Emil Sutovsky from Israel became the European Champion after winning a tie-break against Ruslan Ponomariov - Ukraine. The 2nd European Chess Championship takes place in Ohrid Macedonia 1st-15th June. The event is a 13 round Swiss System. 143 GMs are playing. 46 players qualifies to the FIDE World Championsh - 2001. We congratulate 9 Russian chess players including our compatriots Konstantin Sakaev and Konstantin Aseev!

Final standings after 13 rounds:
1-2. Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2673, Sutovsky, Emil g ISR 2604 - 9.5
3-4. Polgar, Judit g HUN 2678, Azmaiparashvili, Zurab g GEO 2670 - 9.0
5-11. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2670, Timoshenko, Georgy g UKR 2537, Vaganian, Rafael A g ARM 2641, Graf, Alexander g GER 2649, Milov, Vadim g SUI 2605, Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2603, Anastasian, Ashot g ARM 2574 - 8.5
12-45 Luther, Thomas g GER 2568, Lputian, Smbat G g ARM 2607, Vallejo Pons, Francisco g ESP 2559, Sakaev, Konstantin g RUS 2637, Tkachiev, Vladislav g FRA 2672, Sulskis, Sarunas g LTU 2530, Macieja, Bartlomiej g POL 2608, Movsesian, Sergei g CZE 2661, Avrukh, Boris g ISR 2600, Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter g ROM 2596, Gdanski, Jacek g POL 2528, Zvjaginsev, Vadim g RUS 2627, Aseev, Konstantin g RUS 2577, Bologan, Viktor g MDA 2676, Dautov, Rustem g GER 2631, Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2601, Volokitin, Andrei m UKR 2493, Ehlvest, Jaan g EST 2630, Beliavsky, Alexander g SLO 2638, Psakhis, Lev g ISR 2575, Gurevich, Mikhail g BEL 2688, Malakhatko, Vadim g UKR 2524, Rublevsky, Sergei g RUS 2657, Nikolic, Predrag g BIH 2652, Pigusov, Evgeny g RUS 2584, Khenkin, Igor g GER 2609, Asrian, Karen g ARM 2582, Cvitan, Ognjen g CRO 2526, Lastin, Alexander g RUS 2627, Fedorov, Alexei g BLR 2590, Baklan, Vladimir g UKR 2613, Conquest, Stuart g ENG 2563, Volkov, Sergey g RUS 2558, Kobalija, Mihail g RUS 2590 - 8.0
46-67 Savchenko, Stanislav g UKR 2517, Istratescu, Andrei g ROM 2561, Sokolov, Andrei g FRA 2568, Galego, Luis m POR 2429, Tregubov, Pavel V g RUS 2628, Aleksandrov, Aleksej g BLR 2610, Gyimesi, Zoltan g HUN 2571, Atalik, Suat g BIH 2537, Galkin, Alexander g RUS 2584, Iordachescu, Viorel g MDA 2589, San Segundo Carrillo, Pablo g ESP 2508, Almasi, Zoltan g HUN 2640, Lautier, Joel g FRA 2658, Piket, Jeroen g NED 2628, Delchev, Aleksander g BUL 2584, Short, Nigel D g ENG 2676, Najer, Evgeniy g RUS 2600, Georgiev, Kiril g BUL 2676, Epishin, Vladimir g RUS 2579, Markowski, Tomasz g POL 2592, Vaisser, Anatoli g FRA 2540, Roeder, Mathias m GER 2459 - 7.5 etc.
204 players
In tie-breaks matches were determined:
the title of the European Champion: Ruslan Ponomariov - Emil Sutovsky 1/2, 0-1
bronze medal: Judit Polgar - Zurab Azmaiparashvili 1/2, 0-1
4 additional places for FIDE World Championship - 2001 (Azmaiparashvili, Mikhail Gurevich, Van Wely and Short were already qualified on rating) in a 3 rounds tie-breaks:
4 additional places (besides first 45 participants) for the FIDE World Championship - 2001 took: Kiril Georgiev, Zoltan Gyimesi, Joel Lautier and Alexander Delchev
Should be noted a very confident performance of the youngest 14 y.o. Andrej Volokitin, who gained the GM norm.
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