European Championship Concludes
The 11th European Individual Chess Championships in Rijeka, Croatia have ended with clear winner in both the men's and women's events.
In an exciting final round, 19 year-old Ian Nepomniachtchi (pictured) of Russia beat Vladimir Akopian to take the men's title, and the experienced Pia Cramling (pictured below) of Sweden beat Viktorija Cmilyte to claim the women's crown.
It was a bitter pill for Cmilyte to swallow, after she had led for much of the event.
The European Championship also serves as a qualifier for the World Cup, and playoffs for places are taking place today (Thursday). Games can be followed live at the official website.
The top finishers in the men's championship:
| Nepomniachtchi, Ian | RUS | 2656 | 9.0 |
| Jobava, Baadur | GEO | 2695 | 8.5 |
| Timofeev, Artyom | RUS | 2655 | 8.5 |
| Efimenko, Zahar | UKR | 2640 | 8.0 |
| Tomashevsky, Evgeny | RUS | 2701 | 8.0 |
| Almasi, Zoltan | HUN | 2720 | 8.0 |
| Lysyj, Igor | RUS | 2615 | 8.0 |
| Salgado Lopez, Ivan | ESP | 2592 | 8.0 |
| Rodshtein, Maxim | ISR | 2609 | 8.0 |
| Pashikian, Arman | ARM | 2652 | 8.0 |
Pia Cramling won the women's event
The top finishers in the women's championship:
| Cramling, Pia | SWE | 2523 | 9.0 |
| Cmilyte, Viktorija | LTU | 2485 | 8.5 |
| Kosintseva, Tatiana | RUS | 2524 | 8.0 |
| Socko, Monika | POL | 2465 | 8.0 |
| Sebag, Marie | FRA | 2503 | 8.0 |
| Zhukova, Natalia | UKR | 2491 | 8.0 |
| Dembo, Yelena | GRE | 2457 | 8.0 |
The full final standings for the men can be found here, and for the women here.
