European Women’s Chess Championship 2023 starts in Petrovac, Montenegro
The 23rd edition of the European Women’s Individual Chess Championship 2023 takes place from 17th-30th March in Hotel “Palas” Petrovac, Montenegro. The Championship will be played in 11 rounds, swiss system, with the time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves + 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds for every move starting from move 1.
The event gathers more than 140 players from 34 European federations and the top-seeds are: GM Bella Khotenashvili (GEO, 2491), GM Valentina Gunina (FIDE, 2478), IM Gunay Mammadzada (AZE, 2472), IM Marsel Efroimski (ISR, 2451), IM Yuliia Osmak (UKR, 2445), IM Lela Javakhishvili (GEO, 2443), IM Irina Bulmaga (ROU, 2438), GM Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL, 2433), IM Meri Arabidze (GEO, 2433), and GM Monika Socko (POL, 2432).
The Opening ceremony of the event is scheduled for Saturday, 18th of March, with the start at 14:30 CEST, while the first round kicks off at 15:00 CEST.
The 23rd European Women’s Championship implies qualification for the next World Women’s Cup. According to FIDE regulations and the decision of the ECU Board, 9 players will qualify. The total prize fund of the event is 60.000 EUR, with 10.000 EUR reserved for the Winner of the event. List of prizes can be seen below:
| Place | PRIZE | Place | PRIZE |
| 1 | 10,000 € | 11 | 1,500 € |
| 2 | 8,000 € | 12 | 1,500 € |
| 3 | 7,000 € | 13 | 1,000 € |
| 4 | 6,000 € | 14 | 1,000 € |
| 5 | 5,000 € | 15 | 1,000 € |
| 6 | 4,000 € | 16 | 1,000 € |
| 7 | 3,000 € | 17 | 1,000 € |
| 8 | 2,500 € | 18 | 1,000 € |
| 9 | 2,000 € | 19 | 1,000 € |
| 10 | 1,500 € | 20 | 1,000 € |