Russian grandmaster Anton Demchenko, 34, won the European Chess Championship in Reykjavik.

Demchenko drew with Romanian Bogdan-Daniel Diac in the final 11 rounds and scored 8.5 points.

Second place went to 16-year old German Vincent Kaymer who also scored 8.5 points but lost to Demchenko on additional points. Russia's Alexei Sarana (8.0) placed third.

Based on the results of the European Championship, the 23 best chess players will compete in the World Cup that will take place in 2023. Russia will be represented by Demchenko, Sarana and Mikhail Antipov.

The European Chess Championship has been held since 2000. Tournaments are held according to the Swiss system - without elimination. In each round, starting with the second, pairs of opponents are selected so that participants who have equal scores meet each other. As a result parties between knowingly non-comparable opponents in terms of strength are excluded from the tournament, which allows to manage with a small number of rounds in comparison with the round robin system but with a great number of participants.

Made in Russia / Made in Russia

Author: Maria Buzanakova