Korobov & Rapport winners at European Blitz & Rapid Championship

The European Blitz and Rapid Championships were held last weekend in Warsaw, Poland. On Friday Anton Korobov of Ukraine won the blitz tournament ahead of Vlad Tkachiev of France and local hero Bartosz Socko. The rapid event was spread over two days and was won by Richard Rapport of Hungary. Malakhov finished second there, and third came Tigran Petrosian of Armenia.
Report by IM Stanislaw Zawadzki | Photos courtesy of the official website
Each year hundreds of chess players from all over
Europe decide to spend their last weekend before Christmas in Warsaw to take part in the international chess festival composing of the European Rapid and Blitz Championship. Many world class players consider the Warsaw festival as an obligatory point in their sport schedules.
That the Polish capital hosted the European Rapid and Blitz Championship for the 9th time in a row. Both tournaments took place in the Palace of Culture and Science which is situated in the very heart of Warsaw.

Blitz
The blitz tournament was held on Friday, December 13th, 2013 consisted of 11 double rounds and gathered 437 players, among them 39 with the Grandmaster title. The fight for the final victory was very tough and the medals were decided in the last game.
The gold medal went to GM Anton Korobov from the Ukraine who gained 18.5 points out of 22 games. Interestingly, he lost points only in his games against Polish players as he lost 1.5-0.5 to GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek and scored 1-1 draws against GM Bartosz Socko and GM Michał Olszewski.
The silver medal was won by GM Vladislav Tkachiev from France, who won bronze last year. This year the bronze medal went to GM Bartosz Socko from Poland who defeated GM Alexey Dreev in the last round.

Socko's wife, Monika, finised first in the women's competition with 14 points, ahead of WGM Irina Sudakova from Russia and WGM Karina Szzepkowska-Horowska. The championship proved that the game of chess doesn't have any limits and is a game for everyone regardless their culture, nationality or age. As proof, we will just mention that in the 7th round 9-year-old David Ness from Norway defeated 76-year-old Bronislav Jefimow 1.5-0.5!

European Blitz Championship 2013 | Final Standings

#	Title	Name	Fed	R. FIDE	Ranking	Pts
1	GM	Korobov, Anton	UKR	B 2753	2713	18,5
2	GM	Tkachiev, Vladislav	FRA	B 2688	2637	17
3	GM	Socko, Bartosz	POL	B 2618	2500	17
4	GM	Rapport, Richard	HUN	B 2598	2676	16,5
5	GM	Dubov, Daniil	RUS	B 2683	2641	16,5
6	GM	Sargissian, Gabriel	ARM	B 2702	2671	16,5
7	GM	Andriasian, Zaven	ARM	B 2679	2621	16,5
8	GM	Wojtaszek, Radosław	POL	2711	2500	16
9	GM	Petrosian, Tigran L.	ARM	B 2613	2660	16
10	GM	Grigoryan, Karen H.	ARM	B 2543	2604	16
11	GM	Cheparinov, Ivan	BUL	B 2668	2672	16
12	GM	Kulaots, Kaido	EST	B 2564	2567	16
13	GM	Mitoń, Kamil	POL	B 2578	2500	15,5
14	GM	Antipov, Mikhail Al.	RUS	B 2517	2511	15,5
15	GM	Azarov, Sergei	BLR	B 2614	2616	15,5
16	GM	Moiseenko, Alexander	UKR	B 2642	2713	15,5
17	GM	Olszewski, Michał	POL	B 2531	2500	15,5
18	GM	Jussupow, Artur	GER	B 2505	2587	15,5
19	GM	Ragger, Markus	AUT	B 2635	2672	15,5
20	IM	Kuźmicz, Krystian	POL	B 2494	2400	15,5
21	GM	Neiksans, Arturs	LAT	B 2541	2554	15,5
22	GM	Tregubov, Pavel V.	RUS	B 2565	2625	15,5
23	GM	Dreev, Aleksey	RUS	B 2704	2668	15
24	GM	Dragun, Kamil	POL	B 2445	2500	15
25	GM	Perunovic, Milos	SRB	B 2569	2613	15
26	GM	Malakhov, Vladimir	RUS	B 2708	2707	15
27	GM	Kovalev, Vladislav	BLR	B 2535	2583	15
28	GM	Lysyj, Igor	RUS	B 2593	2666	15
29	GM	Salgado Lopez, Ivan	ESP	B 2524	2610	15
30	GM	Ivanisevic, Ivan	SRB	B 2641	2619	15

Anton Korobov

Rapid
The European Rapid Championship started in Warsaw on Saturday, December 14th, 2013 with 747 players (603 men, 144 women) from from 29 countries. There were 42 Grandmasters and 602 players with a FIDE rating.
After the first day and seven rounds, the sole leader was the 17-year-old grandmaster Richard Rapport from Hungary, who was the only one who still had a 100% score! The key game for him was played in 7th round, when he crushed the winner of the blitz, Anton Korobov. Ivan Cheparinov of Bulgaria, Markus Ragger of Austria and Bartosz Socko of Poland were tied for second place.
Rapport won the gold medal as he managed to finish the tournament without losing a single game. Besides Korobov, he also outplayed Wojtaszek with Black. 
The silver medal was won by Vladimir Malakhov from Russia, who also gained 9.5 points, but was classified on second place due to lower average rating of his opponents. The bronze medal was taken by Tigran Petrosian from Armenia, who also scored 9.5 points after winning his last 5 games. He faced much weaker opponents than Rapport and Malakhov but his third place was still a fantastic result.

European Rapid Championship 2013 | Final Standings

#	Title	Name	Fed	R. FIDE	Ranking	Pts
1	GM	Rapport, Richard	HUN	R 2661	2687	9,5
2	GM	Malakhov, Vladimir	RUS	R 2756	2716	9,5
3	GM	Petrosian, Tigran L.	ARM	R 2637	2648	9,5
4	GM	Moiseenko, Alexander	UKR	R 2678	2713	9
5	GM	Korobov, Anton	UKR	R 2752	2713	9
6	GM	Jobava, Baadur	GEO	R 2678	2705	9
7	GM	Socko, Bartosz	POL	R 2661	2500	9
8	GM	Salgado Lopez, Ivan	ESP	R 2620	2597	9
9	GM	Lysyj, Igor	RUS	R 2640	2666	9
10	GM	Krasenkow, Michal	POL	R 2609	2500	9
11	GM	Cheparinov, Ivan	BUL	R 2710	2672	8,5
12	GM	Sargissian, Gabriel	ARM	R 2647	2675	8,5
13	GM	Ragger, Markus	AUT	R 2689	2646	8,5
14	GM	Dubov, Daniil	RUS	R 2602	2629	8,5
15	GM	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	POL	R 2713	2711	8,5
16	GM	Tkachiev, Vladislav	FRA	R 2675	2637	8,5
17	IM	Pakleza, Zbigniew	POL	R 2471	2400	8,5
18	GM	Ivanisevic, Ivan	SRB	R 2638	2626	8,5
19	GM	Tregubov, Pavel V.	RUS	R 2570	2625	8,5
20	GM	Bryzgalin, Kirill	RUS	R 2584	2460	8,5
21	GM	Neiksans, Arturs	LAT	R 2591	2560	8,5
22	GM	Dragun, Kamil	POL	R 2497	2500	8,5
23	GM	Azarov, Sergei	BLR	R 2666	2616	8,5
24	GM	Stupak, Kirill	BLR	R 2542	2505	8,5
25	IM	Kuźmicz, Krystian	POL	R 2446	2400	8,5
26	GM	Andriasian, Zaven	ARM	R 2592	2610	8,5
27	IM	Plat, Vojtech	CZE	R 2560	2470	8,5
28	FM	Minko, Vladimir	RUS	R 2180	2327	8,5
29	GM	Olszewski, Michał	POL	R 2542	2500	8
30	GM	Grigoryan, Karen H.	ARM	R 2548	2604	8

Richard Rapport

This year's edition of the European Blitz and Rapid Chess Championship was the last one taking place in Warsaw. The next one will be played 19-21 December 2014 in Wroclaw and should be as good as the ones in Warsaw.

Se Full Game And Article Here