NEWSLETTER 75 (May 14, 2012)

THE CROATIAN CHESS FEDERATION RECEIVED THE ECU SILVER MEDAL ON THE OCCASION OF 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS FOUNDING

A ceremony was held at Four points by Sheraton Hotel in Zagreb on the occasion of 100th anniversary of the founding of the Croatian Chess Federation.

Many famous people from the history and present of the Croatian chess attended the celebration, as well as the Mayor of Zagreb, Mr. Milan Bandic and the member of the International Olympic Committee, Mr. Anton Vrdoljak. ECU Executive Director Mr. Vladimir Sakotic also attended the ceremony on behalf of the President of the European Chess Union, Mr. Silvio Danailov.

On the occasion of this great jubilee, the European Chess Union awarded the highest recognition to the Croatian Chess Federation – the silver medal. Presenting this award to the President of the Croatian Chess Federation Mr. Stjepan Sturlan, Mr. Sakotic said:

- We are very pleased with the cooperation with the Croatian Chess Federation. I believe that a new and strong partnership is ahead of us – the implementation of chess in schools in Croatia. Thereby we would lay a strong foundation for another century of the Croatian chess.

At the end of ceremony, deserving individuals and institutions received appropriate recognitions. A special recognition for the contribution to the development of chess in Croatia was awarded to the European Chess Union.

Official website: www.europechess.net

IM BELA KHOTENASHVILI WON THE 69TH GEORGIAN WOMEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

IM Bela Khotenashvili won the 69th Georgian Women’s Chess Championship with the final result of 8 points from possible 11. Second finished WIM Meri Arabidze on a point distance from the winner. Third is WGM Nino Batsiashvili with 6.5 points. This is the first title for Khotenashvili.

The Championship was held in Anaklia, Zugdidi, Georgia from 28 April to 9 May, 2012. Final Ranking-after 11 Rounds-first 10 positions Rk. Title Name Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 IM Khotenashvili Bela 2490 8 42.3 6 0 2 WIM Arabidze Meri 2337 7 35.3 5 0 3 WGM Batsiashvili Nino 2438 6.5 32.8 5 0 4 IM Paikidze Nazi 2406 6 32.5 4 0 5 IM Melia Salome 2400 5.5 29.5 2 0 6 WGM Guramishvili Sopiko 2395 5.5 27.8 3 0 7 IM Lomineishvili Maia 2366 5 28.3 0 0 8 IM Gvetadze Sofio 2334 5 25.5 2 0 9 WFM Bokuchava Madona 2058 4.5 26.8 2 0 10 WGM Charkhalashvili Inga 2334 4.5 25.5 1 0

The Chief-Arbiter of the 69th Georgian Women’s Chess Championship was IA Tandashvili Margalita. Official website: www.gcf.org.ge

GM EVGENIJ MIROSHNICHENKO WON THE SEMIFINAL OF THE UKRAINIAN MEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP’2012 GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko won the Semifinal of the Ukrainian Men’s Chess Championship’2012. His final result was 7 points. Second finished GM Yuriy Kuzubov, third – GM Anton Korobov – both with 7 points.

The semifinal, organized by the Ukrainian Chess Federation, was held on May 04-12, 2012 in Alushta, Ukraine. The Chief- Arbiter was IA Sergey Polessky.

GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko The tournament was played in 9 Rounds, according to the Source of the photo: Wikipedia Swiss system with time control 90 minutes for 40 moves + 30 minutes for the rest of the game+30 seconds increment per move, starting from move one. The total number of participants was 125.

Final Ranking-first 10 positions Pt TB TB TB Rk. Title Name Rtg s. 1 2 3 262 1 GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij 1 7 55 43 31 262 2 GM Kuzubov Yuriy 3 7 54 42 30 267 3 GM Korobov Anton 8 7 53 42 29 261 4 GM Zubov Alexander 7 7 53 41 30 256 5 GM Vovk Yuri 2 6.5 56 45 32 257 6 GM Kovchan Alexander 6 6.5 53 41 30 263 7 GM Zherebukh Yaroslav 2 6.5 52 40 28 245 8 IM Kharchenko Boris 3 6.5 50 39 28 248 9 IM Kovalev Denis 4 6.5 49 38 27 251 10 GM Onischuk Vladimir 6 6.5 48 37 27 Official website: www.ukrchess.org.ua

GM ANTON KOROBOV WON THE UKRAINIAN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP-RAPID’ 2012

GM Anton Korobov won the Ukrainian Men’s Chess Championship-Rapid with final result of 9.5 points from possible 11. Second is GM Alexander Zubov, third – GM Igor Kovalenko – both with 8 points.

The tournament was held in Alushta, Ukraine on May 13-14, 2012. GM Anton Korobov Source of the photo: Chessvibes Final Ranking after 11 rounds-first 10 positions Rk. Title Name Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 GM Korobov Anton 2678 9.5 78 64 50 2 GM Zubov Alexander 2617 8 79 65 51 3 GM Kovalenko Igor 2560 8 78 63 50 4 GM Solodovnichenko Yuri 2570 8 76 63 49 5 GM Tukhaev Adam 2547 8 74 62 49 6 GM Moiseenko Alexander 2711 7.5 80 65 51 7 GM Vysochin Spartak 2550 7.5 73 59 46 8 IM Sivuk Vitaly 2454 7.5 68 56 44 9 GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij 2621 7.5 68 56 43 10 IM Pavlov Sergey 2460 7.5 68 56 43

In the women’s section winner is IM Anna Ushenina with 7.5 points from possible 9. WIM Olga Kalinina finished on the second place with 6.5 points, third was WIM Irina Andrenko – with 6 points.

IM Anna Ushenina Source of the photo:Wikipedia

Final Ranking-after 9 Rounds-first 10 positions Rk. Name Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 IM Ushenina Anna 2454 7.5 49 38 28 2 WIM Kalinina Olga 2297 6.5 47 37 27 3 WIM Andrenko Irina 2226 6 49 38 27 4 Tantsiura Marja 2212 6 47 37 26 5 WGM Huda Maryana 2194 6 42 34 26 6 Zingaylo Anastasiya 2047 5.5 34 26 18 7 Kalinina Marianna 2050 5 40 30 22 8 WFM Mamonova Yulia 2019 5 35 27 19 9 Kasharina Olga 1827 4.5 42 34 26 10 WIM Zinkevich Julia 2202 4.5 40 33 25 Official website: www.ukrchess.org.ua

FM ALEXANDR BORTNIK WON THE UKRAINIAN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP-BLITZ’2012 FM Alexandr Bortnik won the Ukrainian Chess Championship – Blitz’2012 with final result of 9.5 points. Second finished IM Andrey Baryshpolets with 8.5 points, GM Alexander Moiseenko was third with 8 points.

The tournament was held in Alushta, Ukraine on 15 May, 2012.

In the women’s section the winner is IM Anna Ushenina with 8 points from possible 9. Marja Tantsiura won the silver medal with 6.5 points, the bronze - WIM Julia Zinkevich with 6 points.

Final Ranking after 11 Rounds-first 10 positions-MEN Rk. Title Name Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 FM Bortnik Alexandr 2367 9.5 79 65 67.5 2 IM Baryshpolets Andrey 2487 8.5 73 60 52.8 3 GM Moiseenko Alexander 2711 8 75 61 49.3 4 GM Korobov Anton 2678 8 71 57 47.3 5 GM Kovchan Alexander 2576 8 68 55 47.3 6 GM Goloshchapov Alexander 2582 7.5 76 64 48.8 7 GM Zinchenko Yaroslav 2544 7.5 64 51 40 8 GM Vovk Yuri 2562 7.5 61 51 42.5 9 GM Zubov Alexander 2617 7 76 62 42.8 10 IM Kharchenko Boris 2453 7 68 55 43.3

Final Ranking after 9 rounds-first 10 positons-WOMEN Rk. Title Name Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 IM Ushenina Anna 2454 8 45 35 39 2 Tantsiura Marja 2212 6.5 47 36 30.5 3 WIM Zinkevich Julia 2202 6 44 35 26.8 4 WIM Andrenko Irina 2226 5.5 48 37 25.3 5 WIM Kalinina Olga 2297 5.5 43 34 21 6 WFM Petrova Irina 2105 5 46 36 24.3 7 Zingaylo Anastasiya 2047 5 44 35 18 8 Vasina Olena 2002 4.5 39 30 15.8 9 WFM Mamonova Yulia 2019 4.5 38 28 15.8 10 Protsiuk Svetlana 1731 4.5 33 25 13.8 Official website: www.ukrchess.org.ua

IM PETR PISK WON THE RAPID TOURNAMENT DURING THE CZECH CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP’2012 IM Petr Pisk won the Rapid Tournament during the Czech Chess Championship’2012 with the final result of 8 points from possible 9. Jan Macháň won the silver with 7 points, the bronze - Jiří Zapletal with 6.5 points.

The tournament was held in Kouty nad Desnou,

hotel Dlouhé Stráně, Czech Republic on 13 May, 2012. The Chief-Arbiter of the tournament was FA Jiří Siebenbűrger.

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds Rk. Title Name Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 IM Pisk Petr 2389 8 31.3 7 0 2 Macháň Jan 2017 7 25.5 6 0 3 Zapletal Jiří 2131 6.5 22 5 0 4 Strašil Pavel 2109 6 19.8 5 0 5 Vykydal František 2120 5 16.8 4 0 6 Siebenbürger Vlastimil 2111 4.5 12.5 4 0 7 Janáček Jaroslav 2064 3 12.3 2 0 8 Eichler Břetislav 1612 2 4.5 2 0 9 Kropáč Zdeněk 1730 1.5 3.75 1 0 10 Kubíček Martin 1512 1.5 2.75 1 0 Official website: www.chess.cz

CZECH CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP FOR BOYS&GIRLS U8 The Czech Chess Championship for Boys and Girls U8 was held at Hotel Petr Bezruč in Malenovice, Czech Republic on May 12-13, 2012.

Sixty six boys and sixteen girls took part in the Championship. The Chief-Arbiter of the tournament was Pavel Benčo.

In the boys’ section the winner is Viktor Pribyl with the final result of 9 points from possible 9, in the girls’ section - Anna Vavrinkova with 7 points. Final Ranking after 9 rounds-first 10 positions-BOYS Rk. Name Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 Pribyl Viktor 1303 9 43 53 52.5 2 Nguyen Thai Dai Vinh 1000 7 39 50 37 3 Gnojek Petr 1250 7 39 51 35.5 4 Skypala Ondrej 1250 7 37 49 34 5 Sebesta Jan 1250 6.5 40 52 38.3 6 Glozar Petr 1250 6.5 36 49 31.3 7 Odstrcil Lukas 1000 6.5 34 44 30.3 8 Lanca Petr David 1100 6 38 50 27 9 Stalmach Richard 1100 6 38 49 29.5 10 Hak David 1000 6 38 48 27

Final Ranking after 9 rounds-first 10 positions-GIRLS Rk. Name Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 Vavrinkova Anna 1100 7 32 40 30.5 2 Korenova Karolina 1100 6.5 36 46 31.8 3 Pastrnkova Katerina 1100 6 36 46 28 4 Malkova Adriana 1100 5.5 37 46 26 5 Garska Lenka 1100 5.5 33 41 20 6 Dudova Pavlina 1000 5.5 30 38 19.3 7 Gerekova Eliska 1100 5 38 48 26 8 Fizerova Lucie 1000 5 35 46 22.5 9 Dudlova Katerina 1100 5 33 41 16.5 10 Szuscikova Natalie 1000 4 34 42 16 Official website: www.chessfm.cz

SLOVAK YOUTH CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP RAPID – U 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20 The Slovak Youth Chess Championship Rapid – U 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20 was held in Hotel LUNA Martin, Martin, Slovak Republic on 12 May, 2012. The Chief-Arbiter of the tournament was FA Rastislav Diviak.

Final Rankings Boys-U20 Girls-U20

Rk. Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 Rk. Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3

1 Jacko Vladimir 5.5 28 32 25 1 Svaralova Monika 6 26.5 0 5

2 Gazik Viktor 5.5 25 26 21 2 Motycakova Monika 6 24 0 5 3 Turkova Karolina 5.5 20.8 0 5 3 Druska Juraj 5 27 30 20

Boys-U16 Girls-U16 Rk. Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 Rk. Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 Tropp Oliver 5.5 28 31 22 1 Sucikova Katarina 7 23.5 0 6 2 Hros Roman 5.5 27 29 23 2 Tomovicsova Evelina 6 20.5 0 5 3 Istona Martin 5 28 32 23 3 Kopnicka Henrieta 6 17 0 6

Boys-U14 Girls-U14 Rk. Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 Rk. Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 Repka Christopher 6.5 29 32 27 1 Liscinska Jana 6 26 27 22 2 Spacek Oliver 5.5 31 34 24 2 Meszarosova Eva 5.5 27 30 22 3 Karas Marek 5.5 25 28 22 3 Dzurjaninova Hana 5.5 26 28 23

Boys-U12 Girls-U12 Rk. Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 Rk. Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 Haring Viktor 6.5 30 34 28 1 Vrtiakova Anna 5.5 29 33 21 2 Volcko Richard 6 29 33 25 2 Krivkova Adriana 5.5 29 32 23 3 Dujava Jonas 5.5 28 31 22 3 Liscinska Lucia 5.5 27 29 24

Boys-U10 Girls-U10 Rk. Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 Rk. Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 Haring Filip 6.5 28 31 26 1 Miklasova Emma 6.5 27 28 27 2 Viczencz Peter 5.5 30 33 23 2 Ferkova Dominika 6 27 31 24 3 Baca Juraj 5.5 29 32 21 3 Rudinska Veronika 5 28 30 20

Boys-U8 Girls-U8 Rk. Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 Rk. Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 Gazik Jakub 7 27 29 28 1 Sevcikova Lucia 6.5 24 26 26 2 Sosovicka Jakub 6 28 31 25 2 Vozarova Adriana 6 25 28 22 3 Valigursky Michal 5.5 27 29 23 3 Subjakova Kristina 5.5 26 28 23

Official website: www.chess.sk

THE CUP OF BULGARIA “TARNOVSKATA TSARITSA” FOR BOYS AND GIRLS The Cup of Bulgaria “Tarnovskata Tsaritsa” for boys and girls was held in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria on May 11-13, 2012. Sixty nine boys and forty four girls took part in the tournament. The Chief- Arbiter of the Cup, organized by the Bulgarian Chess Federation and Chess Club Etar, was FA Nikolay Yordanov. Source of the photo: Gustonews In the boys’ section winner was Veselin Metodiev who finished the tournament with the final result of 8 points. Second was Volen Dyulgerov with the same result as the winner, third was Emil Stefanov with 7 points. In the girls’ section winner was Viktoria Radeva who finished with the final result of 8 points, second was Nona Mircheva with the same result, third was Nurgyul Salimova with 7 points. Final Ranking after 9 Rounds–first 10 positions-BOYS Rk. Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 Metodiev Veselin 8 41 52 7 2 Dyulgerov Volen 8 40 52 6 3 Stefanov Emil 7 43 54 5 4 Popov Milen 7 44 56 6 5 Vachev Kostadin 7 42 52 5 6 Vasilev Martin 7 41 52 5 7 Stoyanov Tsvetan 7 39 50 6 8 Ivanov Denis 7 37 46 6 9 Vasilev Hristo 6 43 52 5 10 Yordanov Georgi 6 40 50 6

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds–first 10 positions-GIRLS Rk. Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 Radeva Viktoria 8 40 52 7 2 Mircheva Nona 8 42 53 7 3 Salimova Nurgyul 7 37 48 6 4 Brezalieva Steliyana 7 35 44 6 5 Iliyazova Arzu 6 41 53 5 6 Peycheva Gergana 6 40 52 6 7 Petrova Boryana 6 40 51 6 8 Koleva Djuliana 6 39 51 6 9 Ilieva Nikol 6 36 46 5 10 Dobreva Tcveta 6 39 51 5 Official website: www.chessbg.com

GM MIHAI SUBA WON THE ROMANIAN NATIONAL SENIOR CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2012 GM Mihai Suba won the Romanian National Senior Chess Championship 2012. He finished with the final result of 6.5 points from possible 7. Second finished Marian Smatoc with 5 points, third was Cornel Dumitrascu with the same result.

The championship was held in Bucharest,

Romania on May 05-10,2012. The Chief- Arbiter was FA Pompiliu-Radu Sofran.

Forty four players competed for the title.

Final Ranking after 7 Rounds-Classic Rk. Title Name Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4 1 GM Suba Mihai 6.5 0 32 29.5 27 2 Smatoc Marian 5 0 30 21.3 21 3 Dumitrascu Cornel 5 0 30 19 21 4 Marinica Marin 5 0 29 18 23 5 FM Bondoc Dan-Vladimir 5 0 29 17 22 6 Cernea Radu-Gheorghe 5 0 27 16.5 19 7 Danet Nicolae 4.5 0 29 15 21 8 Batali Gheorghe 4.5 0 26 14 19 9 Tacu Victor-Mihail-Gabriel 4.5 0 26 15 18 10 Nastase Stefan 4 0 30 14.3 21

In the Rapid section the winner was FM Adrian-Florian Sasu-Ducsoara with 5.5 points, second was Marin Marinica with 5.5 points, third was FM Dan-Vladimir Bondoc with 5.5 points. In the Blitz section, the winner was FM Adrian-Florian Sasu- Ducsoara – 5.5 points, second was Cornel Dumitrascu - 5.5 points, third was Paune Florea - 5.5 points. Final ranking-Rapid-first 10 positions Pt TB TB Rk. Name Rtg TB3 s. 1 2 1 FM Sasu-Ducsoara Adrian-Florian 2234 5.5 31 23 22 2 Marinica Marin 1998 5.5 29 22 22 3 FM Bondoc Dan-Vladimir 2114 5.5 25 19 17.5 4 FM Georgescu Gabriel-Ioan 1998 5 32 23 20.5 5 Lazarean Colea-Valentin 1840 5 31 23 21.3 6 Dumitrascu Cornel 2091 4.5 31 22 18.8 7 Danet Nicolae 2036 4.5 30 21 16 8 Zarnescu Marius 1828 4.5 29 21 16 9 Smatoc Marian 2026 4.5 25 18 13.5 10 WCM Pancu Aureliana-Eugenia 1463 4.5 25 17 13.3

Final Ranking-first 10 positions-BLITZ Rk. Name Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 FM Sasu-Ducsoara Adrian-Florian 2234 5.5 33 24 25.8 2 Dumitrascu Cornel 2091 5.5 29 21 21.3 3 Paune Florea 1880 5.5 28 20 21.3 4 NM Tacu Victor-Mihail-Gabriel 2149 5 30 21 18.5 5 Cernea Radu-Gheorghe 2004 4.5 27 20 15.8 6 Simion Nicolae 1871 4.5 26 19 13.8 7 Fluerasu Mihai 1817 4.5 25 18 11.3 8 Milea Florian 1863 4.5 23 17 13.8 9 CM Cornea Alexandru 1913 4 31 23 14.5 10 FM Georgescu Gabriel-Ioan 1998 4 27 20 13.5 Official website: www.frsah.ro

FORTHCOMING

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CHESS AND MATHEMATICS: LEARNING BY PLAYING Turin (Italy) 28 May 2012 Teaching chess at school may significantly improve pupils’ mathematics learning abilities, according to a study by INVALSI (the Italian National Institute for the Evaluation of the Education System) conducted as part of a controlled research project involving some 2,000 8 and 9-year-old children attending a sample of primary schools throughout Italy.

The SAM research project investigating the effects of learning to play chess on maths skills, developed by academic staff members Gianluca Argentin (Milan-Bicocca University), Alberto Martini (University of East Piedmont) and Barbara Romano (University of Pennsylvania), is the most recent in a series of studies on the potential advantages of chess in education promoted and conducted by the Piedmont Regional Committee of the Italian Chess Federation, presided over by Dr. Roberto Rivello, funded by Piedmont Regional Council and Compagnia di San Paolo. Their findings have now been brought together and published by Prof. Roberto Trinchero from the University of Turin and will be the subject of a conference on 28 May 2012 at the Piedmont Region’s “Centro Incontri” congress centre in Turin.

The conference, which is open to the public, will mainly address primary and secondary-school teachers and will also discuss the possible implications of the European Parliament’s recent declaration on the introduction of the “Chess in School” programme in the educational systems of the European Union.

Chess has been part of the curriculum in schools in Piedmont for some time now. Initially only implemented in the city of Turin, under an initiative pioneered by the renowned Turin Chess Club, the project was subsequently extended to the rest of the region as a positive consequence of the Chess Olympiad 2006 held in Turin. Each year approximately 20,000 state school pupils aged between 6 and 19 from more than 1,000 classes at 300 schools are included in the programme and Federation instructors provide a total of 12,000 hours of lessons during school hours. Lessons are based on teaching protocols issued by the Piedmont Regional Committee of the Italian Chess Federation which, coordinated by Alessandro Dominici and working closely in partnership with the competent bodies of the Italian Chess Federation and

the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), has also organized numerous training courses for instructors and teachers at state schools, awarding diplomas to 380 new Federation instructors and teachers. The figures are encouraging, but we still have a long way to go.

Representatives from the most important organizations around the world involved in teaching chess at school will take part in the conference, also via video-conference. It will be broadcast live on internet, with simultaneous translation into English. This event has been conceived as the natural continuation of the International conference “Chess: a game to grow up with” that was held in Turin in 2009, during which speakers from four continents discussed the advantages and positive effects of the various initiatives and methods of teaching chess at school.

Official website: www.piemontescacchi.org