Chairman.
The event is organized by Romanian Chess Federation, “Mind Games&Events” Sports Association under the auspices of European Chess Union.