Family Tragedy Ends French Championships Early

The 2012 French Chess Championships were scheduled to take place from 13-25 August in Pau, but the competition ended early after the tragic death of the four-month old baby of competitor Christian Bauer.

Our sincere sympathies to Christian Bauer at this desperately sad news.

The news broke just before the final round of the 12-player single round-robin competition was due, with four players tied together on 7/10 including Bauer himself (pictured here at the European Team Champs last year).

In the circumstances the other players and organisers agreed to cancel the final round as a mark of respect.  Originally, the title was to be decided by a 3-way rapid playoff on Saturday between the other tied players on 7 points, but this was also subsequently cancelled and the title awarded jointly to the four players that finished on 7 points, Etienne Bacrot, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Romain Edouard and Christian Bauer.

The final standings, with one round left uncompleted:

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The women's title had already finished, with Almira Skripchenko taking a convincing victory with a score of 7/10, 1½ points clear of the field in a double-round robin event.

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