The European Individual Chess Championship 2025 has officially commenced in Eforie Nord, Romania. The event is being held from March 15–26 at Ana Hotels Europa.
Nearly 400 players from 40 European federations have registered for the tournament, including 103 Grandmasters, 77 International Masters, and 71 FIDE Masters. The top seeds are:
Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU, 2692)
Alexey Sarana (SRB, 2689)
Jorden Van Foreest (NED, 2676)
Pavel Eljanov (UKR, 2666)
Shant Sargsyan (ARM, 2666)
Daniel Dardha (BEL, 2665)
David Anton Guijarro (ESP, 2663)
David Navara (CZE, 2663)
Radoslaw Wojtaszek (POL, 2659)
Benjamin Gledura (HUN, 2658)
The starting list of players can be found here.
The European Individual Chess Championship 2025 serves as a qualification event for the FIDE World Chess Cup. According to FIDE regulations and the ECU Board decision, 20 players will qualify.
The tournament features a total prize fund of €100,000, with €20,000 awarded to the winner.
The competition is an 11-round Swiss tournament, with a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves, plus 30 minutes until the end of the game, with a 30-second increment per move starting from move one.
The opening ceremony took place in the playing venue with the attendance by the Vice President of the Romanian Chess Federation Mr. Alin Berescu, Secretary General of the Romanian Chess Federation Mr. Gabriel Grecescu, and ECU Tournament Director Mr. Petr Pisk who addressed the distinguished guests.
The first round started at 15:00 (local time). Live games with live video broadcast and commentaries by GM Alojzije Jankovic and WIM Lena Govedarica can be followed through the ECU TV and ECU YouTube channel.
Photos: Florin Ardelean
Official website: https://www.eicc2025.com/