NEWSLETTER 133 (October 21, 2013)

ECU PRESIDENT SILVIO DANAILOV MEETS WITH THE PRESIDENT OF MOLDOVA

The President of the European Chess Union, Mr. Silvio Danailov visited Moldova.

He has met with the President of Moldova, Mr. Nikolae Timofti, who strongly supports chess.

Apart from Moldovan President, Mr. Danailov met with Mr. Igor Grosu, Minister of Education of Moldova, Mr. Ivan Girnet, Director of the National Chess Academy of Moldova, as well as with Mr. Viacheslav Manolaki, Rector of Moldova State University.

Mr. Silvio Danailov, Mr. Ivan Girnet and Mr. Igor Grosu signed an agreement between ECU, National Chess Academy and Ministry of Education for collaboration on Chess in schools programme.

The hosts were very satisfied from the visit of the ECU President and they are sure that his visit will move the game of chess in Moldova on a higher level.

You can read the local news about the visit of the ECU President in Moldova here:

http://moldova.sports.md/chess/news/18-10- 2013/36977/blagodar_a_prijezdu_prezidenta_jeshs_v_moldovu_shahmaty_vyjdut_na_novyj_uroven_razvitija/

THE FIRST ROUND OF THE EUROPEAN CHESS CLUB CUP 2013 WENT AS EXPECTED

The first round of the European Chess Club Cup 2013 in Rhodes finished on 20th of October. We didn't see many upsets, and all the favorites started with victories.

In Men's group SOCAR won 5.5-0.5 against Oslo Schakselskap, with a draw on the first board between GM Fabiano Caruana and GM Simen Agdestein.

Malachite defeated English Jutes of Kent with the maximum score, and Russian teams Saint Petersburg and Ugra won with 5.5 against Barbican 4NCL and Viking Chess Club.

First seed in Women's group, CE de Monte Carlo outplayed Serbian Chess Club BAS with 4-0, and Mika Yerevan defeated Lithuanian MRU-Vilniaus Fortas with 3- 1. Romanian CS Politechnica-Antibiotice Iasi won against Fischer Zieti with 3.5-0.5, while Russian Ugra defeated Bosnian Rudar with 4-0.

Serbian team Jelica PEP drew with the second seed Russian SHSM Nashe Nasledie. © Ecuonline.net Page 3

GM Natalia Zhukova defeated GM Valentina Gunina on the first board, while IM Anastasia Savina equalised the score with a win against WIM Jovana Eric.

The European Chess Club Cup officially started on 20th of October. Before the arbiters started the clocks, the short opening ceremony was held. The participants and guests were welcomed by Mr. Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou, ECU board member, Mr. Savvas Diakostamatiou, Deputy Mayor of the Municipal District of Afantou and Mr. Ioannis Mahairidis, Governor of the South Aegean Region. Mr. Diakostamatiou expressed the wish that this will not be the last time that the chess players are welcomed in Rhodes and that in the future we will have many more such events. Mr. Ioannis Mahairidis officially opened the tournament, and made the first move on the first board, in the game between GM Fabiano Caruana (SOCAR) and GM Simen Agdestein (Oslo Schakselskap).

“I am very much impressed by the image I have before my eyes, the extreme calmness before the battles begins. I find this very impressive, and of course I can understand the competitive nature of chess. There will be some winners and some loosers in the games, but I hope that the beauties of this island will compensate that, and that everybody will have a great time here”, said Mr. Mahairidis.

We are looking forward to seeing some great games and brilliant moves during this tournament. The event will finish on 26th October, when the last round will be

played. SOCAR Azerbaijan in Men's group and CE de Monte Carlo in Women's group are defending the titles.The games start every day at 3.00 pm local time. For results, pairings, live games and more you can visit the official website of the tournament http://euro2013.chessdom.com/

FM RAUL GARCIA WINS THE NATIONAL CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP OF ANDORRA FM Raul Garcia (ELO-2198) won the National Chess Championship of Andorra finishing with final score 7.5 points out of 8. The silver medal was taken by Jose Ribera Bazan (ELO-2117), who remained on a point distance from the winner. The bronze was for Josep Onna Amargant (ELO-1975) – 5.5

points.

The Andorran Chess Championship was held on 19-20 October, 2013 in Grup d'Escacs Valls d'Andorra. Chief-Arbiter of the tournament, organized by the Andorran Chess Federation, was Oscar De la Riva, Tournament Director - Joan Antoni Obregon. The average ELO rating of the competition was 1774.

Final Ranking after 8 rounds – first 10 positions Rk. Title Name Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 FM Garcia Raul 2198 7.5 38 29 34 2 Ribera Bazan Jose 2117 6.5 41 29 29 3 Onna Amargant Josep 1975 5.5 40 30 26 4 CM Jose Queralto Daniel 2195 5 43 32 27 5 Fassnacht Peter 2170 5 40 28 24 6 Casanovas Cantarero Eric 1723 5 38 29 27 7 Obregon Pantebre Marc 1691 5 35 26 22 8 Lopez Pla Francesc Asis 1533 5 33 26 22 9 Gorgues Valle Jose Maria 1776 4.5 35 26 23 10 Moscoso Rodriguez Joan 1714 4 34 25 17

Twenty three chess players took part in the competition for the title.

Official website: www.escacsandorra.com

XI CROATIAN JUNIOR CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP FOR BOYS AND GIRLS – U8 The XI Croatian Junior Chess Championship for boys and girls – U8 was held on 19-20 October, 2013 in Topusko.

Sixty six young chess players took part in the tournament. Chief-Arbiter was IA Siniša Režek, Tournament Director - CA Milan Brigljević.

Final Ranking after 9 rounds – first 5 positions – boys Rk. Name RtgN Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4

1 Novosel Lovro 1702 7.5 42 53 41 0

2 Obućina Ivor 1656 7.5 38 48 37 0

3 Hajpek Erik 1854 7 42 54 38 0

4 List Karlo 1613 7 37 48 33 0

5 Medak Robert 1607 6.5 35 45 32 0

Final ranking after 9 rounds – first 5 positions – girls Rk. Name RtgN Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 TB4

1 Bevanda Ema 1600 7 38 49 34 0

2 Putar Lara 1600 7 37 47 34 0

3 Trgovac Marta 1631 7 37 47 31 0

4 Smetiško Renata 1600 6.5 37 45 37 0

5 Arnold Dora 1600 5.5 33 42 27 0 Official website: http://crochess.com

FABIANO CARUANA WINS THE 7TH EDITION OF THE KINGS TOURNAMENT GM Fabiano Caruana (ITA, ELO-2779) won the 7th edition of the Kings Tournament gaining 5 points out of 10. Second finished GM Wang Hao (CHN, ELO-2733) with 4.5 points, third is GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (ROU, ELO- 2674) – 4 points.

The 7th edition of Kings Tournament was held on October 07-16, 2013 in Bucharest. Chief-Arbiter of the tournament was IA Faiq Gasanov, Tournament Director - MMI Elisabeta Polihroniade.

Final Ranking after 10 rounds Title Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3

1 GM Caruana Fabiano ITA 2779 5 3 0 18 2 GM Wang Hao CHN 2733 4.5 2 0 17.5 3 GM Nisipeanu Liviu-Dieter ROU 2674 4 1 0 15.8 4 GM Radjabov Teimour AZE 2723 3.5 0 0 14 5 GM Ponomariov Ruslan UKR 2751 3 0 0 12.3 Official website: www.turneulregilor.com

GM VLASTIMIL HORT WINS THE 3RD CHESS TRAIN TOURNAMENT GM Vlastimil Hort (GER, ELO-2439) won the 3rd edition of the Chess Train Tournament with 8,5 points out of 10. Second finished Alex Cherniack (USA, ELO-2249) with the same result. Third was Pavel Benco (CZE, ELO-2183) with 8 points.

The Chess Train Tournament was held on October 11-15, 2013. The train track this year was: Prague – Regensburg (Germany) – Innsbruck (Austria) - Salzburg (Austria) – Český Krumlov (Czech Republic).

Final Ranking – first 10 positions Rk. Title Name FED Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3

1 GM Vlastimil Hort GER 2439 8,5 64 77,5 58,25

2 Alex Cherniack USA 2249 8,5 61,5 75 56,25

3 Pavel Benčo CZE 2183 8 64,5 78,5 54,25

4 FM Thomas Hoepfl GER 2308 8 63,5 77,5 53

5 FM Vladimír Bretšnajdr CZE 2272 8 63 77 54

6 Sven Roemling GER 2225 7,5 62,5 76 48,25

7 Petr Folk CZE 2226 7,5 59,5 72,5 48,5

8 FM Paul Mac Intyre USA 2246 7,5 58,5 71 45,5

9 FM Timothy J Upton SCO 2183 7,5 54,5 66,5 45,5

10 Andrew Burnett SCO 2203 7,5 53 64,5 43,25 Official website: www.praguechess.cz

FORTHCOMING TOURNAMENTS

EUROPEAN INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP YEREVAN 2-15 MARCH 2014 Armenian Chess Federation officially confirmed that the European Individual Chess Championship for Men will be held in Yerevan from 2-15 March, 2014. The prize fund will be 200.000 euros, and the competition will be held according to the usual regulations in 11

rounds. More details will be known soon.

THE BULGARIAN CHESS FEDERATION WITHDRAWS ITS BID TO ORGANIZE THE CANDIDATES TOURNAMENT NEXT YEAR

Dear All,

Having in mind the highly suspicious, scandalous and shameful way in which World Youth Championship 2015 was awarded to Greece, Bulgarian Chess Federation has decided to withdraw its bid to organize the Candidates next year.

The main reason is that we are not willing to pay 300.000 Euro fee to the Organization who treats national federations in such a disrespectful way.

My best wishes to Khanty-Mansiysk, we have no doubt they will organize an excellent event.

Sofia, 11.10.2013

Best Regards, Silvio Danailov- President of Bulgarian Chess Federation

You can read the original document here:

Official website: www.chessbg.com