Daniel Dardha keeps chances for the title at the European Individual Chess Championship

Ten rounds were played at the European Individual Chess Championship 2024 in Petrovac, Montegro, and the new Champion will be crowned tomorrow. GM Aleksandar Indjic (SRB, 2623) kept the sole lead in the tournament after today’s draw against GM Daniil Yuffa (ESP, 2631). Indjic now scores 8.5 points, and enters the last round with half a point advantage over GM Daniel Dardha (BEL, 2606) who is in clear second place scoring 8 points.

GM Daniel Dardha (BEL, 2606) was victorious with black pieces against GM David Navara (CZE, 2674). Dardha gained a clear advantage in the late middlegame and the game transposed into an unclear drawish endgame. However, Navara missed his chances for half a point and Daniel Dardha converted into a very important win.

Round 10 games: Aleksandar Indjic – Daniil Yuffa / Bogdan-Daniel Deac – Frederik Svane / Robert Hovhannisyan – Maksim Chigaev / David Navara – Daniel Dardha / Jorden van Foreest – Eltaj Safarli / Daniele Vocaturo – Etienne Bacrot / Kacper Piorun – Rauf Mamedov / Szymon Gumularz – Ivan Cheparinov / Vasif Durarbayli – Alexander Motylev / Bartosz Socko – Aram Hakobyan / Mateusz Bartel – Momchil Petkov / Vladislav Kovalev – Vladimir Fedoseev / Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis – Ivan Saric / Nikita Vitiugov – Mustafa Yilmaz / Mahammad Muradli – Max Warmerdam

The final 11th round will see a direct encounter for gold medal between GM Daniel Dardha and GM Aleksandar Indjic. Indjic who led throughout the tournament will have black pieces, and a draw would be enough for him to clinch the title.

Fights will also be seen on lower boards as the stakes are higher than ever – the tournament offers 20 qualification spots for the next World Chess Cup and the prize fund of 100.000 euros.

The final round starts at 13:00 CET and live broadcast of the games together with video broadcast and commentaries by GM Alojzije Jankovic and WIM Lena Miladinovic can be followed through the ECU TV channel.

The top-board pairings are:

1. GM Daniel Dardha (BEL, 2606) – GM Aleksandar Indjic (SRB, 2623)
2. GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU, 2687) – GM Robert Hovhannisyan (ARM, 2613)
3. GM Mateusz Bartel (POL, 2613) – GM Frederik Svane (GER, 2654)
4. GM Ivan Cheparinov (BUL, 2632) – GM Maksim Chigaev (ESP, 2605)
5. GM Daniil Yuffa (ESP, 2631) – GM Piorun Kacper (POL, 2580)