MINSK, 21 December (BelTA) – The FIDE European Rapid and Blitz Championships took place at the Minsk Palace of Sports, Belarus on 18-20 December. Vadim Popov of Russia won the rapid chess competitions, BelTA has learned.
The winner scored 10 out of 11 points. Second was Hrant Melkumyan of Armenia (9.5 points). Bronze went to Ukraine's Vadim Razin (9 points).
Alexei Fyodorov of Belarus finished 9th.
Azerbaijan's Rauf Mamedov won the blitz chess competitions. He scored 18 points, the same number as Russia's Boris Savchenko, but with one victory more: nine against eight victories of the silver medalist. Bronze went to Russia's Alexander Ryazantsev (17 points).
Sergei Zhigalko of Belarus earned 16 points to finish 12th.
The FIDE European Rapid and Blitz Championships in Minsk was the biggest tournament of the kind held in Belarus in the past 15 years. Minsk was visited by head of the International Chess Federation Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and President of the European Chess Union Zurab Azmaiparashvili who thanked for the perfect organization of the tournament at the closing ceremony and noted that Belarus has every chance to host the Individual Men's European Chess Championships in 2017.
The competitions in Minsk welcomed nearly 1,000 players from 31 countries. The event was organized by the Sport and Tourism Ministry of Belarus, the National Olympic Committee, the Minsk City Hall, and the Belarusian Chess Federation.
