View source for EU Individual Open Chess Championship

[[Image:4th EU Individual Open.JPG|right|thumb|330px|Tournament hall at Liverpool's World Museum, 2008]]
The '''EU Individual Open Championship''' was first contested in [[Cork (city)|Cork]], Ireland in 2005, under the auspices of organising body, the [[European Chess Union]] (ECU). The event is open to members of chess federations within the [[European Union]]. Exceptionally, at the discretion of the organisers, guest players have also been allowed to compete; for example, when the host nation has non-EU neighbours.

The fifth championship, held in Arvier in 2010, was its last edition.

==Background==

The tournament has been held annually between 2005 and 2008, and again in 2010, sometimes in conjunction with the celebrations of cities awarded [[European Capital of Culture]] status. Financial backing has not been consistently high, but in the case of [[Liverpool]] 2008, the prize fund totalled £30,000, which was large enough to attract many of the EU's strongest players.

The events were run on an inclusive format, open to a range of players of varying standard, typically from [[Elo rating|Elo]] 1600 to 2700 or more, but unrated players are also eligible to play. Substantial prize money is awarded not just to the overall top finishers, but also to the highest finishing women and junior players. Additional prizes go to those showing the best rating improvement over the course of the tournament.

The time limits for play tended not to follow the [[FIDE]] format, but more closely resemble classical time limits, to give some assistance to players in the [[Endgame (chess)|endgame]] phase.

==Results==
===1st EU Individual Open, Cork 2005===

The first European Union Individual Open Championship formed part of the programme of events celebrating Cork City's status as European Capital of Culture for 2005. Played over ten rounds, the event took place 21 March – 3 April 2005 in the Ballroom Suite of the Gresham Metropole Hotel, MacCurtain Street, Cork, Ireland. There were one hundred and fifteen participants and Hungarian grandmaster [[Zoltan Gyimesi]] won the event on tie-break from [[Mateusz Bartel]] of Poland, who drew level on points in the final round. The highest placed woman player was IM [[Viktorija Čmilytė]] of Lithuania with 6½ points.<ref>[https://theweekinchess.com/html/twic543.html TWIC 543. Mark Crowther. London Chess Center.]</ref>

:{|class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; "
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Place'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Player'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Title'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Rating'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Nationality'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Result'''
|-
| 1–2 || [[Zoltan Gyimesi]] || GM || 2602 || {{HUN}} || 8½/10
|-
| || [[Mateusz Bartel]] || GM || 2487 || {{flagu|Poland}} || 8½/10
|-
| 3–5 || [[Bartosz Soćko]] || GM || 2591 || {{flagu|Poland}} || 7½/10
|-
| || [[Rolands Bērziņš|Roland Berzinsh]] || IM || 2454 || {{LAT}} || 7½/10
|-
| || [[Mark Hebden]] || GM || 2521 || {{flagu|England}} || 7½/10
|-
| 6–9 || [[Slavko Cicak]] || GM || 2552 || {{flagu|Sweden}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Joel Benjamin]] || GM || 2554 || {{flagu|United States}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Normunds Miezis]] || GM || 2547 || {{LAT}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Alexander Baburin]] || GM || 2523 || {{IRL}} || 7/10
|-
|}

===2nd EU Individual Open, Liverpool 2006===

The second edition of the Championship took place at the World Museum, William Brown Street, Liverpool, England. Held 6–15 September 2006, the tournament entry totalled eighty-four. Going into the final round, host nation grandmaster [[Nigel Short]] was the only leading player to win, defeating [[Mark Hebden]] to capture clear first place with 7½/10. The highest placed woman player was IM [[Dagnė Čiukšytė]] of Lithuania on 6½ points, repeating the achievement of compatriot Cmilyte, in the previous year's event.<ref>[https://theweekinchess.com/html/twic619.html TWIC 619. Mark Crowther. London Chess Center.]</ref>

:{|class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; "
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Place'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Player'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Title'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Rating'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Nationality'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Result'''
|-
| 1 || [[Nigel Short]] || GM || 2676 || {{flagu|England}} || 7½/10
|-
| 2–9 || [[Šarūnas Šulskis]] || GM || 2514 || {{LTU}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Luke McShane]] || GM || 2614 || {{flagu|England}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Stephen J. Gordon|Stephen Gordon]] || IM || 2443 || {{flagu|England}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Gawain Jones]] || IM || 2416 || {{flagu|England}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Luis Galego]] || GM || 2528 || {{POR}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Danny Gormally]] || GM || 2513 || {{flagu|England}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Klaus Bischoff]] || GM || 2533 || {{flagu|Germany}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Karel van der Weide]] || GM || 2446 || {{flagu|Netherlands}} || 7/10
|-
|}

===3rd EU Individual Open, Arvier 2007===

The third European Union Individual Open Championship took place June 15-24th 2007, in [[Arvier]] (Aosta Valley), Italy. There were one hundred and ten competitors and the tournament was open to the players of the twenty-seven countries of the European Union, plus four additional countries close to the host nation, these being  Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. Serbian [[Nikola Sedlak]] took the contest on tie-break from local favourite [[Michele Godena]], after both finished on 8/10. Godena was however awarded the Champion's title, due to Sedlak being a non-EU citizen. IM [[Cristina Foișor]] (ROM) was the top finishing woman player with 6½ points.<ref>[https://theweekinchess.com/html/twic659.html TWIC 659. Mark Crowther. London Chess Center.]</ref>

:{|class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; "
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Place'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Player'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Title'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Rating'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Nationality'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Result'''
|-
| 1–2 || [[Nikola Sedlak]] || GM || 2575 || {{SRB}} || 8/10
|-
| || [[Michele Godena]] || GM || 2558 || {{flagu|Italy}} || 8/10
|-
| 3–6 || [[Thomas Luther]] || GM || 2586 || {{flagu|Germany}} || 7½/10
|-
| || [[Fabiano Caruana]] || IM || 2513 || {{flagu|Italy}} || 7½/10
|-
| || [[Alexander Baburin]] || GM || 2545 || {{IRL}} || 7½/10
|-
| || [[Mišo Cebalo]] || GM || 2491 || {{CRO}} || 7½/10
|-
| 7–9 || [[Šarūnas Šulskis]] || GM || 2533 || {{LTU}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Nenad Sulava]] || GM || 2549 || {{CRO}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Marcos Llaneza Vega]] || IM || 2455 || {{flagu|Spain}} || 7/10
|-
|}

===4th EU Individual Open, Liverpool 2008===

The fourth edition of the Championship saw a return to the venue of 2006—Liverpool's World Museum. Held September 9-18th 2008, during the city's reign as European Capital of Culture, there were one hundred and forty participants, from twenty member states, competing for a record prize fund. The event was won by [[Jan Werle]] of the Netherlands, the best tournament success of his chess career to date. He drew with [[Maxime Vachier-Lagrave]] in the final round, while [[Michael Adams (chess player)|Michael Adams]], a half point behind, settled for an early draw with [[Emanuel Berg]], thereby securing a share of second place. The women's top spot was shared between [[Jovanka Houska]], [[Yelena Dembo]] and [[Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant]], all on 6 points.<ref>[https://theweekinchess.com/html/twic724.html TWIC 724. Mark Crowther. London Chess Center]</ref>

:{|class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; "
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Place'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Player'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Title'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Rating'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Nationality'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Result'''
|-
| 1 || [[Jan Werle]] || GM || 2591 || {{flagu|Netherlands}} || 8/10
|-
| 2–4 || [[Viktor Láznička]] || GM || 2601 || {{CZE}} || 7½/10
|-
| || [[Michael Adams (chess player)|Michael Adams]] || GM || 2735 || {{flagu|England}} || 7½/10
|-
| || [[Nigel Short]] || GM || 2655 || {{flagu|England}} || 7½/10
|-
| 5–15 || [[Alberto David]] || GM || 2568 || {{LUX}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Erwin L'Ami]] || GM || 2610 || {{flagu|Netherlands}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Maxime Vachier-Lagrave]] || GM || 2681 || {{flagu|France}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Daniel Fridman]] || GM || 2637 || {{flagu|Germany}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Emanuel Berg]] || GM || 2592 || {{flagu|Sweden}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Étienne Bacrot]] || GM || 2691 || {{flagu|France}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[David Howell (chess player)|David Howell]] || GM || 2561 || {{flagu|England}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Sergei Tiviakov]] || GM || 2645 || {{flagu|Netherlands}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Thomas Luther]] || GM || 2570 || {{flagu|Germany}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Jan Smeets]] || GM || 2593 || {{flagu|Netherlands}} || 7/10
|-
| || [[Alexander Beliavsky]] || GM || 2606 || {{SLO}} || 7/10
|-
|}

===5th EU Individual Open, Arvier 2010===
The fifth edition of the championship took place 4–12 September in Arvier, Italy. There were forty-seven participants. Polish Grandmaster Pawel Jaracz took the title on tiebreak from other five players scoring 6½ points in 9 rounds, and [[Woman Grandmaster]] [[Monica Calzetta Ruiz]] from Spain was the top finishing woman with 5½ points.<ref>[http://www.torneionline.com/loto_tornei_d.php?codice=2010XAO04&tipo=1 V C.to Unione Europea]. ''LOTO – Lost Tournaments''. Italian Chess Federation.</ref>

:{|class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; "
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Place'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Player'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Title'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Rating'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Nationality'''
|  style="background:#f0f0f0;"|'''Result'''
|-
| 1–6 || [[Pawel Jaracz]] || GM || 2543 || {{flagu|Poland}} || 6½/9
|-
| || [[Sabino Brunello]] || IM || 2497 || {{flagu|Italy}} || 6½/9
|-
| || [[Evgenij Agrest]] || GM || 2585 || {{flagu|Sweden}} || 6½/9
|-
| || [[Lexy Ortega]] || GM || 2473 || {{flagu|Italy}} || 6½/9
|-
| || [[Miguel Llanes Hurtado]] || GM || 2474 || {{flagu|Spain}} || 6½/9
|-
| || Clovis Vernay || IM || 2460 || {{flagu|France}} || 6½/9
|-
| 7–9 || Sergio Estremera Panos || IM || 2337 || {{flagu|Spain}} || 6/9
|-
| || [[Mihai Șubă]] || GM || 2464 || {{ROU}} || 6/9
|-
| || Mauro Barletta || CM || 2211 || {{flagu|Italy}} || 6/9
|-
|}

==See also==
* [[European Individual Chess Championship]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.liverpoolchessinternational.co.uk/index.htm Liverpool Chess International website – 2006, 2008 events] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921020420/http://www.liverpoolchessinternational.co.uk/index.htm |date=2008-09-21 }}
*[http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4913 Chessbase article – 2008 event]

{{Chess international championships}}

[[Category:European championships in chess]]
[[Category:Recurring events established in 2005]]
[[Category:2005 in chess]]