The 2023 European Youth Chess Championship kicked off yesterday in Mamaia, Romania. The opening ceremony of the event took place shortly before the start of the first round, with the attendance of the ECU President Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili, the President of the Romanian Chess Federation Mr. Vlad Ardeleanu, the President of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee Mr. Mihai Covaliu, Superbet Foundation Executive Director Mr. Cristian Gheorghita, State Secretary of the Foreign Ministry Mr. Andrei Novac and other distinguished guests.
The ceremony started with the speeches by the officials. They welcomed the players to Mamaia and wished them a good stay and a successful tournament.
The ECU President made the first ceremonial move to open the first round and declared the competition officially opened.
The European Youth Chess Championship is played in 6 age categories: U8, U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18 (open and girls sections separately), from 5-14 September, at the Ceremony Hall Dorna. Each category features 9 rounds played in the swiss system, with the time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment for each move, starting from the move one.
More than 900 players coming from 46 European federations participate in the event, including more than 100 titled players.
The first round saw very interesting matches and exciting fights. The top boards of each age section were broadcasted live and the coverage can be followed through Chess24, ChessBase, Chess.com, Followchess etc. Live video coverage from the event including the video from the playing venue can be followed through the Romanian Chess Federation Facebook page or through the Romanian Chess Federation twitch channel.
All results, pairings and rankings can be found here.
A rich photo gallery is available on the RCF Facebook page.
