After 12 interesting days, the European individual chess championship, which is held in Petrovac, will reach its climax tomorrow.
The last, 11th round brings a direct duel between the leaders, Aleksandar Inđić from Serbia and Daniel Darda from Belgium. Their duel will decide the title, and Inđić enters the last round with half a point more, so a draw will be enough for him.
Inđić, who scored the decisive points for the Serbian national team in last year's quest for European gold in the team competition, played a great game and recorded seven triumphs and three draws, including an effective victory against the first seed of the tournament, Vladimir Fedosejev, who plays for the Slovenian national team.
Darda recorded one less win and one more draw, and rose to the top with wins in the 9th and 10th rounds against Jaime Santos Latasa and David Navara. Inđić does not have an individual medal in his collection, while Darda has a bronze from last year's championship.
It is interesting that their chess paths passed through Montenegro. For several years, Inđić delighted chess fans in Montenegrin leagues, while Darda performed at the Vladimir-Bato Kontić Memorial in 2021.
Montenegrin players had a solid day in the 10th round. Grandmaster Nikita Petrov kept his chances, albeit minimal, of winning a visa for the World Cup, after a draw with Emin Ohanjan from Armenia, and with a possible victory he would almost certainly enter the prize-winners, while a visa for the World Cup would depend on additional criteria.
Nikola Đukić drew with Husein Kan Agdelen, which is his seventh draw in this tournament, and with him he has two wins and a loss, for a total of 5,5 points.
The leader of the national team, Denis Kadric, withdrew from the tournament after losing in the ninth round.
International master Blažo Kalezić drew with Gaj Gov from Israel, so after 10 rounds he has half the five points, as much as Peko Đurović and Aleksandra Žerebcova, who were defeated in this round. The coach of the women's national team, Dušan Lekić, also has five points, who defeated Ruzgar Odabasi, the representative of Turkey.
As for the performance of our other players in the 10th round, victories were achieved by: Slavko Petrović and Slaven Živković, while draws were recorded by: Andrej Šuković, Veljko Šćekić, Vladimir Vujošević, Danilo Mitrović and Vlado Vukasović.
Indjić and Dardo are followed by a group of nine players who are one point behind Indjić and half a point behind Dardo.
The last round promises a real spectacle, considering that a list of 20 travelers to the World Cup is being sought, which is the way to the Candidates Tournament, i.e. the match for the world title. We will also find out which 24 players will be awarded, and how the prize fund in the total amount of 100 thousand euros will be distributed.
The last round on the program is tomorrow from 13 pm.
Bonus video:
