GM Matthias Bluebaum (GER, 2643) emerged as the sole leader of the European Individual Chess Championship 2025 with only two rounds to go!
Playing with Whites on the second board today, GM Matthias Bluebaum (GER, 2643) outplayed GM Baadur Jobava (GEO, 2578). Bluebaum had an advantage out of the opening, and seized it further throughout the middlegame to eventually convert it into a two pawns up endgame that he easily won.
After today’s victory, the European Chess Champion from 2022 – Matthias Bluebaum, is now on a good way to become the first ever player to clinch two European titles!
After the game, Matthias Bluebaum joined us in the studio for analysis with GM Alojzije Jankovic and WIM Sandra Djukic, revealing that he was worried about his position after the slight inaccuracy in the early middlegame, and that he would’ve been also satisfied with a draw today.
Scoring 7.5/9 points, Matthias Bluebaum is ahead of four players who tie for second place with 7/9 points each: GM Daniil Yuffa (ESP, 2654), GM Aryan Tari (NOR, 2621), GM Gabriel Sargissian (ARM, 2628), and GM Maxim Rodshtein (ISR, 2623).
The penultimate 10th round starts tomorrow at 15:00 (local time) and live broadcast of the games with commentaries by GM Alojzije Jankovic and WIM Lena Govedarica can be followed through the ECU TV or the ECU YouTube channel.
All rankings, results, and pairings can be found here.
Photos by David Llada