Jerusalem To Welcome Europe's Best

Many of Europe's strongest grandmasters will compete next month in Jerusalem, Israel.

Good news (which also serves as a disclaimer for Chess.com's agreement with the organizers): the European Championship will be covered live on the official website and on Chess.com/TV!

Officially it's called the “European Individual Chess Championship.” It will be held in Jerusalem from February 23 to March 8, and is organized by the Israel Chess Federation and the Municipality of Jerusalem, under the auspices of the European Chess Union.

The tournament will be held at the Jerusalem Ramada Hotel, located at Ruppin Bridge at Herzl Blvd. This is also the official accommodating hotel.

The 2015 European Championship is open to all players representing chess federations in the European Chess Union (FIDE zones 1.1 to 1.10), regardless of their title or rating. There is also no limit of the number of participants per federation; however applications need to be sent by via national federations.

It will be a very strong and big open tournament, not least because the European Championship is a qualification event for the next FIDE World Cup, to be held later this year in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Currently no fewer than 86 grandmasters have confirmed their participation. The top 23 finishers will qualify.

2015 European Championship | Current List Of Participants (Top 20)

(Find the complete list of participants who have already registered here.)

It's also a long open: not nine, not 10 but 11 rounds will be played. The time control is the standard FIDE rate of play: 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one.

2015 European Championship | Schedule

Recently the organizers added a prize fund of 10,000 Euro for chess players above the age of 50. On top of that, there is another 10,000 Euro (20 additional prizes) dedicated exclusively to premium members of the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP).

2015 European Championship | Prizes

Participating in the European Championship is a unique chance to combine chess with a visit to the 3,000-year-old, holy city of Jerusalem.

It is also a city with a long chess tradition, as Yochanan Afek writes on the official website:

“There has been chess life in the Israeli capital for almost a whole century. In fact it was the cradle of chess in Israel (or Palestine-Eretz Israel before 1948) in the beginning of the 20th century. The country’s first chess club was the International Chess Club founded in Jerusalem in 1918 by Sir Ronald Storrs, the first military governor of Jerusalem and Judea following the conquest of Palestine by the British army under the command of General Allenby.”

As a final note, it's important to know that the final date for registration to this tournament is January 31! More information can be found on the official website.

As a chess fan you'll be able to follow the tournament from home.

Chess.com will be providing the live show (video stream) for the official website as well as Chess.com/TV, with commentary by GM Alon Greenfeld and GM Ronen Har-Zvi during all 11 rounds!