European Rapid/Blitz Chess Champs
The 2011 European Rapid and Blitz Championships took place in Warsaw, Poland from 16-18 December.
The separate rapid and blitz events were both 13-round Swiss competitions (double rounds with alternating colours for the blitz), and both attracted hundreds of hopefuls!
The games in the rapid event were played at 15 minutes plus 10 second increment, the blitz games at 3 minutes plus 2 second increment.
GM Baadur Jobava (pictured) from Georgia won the rapid competition with 11/13, and GM Hrant Melkumyan of Armenia took the blitz title with 20/26 after a 3-way playoff.
The best rapid scores:
| Name | Nat | Elo | Pts | |
| 1 | Jobava, Baadur | GEO | 2678 | 11.0 |
| 2 | Sjugirov, Sanan | RUS | 2622 | 10.5 |
| 3 | Kempinski, Robert | POL | 2603 | 10.5 |
| 4 | Korobov, Anton | UKR | 2660 | 10.5 |
| 5 | Erdos, Viktor | HUN | 2623 | 10.5 |
| 6 | Movsesian, Sergei | ARM | 2710 | 10.5 |
| 7 | Olszewski, Michal | POL | 2539 | 10.5 |
| 8 | Mista, Aleksander | POL | 2587 | 10.5 |
| 9 | Volokitin, Andrei | UKR | 2695 | 10.0 |
| 10 | Shirov, Alexei | ESP | 2705 | 10.0 |
| 11 | Wojtaszek, Radoslaw | POL | 2705 | 10.0 |
| 12 | Bacrot, Etienne | FRA | 2714 | 10.0 |
| 13 | Tomczak, Jacek | POL | 2544 | 10.0 |
| 14 | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | RUS | 2730 | 9.5 |
| 15 | Polgar, Judit | HUN | 2710 | 9.5 |
| 16 | Bartel, Mateusz | POL | 2653 | 9.5 |
| 17 | Bryzgalin, Kirill | RUS | 2467 | 9.5 |
| 18 | Azarov, Sergei | BLR | 2667 | 9.5 |
| 19 | Jaracz, Pawel | POL | 2542 | 9.5 |
| 20 | Andriasian, Zaven | ARM | 2619 | 9.5 |
| 21 | Bologan, Viktor | MDA | 2665 | 9.5 |
| 22 | Zhigalko, Sergei | BLR | 2651 | 9.5 |
| 23 | Naiditsch, Arkadij | GER | 2712 | 9.5 |
| 24 | Timofeev, Artyom | RUS | 2659 | 9.5 |
| 25 | Howell, David W L | ENG | 2633 | 9.5 |
The best blitz scores:
| Name | Nat | Elo | Pts | |
| 1 | Melkumyan, Hrant | ARM | 2615 | 20.0 |
| 2 | Dreev, Aleksey | RUS | 2710 | 20.0 |
| 3 | Wojtaszek, Radoslaw | POL | 2705 | 20.0 |
| 4 | Socko, Bartosz | POL | 2635 | 19.5 |
| 5 | Korobov, Anton | UKR | 2660 | 19.0 |
| 6 | Polgar, Judit | HUN | 2710 | 19.0 |
| 7 | Riazantsev, Alexander | RUS | 2710 | 19.0 |
| 8 | Moranda, Wojciech | POL | 2568 | 19.0 |
| 9 | Jaracz, Pawel | POL | 2542 | 18.5 |
| 10 | Volokitin, Andrei | UKR | 2695 | 18.0 |
| 11 | Shimanov, Aleksandr | RUS | 2549 | 18.0 |
| 12 | Timofeev, Artyom | RUS | 2659 | 18.0 |
| 13 | Gajewski, Grzegorz | POL | 2616 | 18.0 |
| 14 | Kravtsiv, Martyn | UKR | 2601 | 18.0 |
| 15 | Movsesian, Sergei | ARM | 2710 | 17.5 |
| 16 | Bologan, Viktor | MDA | 2665 | 17.5 |
| 17 | Bacrot, Etienne | FRA | 2714 | 17.5 |
| 18 | Jones, Gawain C B | ENG | 2635 | 17.5 |
| 19 | Swiercz, Dariusz | POL | 2584 | 17.5 |
| 20 | Ruck, Robert | HUN | 2579 | 17.5 |
GM Judit Polgar was among the competitors
The playing area in the Palace of Culture and Science
Photos from the official tournament website.
