European Rapid and Blitz Championship 2023: Sarana and Navara win titles

The 2023 European Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships concluded yesterday in Zagreb, Croatia. The event was played from 14-16 December, with nearly 700 players from 41 European federations participating.

The first event on the schedule was the European Rapid Chess Championship 2023, an 11-round Swiss tournament which took place from 14-15 and brought together over 450 players. It was a very tight competition that came down to the wire.

Heading into the final round, as many as four players were on 8.5/10 tied for first place: GM Haik Martirosyan (ARM, 2634), GM Alexey Sarana (SRB, 2649), GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU, 2623), and GM Casper Schoppen (NED, 2553). While Haik Martirosyan and Deac-Bogdan Daniel drew their Round 11 games, Alexey Sarana and Casper Schoppen were the last to finish their encounter.

Sarana had an endgame with a bishop pair, offering practical chances. With perfect endgame technique, Alexey managed to pull off a victory and emerged as the sole winner of the event, scoring 9.5/11.

It is the third European title for Alexey Sarana this year! After winning the European Individual Chess Championship 2023 in Vrnjacka Banja, he took gold at the European Team Championship 2023 with the Serbian team as the best individual 2nd board player!

GMs Haik Martirosyan and Bogdan-Daniel Deac tied for second place, with the former taking silver thanks to better tiebreaks. Bogdan-Daniel Deac won bronze.

Final standings Rapid

The European Blitz Chess Championship 2023, a 13-round Swiss tournament, attracted nearly 600 participants and was played yesterday.

GM David Navara (CZE, 2661) emerged as the sole leader of the event after 12 played rounds with 10.5 points, closely followed by four players with 10 points: GM Denis Kadric (MNE, 2591), GM Etienne Bacrot (FRA, 2640), GM Rauf Mamedov (AZE, 2635), and GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (UKR, 2678). Once again, the final round determined the champion and the medalists.

12-time Czech Chess Champion David Navara had white pieces against Etienne Bacrot and gained a sizable advantage from the opening, as the French Grandmaster missed his chances to equalize the game. Navara eventually won the game and secured the title with an impressive final score of 11.5/13.

After winning the European Blitz Championship 2022 in Katowice, Poland, David successfully defended his title in Zagreb.

Vasyl Ivanchuk defeated Rauf Mamedov (AZE, 2635) to win the silver medal, netting 11 points, while Denis Kadric and Ivan Saric (CRO, 2586) tied for third place scoring 10.5 points each. Having better tiebreaks, Denis Kadric got bronze; Ivan Saric finished in fourth place.

Final standings Blitz 

The closing ceremony of the event took place yesterday evening in the playing venue with the attendance of ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili, ECU Vice President Alojzije Jankovic, the President of the Croatian Chess Federation Ivica Brkic, Minister of Tourism and Sports of Croatia Nikolina Brnjac, Head of Croatian Prime minister office Zvonimir Frka-Petešić, famous football player Zvonimir Boban, Ambassador of Georgia in Croatia Zaza Gogsadze, FIDE Secretary General Mr. Lukasz Turlej and other distinguished guests.