exd5!

08.03.2010 – This event is taking place from March 6th to 18th 2010 in Rijeka, Croatia. Top players include Almasi, Bacrot, Movsesian, Navara, Vallejo, Motylev, Adams, Tomashevsky, Alekseev, Baadur, Naiditsch, Akopian, Volokitin, Bologan and Caruana. After two rounds 34 players have perfect scores, in the women's section it is 17. The venue is spectacular: see if you can read its name from space.

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The event is being organized by the chess club “Rijeka” together with the Croatian Chess Federation under the auspices of the City of Rijeka and the European Chess Union. All players who represent chess federations of the European Chess Union are eligible to participate. The European Championship is a qualification event for the next World Cup, with 22 players qualifying.

The championship is an eleven round Swiss tournament with a playing rate of 90 minutes for 40 moves, 30 minutes for the rest of the game, and an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. Games start at 3:30 p.m. EST. Saturday, March 13 is a rest day.

The event is being held in the new Zamet Centre sports hall located near the market place at Zamet, Rijeka. It is a modern public complex designed by the architect studio 3LHD and has gained fame due to the 50,000 ceramic tiles used in the buildings. The name "Centar Zamet" is traced out on the square in front of the hall, and should be visible in satellite images. If anyone can locate it in Google Earth or Maps please send us a link.

Note that you can pan and zoom in the above map, or click to view a larger version

The playing venue inside the sports complex

This is normally a hall were sports like basketball are staged

The spectators can walk between the blocks and see the top boards up close

The women's section

Top scorers in the men's section

Ti. Name FED RtgI Pts. GM Navara David CZE 2708 2.0 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2708 2.0 GM Adams Michael ENG 2704 2.0 GM Jobava Baadur GEO 2695 2.0 GM Naiditsch Arkadij GER 2691 2.0 GM Kurnosov Igor RUS 2674 2.0 GM Areshchenko Alexander UKR 2670 2.0 GM Moiseenko Alexander UKR 2668 2.0 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2667 2.0 GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter ROU 2661 2.0 GM Riazantsev Alexander RUS 2660 2.0 GM Krasenkow Michal POL 2652 2.0 GM Zhigalko Sergei BLR 2648 2.0 GM Efimenko Zahar UKR 2640 2.0 GM Mamedov Rauf AZE 2639 2.0 GM Sokolov Ivan BIH 2638 2.0 GM Socko Bartosz POL 2637 2.0 GM Kokarev Dmitry RUS 2622 2.0 GM Belov Vladimir RUS 2619 2.0 GM Vorobiov Evgeny E RUS 2616 2.0 GM Lysyj Igor RUS 2615 2.0 GM Howell David W L ENG 2612 2.0 GM Pelletier Yannick SUI 2611 2.0 GM Saric Ivan CRO 2607 2.0 GM Potkin Vladimir RUS 2606 2.0 GM Safarli Eltaj AZE 2606 2.0

GM Aleksandrov Aleksej BLR 2601 2.0 GM Lupulescu Constantin ROU 2598 2.0 GM Erdos Viktor HUN 2593 2.0 GM Kotronias Vasilios GRE 2593 2.0 GM Pavasovic Dusko SLO 2579 2.0 GM Bosiocic Marin CRO 2577 2.0 GM Lopez Josep Manuel ESP 2548 2.0 GM Maiorov Nikita BLR 2510 2.0 GM Caruana Fabiano ITA 2680 2.0 GM Timofeev Artyom RUS 2655 2.0 GM Fridman Daniel GER 2650 2.0 GM Stocek Jiri CZE 2591 2.0 GM Hera Imre Jr HUN 2574 2.0 GM Szabo Gyula ROU 2525 2.0 IM Martinovic Sasa CRO 2509 2.0 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2656 2.0 GM Melkumyan Hrant ARM 2582 2.0 GM Reinderman Dimitri NED 2576 2.0 GM Mastrovasilis Dimitrios GRE 2574 2.0 GM Iotov Valentin BUL 2568 2.0 GM Grigoryan Avetik ARM 2565 2.0 IM Nikolov Momchil BUL 2550 2.0 IM Skoberne Jure SLO 2509 2.0 IM Hovhannisyan Robert ARM 2498 2.0 GM Chirila Ioan-Cristian ROU 2487 2.0 GM Yemelin Vasily RUS 2576 2.0 GM Kovacevic Aleksandar SRB 2574 2.0

Top scorers in the women's section

Title	Name	FED	RtgI	Pts.
IM	Kosintseva Nadezhda	RUS	2554	2.0
IM	Muzychuk Anna	SLO	2533	2.0
GM	Socko Monika	POL	2465	2.0
IM	Skripchenko Almira	FRA	2456	2.0
GM	Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan	SCO	2447	2.0
IM	Muzychuk Mariya	UKR	2444	2.0
IM	Kovalevskaya Ekaterina	RUS	2438	2.0
IM	Foisor Cristina-Adela	ROU	2433	2.0
IM	Romanko Marina	RUS	2409	2.0
WGM	Kovanova Baira	RUS	2385	2.0
GM	Kosintseva Tatiana	RUS	2524	2.0
IM	Moser Eva	AUT	2437	2.0
WGM	Zawadzka Jolanta	POL	2404	2.0
IM	Sedina Elena	ITA	2334	2.0
WGM	Chelushkina Irina	SRB	2319	2.0
WIM	Schneider Veronika	HUN	2314	2.0
WGM	Bodnaruk Anastasia	RUS	2384	2.0

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Links Official tournament site All games in zipped PGN: Men – Women A selection of the games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!