12th European Individual Chess Championship
March 21st to April 3rd in Aix‐les‐Bains, France

The French Chess Federation (FFE), BP 10054, 78185 Saint Quentin en Yvelines Cedex, FRANCE, under the auspices of the city of Aix‐les‐Bains and the European Chess Union (ECU), is organizing the 12th European Championship which will be held in Aix‐les‐Bains, France, from March 21st (day of arrival) to April 3rd (day of departure) 2011.

Opening and closing ceremonies will take place at the Congress Center’s Auditorium, Rue Jean Monard, 73100 Aix‐les‐Bains. The playing venues will be at the Congress Center, Rue Jean Monard, 73100 Aix‐les‐Bains, and Casino Grand Cercle, 200 Rue du Casino, 73100 Aix‐les‐Bains.

The 12th European Individual Chess Championship is open to all players representing the Chess Federations which comprise the European Chess Union (FIDE zones 1.1 to 1.10) regardless of their title or rating. There is no limit of participants per federation.

The Championship is qualification event for the next World Cup. According to the FIDE Regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 23 players will qualify. General Prizes amount to 113 700 € and Special Prizes (performance minus rating) are worth 6 300 €.

Welcome message from Jean-Claude Moingt, President of the French Chess Federation

After having been organized in Eastern Europe for last 10 years, the 2011 European Chess Championships will be held in France (first time ever), in Aix-les-Bains, from March 21st to April 3rd. This is the result of many years of tight collaboration between the French Chess Federation and the European Chess Union. This prestigious tournament will be the most important event of the year for us and can be considered as a huge spotlight on our sport.

54 countries, more than 400 players, including the strongest Grandmasters of the world, will offer to chess fans a show never seen before in France! That is why the French Chess Federation sets a very ambitious goal: we would like everybody to keep unforgettable impressions of this event! We want it to be faultless in terms of welcoming and be a good example in terms of conviviality.

First of all, we made our choice, together with the Rhône-Alpes Region and the Savoie Departement, in favor of the worldwide known place, famous for its tradition of welcoming foreign visitors and its exceptional environment.

The other natural reason is that Aix-les-Bains has already been involved for a long while in organisation of huge chess events and it has also the dynamic image of an “all sports” city.And the last but not the least, is that the French Ministry of Sports and private partners have joined us to give an additional value to the event across France, to create parallel competitions, and to make this European Championship an amazing place for players and visitors!

Invitation / Official website

Participants list (85 players 2600 or above!)

1 GM Svidler Peter RUS 2730
2 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2729
3 GM Navara David CZE 2722
4 GM Vitiugov Nikita RUS 2720
5 GM Jakovenko Dmitry RUS 2718
6 GM Caruana Fabiano ITA 2716
7 GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw POL 2711
8 GM Jobava Baadur GEO 2707
9 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2707
10 GM Dreev Aleksey RUS 2697
11 GM Fressinet Laurent FRA 2693
12 GM Sutovsky Emil ISR 2692
13 GM Laznicka Viktor CZE 2688
14 GM Polgar Judit HUN 2686
15 GM Naiditsch Arkadij GER 2684
16 GM Mcshane Luke J ENG 2683
17 GM Zhigalko Sergei BLR 2680
18 GM Riazantsev Alexander RUS 2679
19 GM Rublevsky Sergei RUS 2678
20 GM Motylev Alexander RUS 2677
21 GM Volokitin Andrei UKR 2677
22 GM Sargissian Gabriel ARM 2676
23 GM Akopian Vladimir ARM 2675
24 GM Grachev Boris RUS 2675
25 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2674
26 GM Moiseenko Alexander UKR 2673
27 GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter ROU 2673
28 GM Kobalia Mikhail RUS 2672
29 GM Bologan Viktor MDA 2671
30 GM Nielsen Peter Heine DEN 2670
31 GM Mamedov Rauf AZE 2667
32 GM Georgiev Kiril BUL 2666
33 GM Cheparinov Ivan BUL 2664
34 GM Zvjaginsev Vadim RUS 2663
35 GM Fedorchuk Sergey A UKR 2662
36 GM Khismatullin Denis RUS 2662
37 GM Fridman Daniel GER 2661
38 GM Smeets Jan NED 2660
39 GM Smirin Ilia ISR 2658
40 GM Feller Sebastien FRA 2657
41 GM Nyback Tomi FIN 2656
42 GM Kurnosov Igor RUS 2653
43 GM Potkin Vladimir RUS 2653
44 GM Gharamian Tigran FRA 2650
45 GM Gustafsson Jan GER 2647
46 GM Korobov Anton UKR 2647
47 GM Tkachiev Vladislav FRA 2646
48 GM Andriasian Zaven ARM 2645
49 GM Sjugirov Sanan RUS 2643
50 GM Sokolov Ivan NED 2643
51 GM Pashikian Arman ARM 2642
52 GM Aleksandrov Aleksej BLR 2638
53 GM Bartel Mateusz POL 2638
54 GM Khalifman Alexander RUS 2637
55 GM Khairullin Ildar RUS 2634
56 GM Hracek Zbynek CZE 2631
57 GM Salgado Lopez Ivan ESP 2630
58 GM Safarli Eltaj AZE 2628
59 GM Iordachescu Viorel MDA 2626
60 GM Lupulescu Constantin ROU 2626
61 GM Saric Ivan CRO 2626
62 GM Vuckovic Bojan SRB 2626
63 GM Matlakov Maxim RUS 2625
64 GM Romanov Evgeny RUS 2624
65 GM L’ami Erwin NED 2623
66 GM Lenic Luka SLO 2623
67 GM Volkov Sergey RUS 2621
68 GM Beliavsky Alexander G SLO 2619
69 GM Macieja Bartlomiej POL 2619
70 GM Ivanisevic Ivan SRB 2617
71 GM Savchenko Boris RUS 2616
72 GM Azarov Sergei BLR 2615
73 GM Ragger Markus AUT 2614
74 GM Popov Ivan RUS 2613
75 GM Stevic Hrvoje CRO 2611
76 GM Sumets Andrey UKR 2610
77 GM Grigoryan Avetik ARM 2608
78 GM Zakhartsov Viacheslav V RUS 2608
79 GM Hammer Jon Ludvig NOR 2606
80 GM Papaioannou Ioannis GRE 2605
81 GM Chatalbashev Boris BUL 2602
82 GM Balogh Csaba HUN 2601
83 GM Kulaots Kaido EST 2601
84 GM Reinderman Dimitri NED 2601
85 GM Edouard Romain FRA 2600

http://www.chessdom.com/news-2011/european-individual-chess-championship

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