NL MARCH 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION CHESS OFFICIAL MEETING IN BANK OF GEORGIA SPORT AT ECU PRESIDENT IN DRESDEN FOR OFFICIAL SPONSOR OF EUROPEAN SENIOR CHESS REYKJAVIK THE ECU UNIVERSITIES EUROPEAN CHESS UNION NEWSLETTER NAJER IS THE EUROPEAN CHAMPION! Russian GM Evgeny Najer won the European Individual Chess Championship 2015, which was held in Jerusalem/Israel from 23 February to 8 March, 2015. The new champion scored 8.5 points ahead of Navara, Bartel and Khismatullin 8 each. 22 players scored 7.5 points each securing a place in the world cup games next October in the Azeri capital of Baku. 1 NL MARCH 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION The great upset of the championship was the poor finish of the former continental champion, Russian Ian Nepomnianchtchi; who had led the field to what seemed to be a second title but managed to score just half a point in the last three rounds with painful defeat against Polish Mateusz Bartel in the final round. The complete results and the final standings may be seen here The prize giving was attended by the board of the European Chess Union and started with a projected greeting by the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Speeches were made by President of the ECU, GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili (himself a former European champion) and ACP (Association of chess professionals) president GM Emil Sutovsky who both praised the superb organization of the event expressing their hope for more such major tournaments in Israel soon enough. Together with Moshe Slav chairman of the Israel chess federation and Amiram Kaplan, chairman of the organizing committee and secretary of the ECU Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou awarded the 120.000 Euros prize-fund and the huge trophies. In addition to the general standings winners special prizes were given to the best ACP premium members and to the best seniors headed by GMs Alexander Beliavsky (Slovenia), Valery Neverov (Ukraine) and Alex Khuzman (Israel) on 6.5 points each. Best junior was Polish GM Jan Krzysztof Duda on 6.5 points and best Jerusalem player was Ori Kobo on 5.5 and a final norm for the IM title. 250 players from 33 countries took part in the championship. 167 of them title holders of which 112 Grandmasters. Seven past European champions including the current champion, the Russian Alexander Motylev participated in Jerusalem. Official Website Photos by Yoav Nis During the Championship, the ECU Board meeting took place from 6th to 8th March, with the full agenda. ECU would like to thank the Israel Chess Federation for an excellent organization and hosting of the meeting. The ECU Commissions budgets and Media partnerships were approved. 2 NL MARCH 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION One of the important proposals at the Board meeting, which was approved, was to waive the club membership restrictions of the article F.1.1.8, F1.2 of the regulations for the European Women Club Cup 2015, in order to encourage more women teams participation. The ECU also waives the fee of 1000 euros for players at the European Women Club Cup 2015, as defined in the article F.1.2.1. Also, ECU Board decided to launch the ECU Congress, which will be organized every odd year, in connection with the ECU General Assembly, and recognized the necessity for the ECU Chess Academy, which will be eligible to apply for EU Educational programs. More information about the ECU Board meeting Jerusalem 2015 ECU NEWS Chess an Official Sport at the European Universities On Saturday 28th March, in Zagreb, Croatia a memorandum between the European Universities Sports Association (EUSA) and the European Chess Union (ECU) was signed. The memorandum represents the inclusion of chess in the official sports program of the EUSA annual events. Chess is the 19th sport included in EUSA competitions. The agreement was signed during the EUSA annual Gala, between Mr. Adam Roczek, President of EUSA and Mr. Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou, ECU General Secretary. ECU Board member Mr. Adrian Michailchisin was also present at the ceremony. Chess is included in the following competitions: 2015: European Universities Chess Championship, 6-11 October, Yerevan/Armenia 2016: European Universities Games (5000 participants), 13- 24 July, Zagreb/Croatia 2017: European Universities Chess Championship, Fuengirola/Spain 2018: European Universities Games (5000 participants), Coimbra/Portugal 3 NL MARCH 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION European National Chess Federations can contact the National EUSA members in order to get more information about registrations procedure and provide technical support and organize championships within National or European level. http://www.eusa.eu/eusa/members The EUSA events in Croatian capital Zagreb held 26-29 March, 2015 were: Executive and Student Commission meetings, EUSA Conference, EUSA Convention and inspection visits, concluded with the special EUSA Gala, held on Saturday evening. Parallel to the EUSA meetings, a working and creative meeting with the Croatian Chess Federation took place. On behalf of the Croatian Chess Federation, the President Josip Leko, the Secretary General Ervin Sindik and the Councilor Branimir Jukic were present at the meeting. During the meeting the preparations for the European Youth Chess Championships 2015 in Porec and the future co-operation between ECU and Croatian Chess Federation were discussed. Zurab Azmaiparashvili in Reykjavik The ECU President, Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili visited Iceland, during the Reykjavik Open 2015. The ECU President was invited from Icelandic Chess federation for the celebration of the 80th birthday of Mr. Fridrik Olafsson and the preparation of the European Team Chess Championship 2015, which will be held in November in Reykjavik. 4 NL MARCH 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION Mr. Azmaiparashvili attended the opening ceremony of the tournament, gave a short speech and made a symbolic move before the 3rd round, and also visited Robert Fischer’s grave in Sunderland. Reykjavik Open 2015 took place from 10th till 18th March in Harpa, Reykjavik´s spectacular new music hall on the harbour. The tournament broke the record of participants’ number, as this year a total of 274 players from 37 countries participated in Reykjavik. The 29-year-old Dutch grandmaster Erwin l’Ami won the tournament with 8.5/10, and secured the tournament victory after the penultimate round. GM Pavel Eljanov, the winner in 2013, finished second with 8.0/10 and on the same number of points ended French GM Fabien Libiszewski. Top seed GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov scored 7.5/10, while GM David Navara, European vice- Champion lost in the final round to finish on 6.5 points. Official Website 5 NL MARCH 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION ECU Sponsors & Partners European Chess Union is proud to announce three new sponsorships and key partnerships. The ECU presents the official launch of the sponsorship programs by the Bank of Georgia, Chessbase GmbH and Chess Informant. Bank of Georgia will financially support the European Chess Union in a 4 years-program as announced at the ECU General Assembly in Batumi. The first installments for the 2015 ECU budget have already reached the ECU Bank account in Switzerland. Additionally Bank of Georgia is already supporting the establishment and popularization of chess in schools, as well as the training of prospective players, coaches at chess training centers. Moreover there is a number of services in the private banking that will be offered to the chess world in premium conditions. It also has on display rare chess sets of the 17th-21st centuries, including the artworks of world level, some of them the envy of the big art museums. More about the sponsorship with the Bank of Georgia The new media policy of the European Chess Union is a long-term partnership with the main chess media for the better and wider promotion of chess, the better conditions for press and multiple benefits for the ECU members and annual competitions. Therefore, ChessBase GmbH became an official Media Partner of the ECU after an agreement signed by both sides. 6 NL MARCH 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION Main points of the agreement: A. The co-operation in the coverage of the ECU annual championships. ECU will provide all the necessary materials for the events’ coverage and the Media partner will promote the ECU and tournament logos through the coverage pages. B. A large package of free (or discount) offers for the European National Chess Federations. More about the Partnership with ChessBase Another offer comes from the Chess Informant who will be the official ECU Partner and Sponsor of the European Chess Championships. Main points of the agreement: 1. European National Federations will receive for free the 2015 Chess Informant issues 123, 124, 125, 126, in electronic and printed format as follows: These deliveries will be carried out, 4 times per year through email, in March, June, September and December, after publishing and 2 times per year, June and December, the printed versions through the DHL Global Mail service. The electronic version is used by Chessbase software which will also be sent to all National Federations. PGN files could be used anywhere, including Android and iOS for any PGN viewer. 2. Sponsorship of the European Competitions Chess Informant will be the sponsor of the official European events, by donating suitable educational products, books, CDs. The main proposal is to reward all the winners and runners-up (2nd and 3rd places) from each youth, senior, women category at any particular event. Organizers will receive the material free of charge and they will have the obligation to provide photo materials from the awards ceremonies and place the Chess Informant’s logo in the tournament website. More about the Partnership with Chess Informant 7 NL MARCH 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION Meeting for Senior Chess in Dresden On Saturday, 28th February 2015, the meeting with the FIDE and ECU representatives took place in the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Dresden/Germany, during the World Senior Team Chess Championship.