Fressinet Sole Leader At Euro Champs
Laurent Fressinet has grabbed the sole lead at the 2012 European Individual Chess Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria with one round remaining.
The 30 year-old Frenchman forced resignation from his Armenian opponent with white in just 26 moves, leaving himself in clear first place with a score of 8/10.
Half a point behind Fressinet are nine players on 7½/10 ready to pounce should he slip up in the final round, where he has the black pieces against Dmitry Jakovenko.
The top places going into the final round:
| Name | Nat | Elo | Pts | TB | |
| 1 | Fressinet Laurent | FRA | 2693 | 8.0 | 2855 |
| 2 | Jakovenko Dmitry | RUS | 2729 | 7.5 | 2806 |
| 3 | Malakhov Vladimir | RUS | 2705 | 7.5 | 2798 |
| 4 | Andreikin Dmitry | RUS | 2689 | 7.5 | 2796 |
| 5 | Inarkiev Ernesto | RUS | 2695 | 7.5 | 2793 |
| 6 | Matlakov Maxim | RUS | 2632 | 7.5 | 2789 |
| 7 | Bologan Viktor | MDA | 2687 | 7.5 | 2775 |
| 8 | Vallejo Pons Francisco | ESP | 2693 | 7.5 | 2773 |
| 9 | Azarov Sergei | BLR | 2667 | 7.5 | 2772 |
| 10 | Volokitin Andrei | UKR | 2695 | 7.5 | 2751 |
| 11 | Bacrot Etienne | FRA | 2706 | 7.0 | 2765 |
| 12 | Vitiugov Nikita | RUS | 2709 | 7.0 | 2763 |
| 13 | Caruana Fabiano | ITA | 2767 | 7.0 | 2762 |
| 14 | Kobalia Mikhail | RUS | 2666 | 7.0 | 2756 |
| 15 | Dreev Aleksey | RUS | 2698 | 7.0 | 2747 |
| 16 | Khismatullin Denis | RUS | 2656 | 7.0 | 2740 |
| 17 | Durarbeyli Vasif | AZE | 2543 | 7.0 | 2738 |
| 18 | Jobava Baadur | GEO | 2706 | 7.0 | 2735 |
| 19 | Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | FRA | 2682 | 7.0 | 2729 |
| 20 | Korobov Anton | UKR | 2679 | 7.0 | 2727 |
The final round starts 2 hours earlier than usual, at 13:00 local time (11:00 UTC).
The European Individual Championship 2012 is a qualification event for the next World Cup. According to the regulations a total of 23 players will qualify.
The time control being used is 90 minutes for 40 moves, then 30 minutes to a finish with a 30 second increment from the start.
The total prize fund is €100,000, with the winner receiving €14,000.
