The 2024 European Individual Chess Championship began on November 8 in Petrovac, Montenegro.

The opening ceremony of the event took place shortly before the start of the first round, with the attendance of the ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili, ECU Vice President  Alojzije Jankovic, Deputy Prime Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development of Montenegro Milun Zogovic, Vladimir Obradovic on behalf of the Ministry of Sports and Youth of Montenegro, President of the Montenegro Chess Federation  Jovan Milovic, ECU Honorary Vice President  Veselin Draskovic, and other distinguished guests.

ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili and Deputy Prime Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development of Montenegro  Milun Zogovic made the first ceremonial move on the top board, officially opening the event.

Most first-round games ended decisively, with only 23 draws. The round saw some unexpected results, including top-seeded players drawing against underdogs. GM Jorden Van Foreest (NED, 2687) drew with black against FM Atilla Kuru (TUR, 2371), GM Shant Sargsyan (ARM, 2655) was unable to secure a win with the white pieces against FM Matic Lavrencic (SLO, 2366), and GM Etienne Bacrot (FRA, 2653) drew with FM Henry Edward Tudor (ROU, 2365). The game between IM Ori Kochavi (ISR, 2363) and GM Aleksandr Predke (SRB, 2652) and ended in a perpetual check, while GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (UKR, 2640) split a point with FM Borna Derakhshani (ENG, 2355).

All results, pairings, and rankings can be found here.

The second round begins on November 9 at 15:00 CET and will be broadcast live on the ECU YouTube channel with commentary by GM Alojzije Jankovic.

Text: europechess.org/

Photos: Mark Livshitz

Official website: eicc2024.sahcg.me/