The 24-year-old drew his final game against Croatia's Ivan Šarić to leave him on 8.5 points overall but it was enough to give him the title.

Gabriel Sargissian of Armenia had to settle for silver after also drawing his last game against Spaniard Jaime Santos Latasa but losing out on the tiebreak.

The 2018 champion Šarić meanwhile secured the bronze medal on 8.0 points to ensure an all-grandmaster podium.

It was the first time that the event had taken place in Slovenia with 317 players from 39 countries coming together at the Terme Čatež Spa Complex.

A formidable line-up featured with a total of 114 grandmasters present at the tournament.

There were reports that three players' campaigns were cut short due to COVID-19 as two did not play a game while a third pulled out in the second round after missing their opening fixture.

The top-20 players in Slovenia were awarded qualification for the 2023 World Cup.

A number of shocks occurred as relatively unknown Azerbaijani players international master Abdulla Gadimbayli and grandmaster Misratdin Iskandarov finished inside the top-20.

Previous editions of the European event have seen 23 qualifiers progress instead of 20.

The change was made at the European Chess Union's Board meeting which took place in February.