Mode of Play
The tournament is held separately for men and women as a Swiss system tournament, with a varying number of rounds. The only exception was the first Women's Championship tournament in 2000, which was held as a knock-out-tournament. As with all chess competitions, the "men's" section is in fact an open tournament in which female players may participate, but not vice versa. In 2002, Judit Polgár narrowly missed the bronze medal in the men's competition by losing a play-off match against Zurab Azmaiparashvili. In 2011, Polgar won the bronze medal in the men's competition at Aix-les-Bains, France.
Apart from the first edition in 2000, where in case of a tie the Buchholz-Rating was used as a tie-breaker, rapid-play play-off matches were used to determine the medal winners as well as the world championship qualifiers.
Read more about this topic: European Individual Chess Championship
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