Chess for first time as an accompanying event in the European Games!

Chess will make its first step in the European Games – European Olympic Committees as an accompanying event under the aegis of the Organising Committee of Krakow-Maloposka 2023.

ECU regulated a new special competition the European Pair Blitz Chess Championship 2023 which will take place on 19th of June 2023 in Krakow, Poland, as the accompanying event and part of the European Games Krakow-Malopolska 2023. The Championship is organised by Malopolska and Silesian Chess Association under the auspices of the European Chess Union and Polish Chess Federation with the support of International Chess Federation (FIDE).

Eight teams (ECU members) are invited according the best combined Pair FIDE Classical rating – 1^st March 2023 list: Ukraine, Azerbaijan, France, Poland, Romania, Germany, Armenia and the Netherlands. Each team shall consist of one player over 2650 (classical rating) in the open section, one female player over 2350 (classical rating) in the women’s section, and one representative/captain.

Both Women’s and Open events will consist of two phases:

1. Qualification: 8 teams round-robin tournament
2. Playoffs with the knockout system for the best-ranked 4 teams of the Qualification stage

The rate of play is 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment for each move, starting from the move one.

Medals & Standings:

The individual medals are decided by the playoffs in each section. The gold medal is for the winner of the final match and the silver medal goes to the runner-up. The winner of the match for positions 3-4 will win the bronze medal.

The combined Pair medals are decided by the final position of the players of each team after the play offs in each section (sum of points): 1^st 8-points, 2^nd 7^–points, 3^rd 6-points, 4^th 5-points, 5^th 4-points, 6^th 3 points, 7^th 2-points, and 8^th 1-point. In case of a tie between two teams, the tiebreak criteria are the sum of points in open and women’s sections in the qualification round.

Prizes

The 3 winners of the Open, Women’s and Combine Pair sections will receive gold, silver and bronze medals, the same as European Olympic Games medals. The best European Pair will receive the title of European Pair Chess Blitz Champion 2023.

The application should be sent by Monday April 10^th , 2023, to the e-mail address: iechess2023@gmail.com with a copy to ECU: secretariat@europechess.org .

The European Pairs Championships will b held in Krakow Opera

Contact information:

Kamila Kałużna- Turcza – president of the Malopolska Chess Association
E- mail: iechess2023@gmail.com
mob.: +48 693 046 440
Official website: https://ie2023.pl/en/