NEWSLETTER 79 (June 11, 2012)

LETTER FROM ECU PRESIDENT SILVIO DANAILOV TO THE FIDE PRESIDENT KIRSAN ILYUMZHINOV

June 13, 2012

To: World Chess Federation

Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, President

Dear Kirsan,

I am writing this letter in regard to the nomination of Arbiters for the upcoming 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul. Namely, on June 11, FIDE office informed the ECU office about the list of Arbiters from Europe nominated for the role at this competition. When we compare the list with the list of 10 Arbiters that I, as the European Chess Union President, recommended, it is obvious that even six Arbiters from our list were not accepted.

I would like to remind you that, for the first time in history, the European Chess Union had a transparent procedure for the nomination of Arbiters by national federations. Even 30 national federations nominated Arbiters and it was not easy to choose 10 candidates among them. I believe that, with this act, FIDE openly showed disrespect for the European Chess Union as a serious continental organization, and for me, as the President of that organization. I have never heard of such a case.

Not accepting four Arbiters, members of national federations which have had court cases against FIDE in CAS, was already announced in the statement of the President of the Turkish Chess Federation. This move represents an unprecedented form of discrimination.

Firstly, having a court case in CAS is stated in the FIDE Statutes as a completely accepted part of legal procedure. Therefore, national federations which are part of that procedure cannot be responsible on any grounds which are not legal. Even if they are responsible, certainly Arbiters are not the first and only who should take responsibility on behalf of their national federations. By the way, it is well known that the Turkish Chess Federation is suing the ECU.

Does this mean that the ECU should boycott all the Turkish Arbiters in future?

Secondly, Mr. Mussnig from Austria and Mr. Hansen from Denmark were not accepted, even though they are not members of the above-mentioned federations. We have not received the reasons why they were not accepted. If we knew in advance that there were principles according to which some of the Arbiters should not be delegated, we would find that somewhat understandable. This way, that move is really incomprehensible.

Dear Mr. President, I strongly believe that you will accept these arguments and reconsider the decision on nomination of Arbiters. Therefore I am inviting you to make the first move to bring back the confidence that members of the European chess family and its management had in the World Chess Federation.

Gens Una Sumus

Silvio Danailov

ECU President OFFER OF ECU COMPETITIONS AND PROJECTS SPONSORSHIP ECU Commercial Director Mariana Todorova has prepared packages which she will present to potential sponsors. The packages represent the possibility to sponsor the most important European Chess Union competitions.

ECU Management has high expectations for the project ‘Chess in School’. The proposed packages may be downloaded in section RESOURCES - SPONSORSHIP of the ECU website. www.europechess.net

EUROPEAN YOUTH TOURNAMENT IN BASTIA, CORSICA European Youth Tournament - "Ghjustra European Youth" was held in Bastia, Corsica, on June 07-08, 2012, with the participation of teams from Corsica, Bulgaria, Alsace, Piedmont, Sardinia, Basque Country and Brittany.

The winner of the "Ghjustra European Youth" is Corsica, which won against Alsace with 4:2 in the final match. This great chess celebration was held in commemoration of the Schuman Declaration from May 9th 1950.

Some of the players were the European Chess Champion Gabriela Antova from Bulgaria, Cecile Haussenot from Alsace - several times the European Champion and the World Champion and the Champions of France - Michael Massoni and Albert Tomasi. The final match was seen by 4000 spectators.

Mr. Silvio Danailov, President of the European Chess Union took part in the Opening Ceremony of the tournament, as well as Mr. Emile Zuccarelli, Mayor of Bastia and Mr. Leo Battesti, President of the Corsican Chess League. All guests held a minute of silence in memory of all victims of the recent earthquake in Italy out of respect for the delegations of Piedmont and Sardinia.

The Board meeting of the European Chess Union was held at Best Western hotel, Bastia, on 07 June, with the participation of Mr. Leo Battesti.

On 8th of June, 3000 children took part in the Championship School of Haute-Corse.

Official website: www.corse-echecs.com

ŠK ŠIROKI BRIJEG WON THE 11TH PREMIER LEAGUE OF BOSNIA&HERZEGOVINA ŠK Široki Brijeg from Široki Brijeg won the 11th Premier League of Bosnia & Herzegovina with the final result of 16 match points (7 wins, 2 draws, 0 loss). Second finished the team of ŠK Bosna from Sarajevo with 15 match points (7 wins, 1 draws, 1 loss), on the shared third place finished the teams of ŠK Slavija from Istočno Sarajevo and HŠK Napredak from Sarajevo both with 13 match points (5 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss). The 11th Premier League of Bosnia & Herzegovina was held in Jahorina, on June 02- 10, 2012. The Chief-Arbiter of the tournament, organized by the CF of Bosnia and Herzegovina & CF of Republic of Srpska, was IA Nedeljko Ilic.

Final Ranking after 9 rounds- first 5 positions-MEN

Rk. Team Games TB1 TB2 TB3 + = - 1 ŠK Široki Brijeg, Široki Brijeg 9 7 2 0 16 39 0 2 ŠK Bosna, Sarajevo 9 7 1 1 15 39 0 3 ŠK Slavija, Istočno Sarajevo 9 5 3 1 13 30 0 4 HŠK Napredak, Sarajevo 9 5 3 1 13 30 0 5 ŠK Čelik, Zenica 9 2 5 2 9 28 0

Team composition of ŠK Široki Brijeg was: GMs Mladen Palac (CRO-2604), Ante Brkic (CRO-2569), Emir Dizdarevic (BIH-2462), Bojan Kurajica (BIH-2556), IMs Bosko Tomic (BIH-2418), Zeljko Bogut (BIH-2426), Ivan Galic (CRO-2356), WFM Aleksandra Dimitrijevic (BIH-2274), Mladen Mikulic (BIH-0) and Blago Vukoja (BIH- 0).

In the women’s section of the league the winner is the team of ŠK Slavija-Lok from Istočno Sarajevo with the final result of 7 match points (3 wins, 1 draw, 0 loss), second finished the team of ŠK Osnovac from Bileća with 5 match points (2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss), third was ŠK Obudovac from Obudovac with the same number match points, but with one game point less than the second team. Final Ranking after 4 rounds-WOMEN

Rk. Team Games TB1 TB2 TB3 + = - 1 ŠK Slavija-Lok, Istočno Sarajevo 4 3 1 0 7 12 0 2 ŠK Osnovac, Bileća 4 2 1 1 5 8,5 0 3 ŠK Obudovac, Obudovac 4 2 1 1 5 7,5 0 4 ŠK Dvorovi, Dvorovi 4 1 1 2 3 8 0 5 ŠK Preporod, Zenica 4 0 0 4 0 3 0

Team composition of the winners was: WIM Marija Petrovic (SRB-2189), Sanja Dedijer (BIH-2058), Mira Dedijer (BIH-1984), Sara Jacimovic (BIH-1951) and Aleksandra Dimovski (BIH-2110).

RIGAS TEHNISKA UNIVERSITATE WON THE LATVIAN TEAMS CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHER LEAGUE’ 2012 Rīgas Tehniskā universitāte won the Latvian Teams Chess Championship, Higher League with the final result of 17 match points (8 wins, 1 draw, 0 loss), second finished the team of Rēzekne/Rīgas Šaha skola with 16 match points (7 wins, 2 draws, 0 loss), The Champions! EST Chess team won the bronze medal with 13 match points (6 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses).

The Latvian Teams Chess Championship, Higher League was held from 24 March to 10 June, 2012 at various sites. The Chief-Arbiter of the tournament, organized by the Latvian Chess Federation, was IA Alberts Cimins.

Team composition of the winners was: GMs Alexei Shirov (LAT-2701), Normunds Miezis (LAT-2557), Aleksandr Volodin (EST-2496), IM Vadims Daskevics (LAT- 2466), FMs Toms Kantans (LAT-2347), Egons Lavendelis (LAT-2347), WGM Laura Rogule (LAT-2317), WIM Katrina Skinke (LAT-2229), MK Kr. Kalnins (LAT-2290).

Final Ranking after 9 rounds

Rk. Team Games TB1 TB2 TB3 + = - 1 Rīgas Tehniskā universitāte 9 8 1 0 17 33 0 2 Rēzekne/Rīgas Šaha skola 9 7 2 0 16 31 0 3 EST Chess team 9 6 1 2 13 27 0 4 Termo-Eko/RŠF 9 6 0 3 12 27 0 5 Daugavpils 9 4 0 5 8 20 0 6 Ventspils 9 3 1 5 7 22 0 7 Autoskola VENTA 9 3 1 5 7 21 0 8 Rīgas Šaha skola - Cerība 9 3 0 6 6 21 0 9 Liepājas KSS 9 1 0 8 2 19 0 10 F. Circeņa Šaha klubs 9 1 0 8 2 7 0 Official website: www.sahafederacija.lv

ALAMDAR MAMMADOV WON THE AZERBAIJANI SENIOR CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP Alamdar Mammadov won the Azerbaijani Senior Chess Championship with the final result of 6.5 points. Second and third finished Ravis Babayev and Hamza Ismayilov respectively – both with the same score as the winner, but with worse tiebreak. This is the second title for Alamdar Mammadov.

The Championship was held on June 01-09, 2012. The Chief-Arbiter was IA Nurali Mam- madzada. Twenty four chess players took part in the competition.

Final Ranking after 9 rounds - first 10 positions Rk. Name Rtg. Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 Mammadov Alamdar 0 6,5 6 0 37 2 Babayev Ravis 1970 6,5 6 0 34 3 Ismayilov Hamza 2111 6,5 6 0 30 4 Roustamli Ibragim 2243 6,5 5 0 32 5 Farajzade Oruj 0 6 5 0 30 6 Hasanov Mirmusa 1833 5,5 5 1 31 7 Chubenko Gennadiy 1959 5,5 5 0 30 8 Bairamov Tariel 1727 5 5 0 26 9 Nagiyev Rauf 0 5 5 0 25 10 Dyakonov Vladimir 1527 5 5 0 19 Official website: www.azerichess.az

CLICHY CHESS 92 IS THE NEW FRENCH CLUB CHESS CHAMPION Clichy Chess 92 won the French Club Chess Championship – TOP 12 with final result of 30 points. The silver medal is for Chalons en Champagne – 26 points, bronze is for Evry Grand Roque – 25 points.

The TOP 12 was held from 31st of May to 10th of June, 2012 in Belfort.

Results for the winner are as follows: Round 2: Clichy 3-1 Marseille Echecs, Round 3: Guingamp 0-6 Clichy, Round 4: Clichy 4-0 Grasse, Round 5: Metz Fischer 0-5 Clichy, Round 6: Clichy 3-1 Chalons en Champagne, Round 7: Mulhouse Philidor 0-2 Clichy, Round 8: Clichy 3-0 Vandoeuvre, Round 9 Evry Grand Roque 0-4 Clichy, Round 10: Clichy 4-1 Deauville, Round 11: Bischwiller 0-5 Clichy.

Team composition of the winners was: Vassily Ivanchuk, Laurent Fressinet , Loek van Wely, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave , Wesely So, Hicham Hamdouchi, Pavel Tregubov, Yannick Pelletier, Axel Delorme and Almira Skripchenko.

Final Ranking after 11 Rounds – first 5 positions Pl. Equipe Pts. j. d. p. c.

1 Clichy 30 10 36 39 3

2 Chalons en Champagne 26 10 19 33 14

3 Evry Grand Roque 25 10 9 23 14

4 Marseille Echecs 25 10 17 31 14

5 Mulhouse Philidor 21 10 -6 18 24

Official website: www.echecs.asso.fr

AUSTRIAN YOUTH CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP FOR BOYS AND GIRLS – U8, U10

The Austrian Youth Chess Championship for Boys and Girls – U8, U10 was held on June 08-10, 2012 in Schladming.

Chief-Arbiter of the tournament, organized by the Austrian Chess Federation, was IS Manfred Mussnig.

Final Rankings after 7 rounds-first 3 positions

Boys – U10 Girls – U10

Rk. Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 Rk. Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 Blohberger Felix 5,5 30 22 23 1 Konecny Sophie 6,5 29 21 25,8 2 Prato Simon 5,5 30 22 22 2 Mörwald Magdalena 5,5 28 20 19,8 3 Leisch Lukas 5,5 27 21 18,8 3 Martic Matea 5,5 28 19 18,3

Boys – U8 Girls – U8

Rk. Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 Rk. Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 Strobl Samuel 6,5 30 21 28 1 Dodu Crina Karina 5,5 25 20 17 2 Loreth Thomas 6 28 19 22 2 Rigler Caroline 5 29 22 19 3 Wernisch Eduard 4,5 27 18 15 3 Enache Dorothea 5 29 22 18,5

Official website: www.jugendschach.at

FINNISH YOUTH CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP FOR BOYS AND GIRLS – U 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20

The Finnish Youth Chess Championship for Boys and Girls was held on June 07-10, 2012 in Helsinki.

Chief-Arbiter was Timo Munukka.

Final Rankings – first 3 positions

U20+18

Pt Rk. Name Rtg TB1 TB2 TB3 s. 1 Ahvenjärvi Jani 2275 6 0 5 13 2 Rönkä Erik 2126 5 0 4 11 3 Räsänen Otto 1803 5 0 4 8,5

U16

Rk. Name Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 Ebeling Daniel 2361 5 0 4 8,5 2 Rauramaa Julius 2048 4 0 3 7,3 3 Liu Dennis 1976 3 0 2 4,5

U14

Rk. Name Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 Tumanov Dmitri 1971 6 30 23 4 2 Virtanen Teemu 1835 6 30 22,8 4 3 Lappalainen Matias 1842 5 32 20 3

U12

Rk. Name Rtg Pts TB1 TB2 TB3 1 Demidov Jan 1844 6 32 27,5 5 2 Nazarova A. 1628 6 31 22 5 3 Hallman Valo 1670 5 31 19,8 4

U10

Rk. Name Rtg Pts TB1 TB2 TB3 1 Kugappi Tomi 1773 7 30 29,5 7 2 Nappu Maxim 1535 6 32 21,8 5 3 Keinänen Toivo 1420 6 30 19,8 5

Pt Rk. Name Rtg TB1 TB2 TB3 s. 1 Aalto Patrik 1405 7 26 23 6 2 van Eynde Maxim 1227 6 26 16,5 5 3 Aura Daniel 1305 5 27 16,8 3

Official website: www.shakki.net

GM SHANGLEI LU FROM CHINA WON THE 1ST GRAND EUROPE OPEN GOLDEN SANDS’2012

GM Shanglei Lu from China won the 1st Grand Europe Open Golden Sands’2012 with final result of 7.5 points from possible 9. Second finished GM Levente Vajda (ROU), third is GM Hans Tikkanen (SWE) with the same score.

1st Grand Europe Open Golden Sands’2012 was held on June 04-12, 2012 in the elite Black sea resort Golden Sands, Bulgaria under the patronage of the President of the European Chess Union and the Bulgarian Chess Federation, Mr. Silvio Danailov.

The Open was played in 9 rounds according to the Swiss system with time control 90 minutes for the entire game+30 seconds increment per move, starting from move one. The total prize fund of the tournament was 50,000 EURO. Chief-Arbiter was Vladimir Sakotic.

Final Ranking-first 10 positions

Rk. Name FED Pts. BH. BH.

1. Lu Shanglei CHN 39 48.5

2. Vajda Levente ROU 7.5 43 55

3. Tikkanen Hans SWE 7 41.5 53

4. Efimenko Zahar UKR 7 41 52

5. Ipatov Alexander TUR 7 39 50

6. Melkumyan Hrant ARM 7 38 49.5

7. Solak Dragan TUR 7 37 48

8. Tunik Gennady RUS 6.5 43.5 54

9. L'ami Erwin NED 6.5 42 53

10. Swiercz Dariusz POL 6.5 40.5 52.5

Official website: http://golden-sands-2012.chessmix.com

HUNGARY AND GERMANY WON MITROPA CUP’2012

The team of Hungary won the men’s section of Mitropa Cup’2012 with final result of 16 match points. Second finished Slovenia with 15 match points, third is Croatia with 11 points.

In the women’s section winner is the team of Germany with score of 9 match points, second with the same result, but with worse game-points is Slovenia,

third is Italy with 8 match points.

Mitropa Cup for men and women was held from 30th of May to 8th of June, 2012 in Sibenik, Croatia.

Chief-Arbiter of the tournament, organized by the Croatian Chess Federation, was IA Nenad Doric.

Final Ranking-MEN

Rk. Team Games TB1 TB2 TB3 + = -

1 Hungary 9 7 2 0 16 24 0

2 Slovenia 9 7 1 1 15 25 0

3 Croatia 9 5 1 3 11 21 0

4 Italy 9 3 3 3 9 19 0

5 France 9 4 1 4 9 17 0 Czech 6 Republic 9 2 3 4 7 17 0

7 Slovakia 9 1 5 3 7 15 0

8 Germany 9 2 2 5 6 17 0

9 Austria 9 1 4 4 6 15 0

10 Switzerland 9 1 2 6 4 12 0 Each federation was represented by a team of four players + one reserve for men’s section and two women players + one reserve for women’s section + one team captain.

Final Ranking-WOMEN

Rk. Отбор Партии ТБ1 ТБ2 ТБ3 + = -

1 Germany 7 3 3 1 9 9,5 0

2 Slovenia 7 4 1 2 9 8,5 0

3 Italy 7 3 2 2 8 7,5 0

4 Hungary 7 3 1 3 7 7 0

5 Croatia 7 2 2 3 6 6,5 2

6 Czech Republic 7 3 0 4 6 6,5 0

7 Austria 7 3 0 4 6 5,5 0

8 Slovakia 7 2 1 4 5 5 0 Official website: www.crochess.com

28TH EUROPEAN CLUB CUP FOR MEN 17TH EUROPEAN CLUB CUP FOR WOMEN EILAT (ISRAEL), OCTOBER 10th – OCTOBER 18th 2012

Dear Chess Friends,

The European Chess Union and the Israel Chess Federation are cordially inviting all European Chess Federations affiliated to FIDE and ECU to participate at the 28th European Club Cup for Men and the 17th European Club Cup for Women.

GENERAL REGULATIONS

1. Invitation The Tournament will be held in Eilat, the southern city of Israel, from Wednesday, October 10th 2012 (day of arrival) until Thursday, October 18th 2012 (day of departure).

2. Participation The valid regulations to be followed are the "ECU Tournament Rules" approved by the General Assembly of the European Chess Union. Each European federation is allowed to take part in this competition. According to the Rules for the European Club Cup participation is open to:

. Saint-Petersburg Chess Federation (Russia), the current cup holder in the men's competition. . AVS (Russia), the current cup holder in the women's competition. . Two clubs per federation in which a national team championship is organized. One club per federation in which no national team championship is organized. . Third club is allowed to that federation(s) in which a national team championship is organized provided that at least 20 grandmasters and/or players with a FIDE-rating over 2600 have participated in this national team championship. . One additional club (only in the men's competition) for the federations which are ranked in the first five places of the federation ranking list. For the competition of 2012 the federations are: Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Germany.

3. ECU Fees 3.1. In accordance with the ECU regulations each federation should pay an entry fee of 300 EUR for the each participating club in the men's competition and 200 EUR for each participating club in the women's competition. 3.2. According to the ECU regulations (Art. B.9.5.1), the entry fee shall be paid by the federations to the ECU before or at the start of the competition. If the entry fee is not paid by the end of the second round, these teams will not be paired in subsequent rounds.

4. Application, Registration 4.1. Every federation that intends to participate shall inform the organizing committee by June 30th,

2012 of its acceptance of the invitation specifying the number of the teams. 4.2 Every federation that will inform the organizers the acceptance of the invitation, will receive (in a separate E-mail) a User Name and a Password. 4.3 The Entry form should be filled at the official website of the tournament by the national federation not later than August 10th. This date is the registration deadline. After that, federations will not be able to register or modify any registrations, unless confirmed by the ECU. 4.4 Teams will not be paired until all their registration details have been fulfilled.

5. Travel Details 5.1. The organizing committee is strongly recommending to book air-tickets as soon as possible.

5.2. For all participants, accompanying persons and journalists, the organizer will provide transfer from Eilat airport to the hotels, free of charge. 5.2. These transport services will be available on October 10th (arrival) and on October 18th (departure). If the organizer is able he will accept special requests from clubs regarding transfer dates.

6. Payments 6.1 At the time of registration (August 10th) all payments should be transferred to the following account:

The Israel Chess Federation Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot Ltd. Ramat Aviv Branch (493) 38, Tagore St., Tel Aviv Account No. 216998 IBAN: IL61 0204 9300 0000 0216 998 SWIFT: MIZBILIT 6.2. The foreign bank commissions must be paid by sender. If it is not paid, the organizers will charge the respective participants by an invoice, which must be paid in full before the end of the second round.

7. Lodging and Meals 7.1. Accommodation and meals for all the players and the accompanying persons, will be at these official hotels:

All the prices are per 1 person for 1 night.

7.1.1 4* Hotels

Rimonim Central Park Hotel Eilat. 90 rooms are available. www.rimonim.com/?RefFrom=GoogleAds_US_EIlat&utm_source=Google&utm_me Double room: 53 Euro, half board (breakfast, lunch or dinner). Single room: 68 Euro, half board (breakfast, lunch or dinner) . Additional meal: 12 Euro.

Hotel Lagoona. 75 rooms are available. www.isrotel.com/lagoona Double room: 75 Euro, All Included. Single room: 95 Euro, All Included. Meals, drinks, ice-cream, cakes and treats by the pool – all free and unlimited

7.1.2 5* Hotels

King Solomon Hotel. 150 rooms are available. www.isrotel.com/king_solomon Double room: 68 Euro, half board (breakfast, lunch or dinner). Single room: 88 Euro, half board (breakfast, lunch or dinner). Additional meal: 12 Euro.

Hotel Royal Tulip. 50 rooms are available. www.fattal-hotels.com/HotelLtr.aspx?ResortID=21&LangID=2 Double room: 68 Euro, half board (breakfast, lunch or dinner). Single room: 97 Euro, half board (breakfast, lunch or dinner).

Hotel Magic Palace. 50 rooms are available. www.fattal-hotels.com/GeneralLtr.aspx?CatID=934 Double room: 71 Euro, half board (breakfast, lunch or dinner). Single room: 108 Euro, half board (breakfast, lunch or dinner).

Hotel Sport. 75 rooms are available. www.isrotel.com/sport_club Double room: 85 Euro, All Included. Single room: 105 Euro, All Included. Three meals a day, soft drinks, popsicles and ice-cream, snacks, fruit, alcoholic drinks and beer, gym, sauna and sport facilities – no extra charge 7.1.3 Delux Hotels

Hotel Le Meridien. 50 suites are available www.fattal-hotels.com/GeneralLtr.aspx?CatID=933 Double room: 103 Euro, half board (breakfast, lunch or dinner). Single room: 174 Euro, half board (breakfast, lunch or dinner).

Royal Beach Hotel. 100 rooms are available www.isrotel.com/royal_beach Double room: 156 Euro, half board (breakfast, lunch or dinner). Single room: 275 Euro, half board (breakfast, lunch or dinner).

Hilton Hotel Eilat Queen of Sheba Resort. 80 rooms are available. http://www.queeneilathotel.co.il Double room: 156 Euro, half board (breakfast, lunch or dinner). Single room: 275 Euro, half board (breakfast, lunch or dinner).

IMPORTANT NOTICE: All hotels and tournament halls are within 10 min walking distance.

7.2. In case that a participating team does not wish to use an official hotel for their members, an additional payment of 100 Euro per person who requires accreditation must be included with the registration.

8. Tournament Hall The event will be held in the Royal Beach Hotel.

9. Schedule

DAY DATE TIME EVENT Wednesday October 10th Arrival Wednesday October 10th 22:30 Captains' Technical Meeting Thursday October 11th 14:30 Opening Ceremony Thursday October 11th 15:00 1st Round Friday October 12th 15:00 2nd Round Saturday October 13th 15:00 3rd Round Sunday October 14th 15:00 4th Round Monday October 15th 15:00 5th Round Tuesday October 16th 15:00 6th Round Wednesday October 17th 10:30 7th Round Wednesday October 17th 18:00 Closing Ceremony Thursday October 18th Departure

Teams who will not be represented at the technical meeting will not be paired, according to the decision of ECU Board.

10. Basic Competition Rules 10.1. The championship will have 7 rounds, played in the Swiss system in accordance with the ECU Tournament Rules. 10.2. According to FIDE and ECU rules, the time control will be 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one.

11. Additional Competition Rules 11.1. Article 6.6a of the FIDE Laws of chess will be valid: "Any player who arrives at the chessboard after the start of the session shall lose the game". 11.2 According to article 3.2 of the ECU Tournament Rules communication between players (the offer of a draw) is forbidden until the 40th move has been played. 11.3 Article 13 of the ECU Tournament Rules (Dress Code) will be implemented in this tournament. 11.4. Analyzing is not allowed in the playing hall 11.5. During the game the players are not allowed to go to the analyzing room or to the press room. 11.6. Flash photography may be used only in the first ten minutes of the playing session. 11.7. Only the players and arbiters shall be allowed to stay in the actual playing area, except with the explicit permission of the Chief Arbiter. 11.8. Players are not allowed to enter the closed area of the top boards if they don't play there themselves. 11.9. As long as the game is in progress a player may talk only to an arbiter or with his opponent as permitted by the Laws of Chess. 11.10 Regarding foreigners, ECU Tournament Regulations F1.2 will be followed strictly. 11.11 Attention is drawn to the fact that this competition is offering the possibility to achieve GM- or IM-norms based on 7 games. 11.12 No teams of federations which have financial arrears with respect to the European Chess Union will be allowed to enter the competition. 11.13. We assume that all the players have read the Tournament Regulations and are obliged to follow them. 11.14. The English text of these Tournament Regulations is the authentic version.

12. Tournament Director, Arbiters and Appeals Committee The Tournament Director of the European Club Cup 2012 will be IA Malkiel Peretz. The Chief Arbiter of the competition will be IA Almog Burstein (ISR).

The Deputy Chief Arbiter of the competition will be IA Ashot Vardapetyan (ARM). The Pairing Arbiter will be the ECU Tournament Director, IA Dr. Dirk De Ridder. The Chairman of the Appeal Committee will be Mr. Jean-Michel Rapaire (MNC).

13. Information Before the tournament, information will be available on the Internet site: www.ecc2012-chesseilat.com All necessary information about accommodation, visas, transfers etc. will be available in this website. The organizer will offer a variety of attractions in Eilat, as well as excursions in Israel, which will appear in the tournament web site.

14. Information about Visa The organizers will give full support to assist participants to receive entry visas due to speed up procedure in Embassies and Consulates of Israel.

Every registered player, who needs an entry visa to Israel, has to send scanned passport to [email protected], not later than August 1st. Visa's costs will depend on the valid laws at that moment. For more details look at "Transfer and Visas" in the official web site. A Visit Visa Table can be found in the site of the ministry of foreign affairs: http://www.mfa.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/F062828D-B5A6-42CE-BC04- 90BEA48EA7DC/0/tavlat_ashrot.pdf

15. Prizes 15.1. The first three teams will receive trophies. Each member of the winning team (players, reserves and captain) will receive a gold medal. The members of the second and third placed teams will each receive a silver and bronze medal respectively. 15.2. For the best placed teams and for the best individual results on each board in the men's competition, the organizer will provide prizes to the value of 40,000 Euro. For the best placed teams and for the best individual results on each board in the women's competition, the organizer will provide prizes to the value of 9,000 Euro. 15.3. Prize value of 60,000 Euro is disposed as follows: 15.3.1. Team prizes will be transferred by ECU.

CLUB CUP (40,000) WOMEN (9,000) 1st place 16,000 Euro 4,500 Euro 2nd place 8,000 Euro 2,250 Euro 3rd place 6,000 Euro 1,350 Euro 4th place 4,000 Euro 900 Euro 5th place 4,000 Euro 6th place 2,000 Euro

15.3.2. Individual prizes (the best board results, will be transferred by the organizer)

All the prizes are in EUR:

Club Cup Women Board 1st Prize 2d Prize 3rd Prize 1st 2d 3rd Prize Prize Prize 1 900 750 500 400 200 100 2 750 600 400 250 200 100 3 650 500 350 200 150 100 4 600 450 300 100 100 100 5 550 400 250 6 500 350 200 © Europechess.net Page 19

Prizes will be paid by Bank transfer. Players are kindly requested to provide an IBAN (International Bank Account Number) and a BIC (Bank Identifier Code) to receive their transfer from the organizer. Winners are kindly asked to give their IBAN and BIC to the organizer during the closing ceremony, with their written acceptance for the prize money. If a winning player cannot provide the requested data in Eilat, he can send them later by an email to the organizer. 15.3.3. Standings for the best board results will be calculated according to ECU Tournament rules. 15.3.4. Prizes for the team results are the property of the clubs, and individual prizes are the property of the players.

16. Currency The local currency is the Israeli New Sheqel (NIS). The rates on 01/05/2012 were: 1 EUR = 5 NIS. 1 USD = 3.77 NIS.

17. Medical Care During the Tournament there will be Medical Services according to the FIDE Tournament Regulations.

18. Electricity used in Israel The voltage is 220 (V).

19. Tournament Office All necessary information can be seen on the official tournament web-site www.ecc2012-chesseilat.com

20. Contact E-mail [email protected]

Hoping to see you soon in Israel

With best wishes,

Israel Gelfer Moshe Slav Fide Vice President

Chairman of the organizing committee Chairman of the Israel Chess Federation

Official website: www.icu.ie

THE BOOK ARONIAN VS. KRAMNIK

WRITTEN BY GAGUIK OGANESSIAN

The English version of Gaguik Oganessian's Aronian vs. Kramnik book has been published (color printing) in Yerevan, by Chess in Armenia. The book is dedicated to Kramnik-Aronian Match, Zurich, 2012 and to all the battles between these two famous grandmasters.

The most interesting episodes of the match, photos taken by the author, his interview with Levon Aronian in Zurich, all the games played between Aronian and Kramnik till now have found place in the book. You can find the details on the website www.armchess.am

The contacts of Chess in Armenia and author is [email protected]