NL AUGUST 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION ECU PRESIDENT AT EUROPEAN EUROPEAN AZMAIPARASHVILI VIENNA OPEN 2015 AMATEUR UNION YOUTH IN RIGA CHAMPIONSHIP CHAMPIONSHIP 2015 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION NEWSLETTER European Youth Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship 2015 The 15th European Youth Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship was opened in the splendid hall of Master Centre of the Novi Sad Fair, in Novi Sad/Serbia. This festival-like championship consisted of five competitions, and attracted numerous young chess players all over Europe. Two hundred players from 23 national federations took part in the competition, in 12 different categories, Girls and Boys separately. 1 NL AUGUST 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION After the introductory speech from the Chief Arbiter Petar Katanic Vujic, participants were greeted by the president of the Serbia Chess Federation Miroslav Kopanja, who eventually officially opened the competition. The Championship started with Rapid Individual competition, which was held 1-2 August. 16 best players from all 12 categories: U8, U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18, Boys and Girls separately, played the Superfinal, and competed for the absolute best young rapid chess player in Europe. The Superfinal was played in the knock-out format, and after 8 rounds, WIM Laura Unuk (SLO 2019) and IM Benjamin Gledura (HUN 2416) became the winners of European Youth Rapid Superfinals. Superfinal Results The event continued with the European Youth Team Championship in Rapid chess, which took part 3-4 August. The Championship was held in three categories: U10, U14 and U18, and the teams were composed of 4 players: 3 boys + 1 girl. The tournament was played according to the Swiss System with time control was 10 minutes + 5 seconds per player. After 7 rounds, teams of Belarus (U10), Serbia (U14) and Hungary (U18) became the new European Youth Champions in Rapid chess. European Youth Team Championship Results Championship in Solving chess was held in the afternoon of 4th August, in 6 categories: U10, U14 and U18, Boys and Girls separately. European Champions in Solving Chess are: Open U10 Maksim Tsaruk (BLR) 40 points (46 min) Girls U10 Felicia Ojog (MDA) 40 points (1h20 min) Open U14 Artur Avalyan (RUS) 36 points (1h25 min) Girls U14 Ana Afanasieva (RUS) 30 points (1h 58 min) Open U18 Zivojin Perovic (SRB) 38 points (1h 41 min) 2 NL AUGUST 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION Girls U18 Ekatarina Diakonova (RUS) 26 points (2h) The 15th European Youth Championship concluded with the Blitz event. 138 young players from 19 European countries took part in this Championship, and here are the winners: Open U10 Maksim Tsaruk (BLR 1573) 9 points; Girls U10 Kseniya Zeliantsova (BLR 1481) 8.0 points; Open U14 Maksim Ivannikau (BLR 1962) 8.0 points; Girls U14 Olga Badelka (BLR 1950) 7.5 points; Open U18 Valeriy Kazakovskiy (BLR 2261) 7.0 points; Girls U18 WIM Mai Narva (EST 2163) 9.0 points. Blitz Final Results Official Website Lukas Jonkus wins European Amateur Chess Championship The European Amateur Chess Championship 2015 was held in Kaunas, the second city of Lithuania, from the 8th of August (arrival) to the 17th of August (departure) 2015. The organizer and Tournament Director was Prof. Donatas Pilinkus (IO), President of the Kaunas Chess Federation, under the auspices of the Lithuanian Chess Federation. 3 NL AUGUST 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION Lukas Jonkus (LTU 1853) became the winner of the Open section, scoring 7.5 points, the same as Paulo Fanha (POR 1890). But thanks to better tie-break, gold went to the Lithuanian. Bronze went to Eugenijus Zygmanta (LTU 1947) who was sole third with 7 points. Saule Gailiunaite (LTU 1785) triumphed at the European Women’s Amateur Chess Championship with 7 points, silver went to the Irish WCM Diana Mirza (1856) also with 7 points and worse tie- breaks, and Kristina Sulikiene (LTU 1926) came third with 6.5 points. Lukas Jonkus was also a winner of the Blitz event, which was held on 14th August. He triumphed with 7.5 points ahead of Kristina Sulikiene with 7 points, and David Moshenberg from Israel with 6.5 points. This Championship was played according to the Swiss Paring System in two sections. The Women’s section started with 24 players. In the Open section 88 players (86 men and 2 girls) took part. The time control was 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by additional 30 minutes for the rest of the game + 30 seconds for each move from the first one. The tournament was played in the Palace of Army Officers. The total money prize fund was € 4.000. The Chief Arbiter of the Championship was IA Luc Cornet (BEL). Official Website Photos by Justina Dobravalskytė Winners announced at EU Youth Chess Championship 2015 The European Union Youth Chess Championship 2015 finished on Thursday, 27th August 2015. The fights culminated in Kouty nad Desnou/Czech Republic, and after 9 exciting rounds winners were announced. In category Boys U8 CM Rajat Makkar (FRA) took the first place. The second place went to Alexandre Druaux (FRA) and the third place to Marek Fizer (CZE). In category Girls U8 Petya Karaivanova (BUL) triumphed, while silver went to Lucia Kapicakova (SVK) and bronze to Ioana- 4 NL AUGUST 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION Bianca Chicarosie (ROU). Champion of EU in category Boys U10 became Tomas Povilaitis (LTU), Lachezar Kolev (BUL) took silver medal and the third place went Einars Lahs (LAT). Sofia Bellahcene (FRA) won in category Girls U10. Raisa-Georgiana Vulpe (ROU) took the second place and Admira Aida Kecskemeti (IRL) took the third place. In category Boys U12, Augustas Gucaga (LTU) won the title, the second place went to Bogdan-Emanuel David (ROU) and Georg Aleksander Pedoson (EST) came third. After a great performance, WFM Nurgyul Salimova (BUL) became the Champion of EU in category Girls U12. The second place took Daria Vanduyfhuys (BEL) and the third place went to Liwia Jarocka (POL). In category Boys U14 Thomas Ariza (FRA) took the gold medal. Silver went to Aras Jonas Lazaravicius (LTU) and bronze to Zarko Vuckovic (GER). WFM Viktoria Radeva (BUL) became the Champion in category Girls U14 after an excellent performance, the same as her compatriot in category U12! The second place went to Marika Kostecka (POL) and Dominika Ferková (SVK) finished third. The organizers provided a rich fund for the participants of the event. Players who took first three places in each of categories got a cup and diploma. Each participant of the Championship got a medal, and all eight champions of the EU left Kouty nad Desnou with a brand new lap top! The prizes were given by Director of the event, Mr. Zdenek Fiala together with the ECU Tournament Director, Mr. Petr Pisk and Deputy Director of the hotel Dlouhe Strane, Ms. Ivena Svedova. 5 NL AUGUST 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION EU Youth Chess Championship 2015 was organized by Chess Club Svetla nad Sazavou in cooperation with the Czech Chess Federation, under the patronage of the ECU. Boys and girls played in the same tournament, but were evaluated separately. 99 players from 14 federations took part in the championship. All games were broadcast online on the official website. Each day young players were awarded for the best game of each round. Organizers also provided chess and non-chess leisure time activities for all participants and accompanying persons during the tournament, such as excursion to Hand-made paper-mill Velke Losiny, simultaneous game with IM Pisk, Blitz tournament, etc. Official Website ECU NEWS ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili starts Vienna Open 2015 19th Vienna Chess Open was held from 15-23 August, 2015 in the traditional Festival Hall of the famous Vienna Town Hall. Over 800 chess players from all over the world took part in this international event. The tournament consisted of 4 tournaments- A, B, C and D, with the additional side events such as the match between GMs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Markus Ragger, Blitz event, Children's tournament, and simul with GM Ragger. ECU Board member Mr. Johann Poecksteiner was the organizer of the event, and the ECU President Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili was invited to attend the Opening Ceremony of the tournament. Mr. Azmaiparashvili and the President of Austrian Chess Federation Prof. Kurt Jungwirth officially opened the Vienna Open 2015. 6 NL AUGUST 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION After a dramatic finale, the 16-year-old Francesco Rambaldi (ITA) triumphed with 7.5 points ahead of Keith Arkell (ENG) and Tamas Bánusz (HUN). Official Website ECU President at Chess Festival Liepajas Rokade 2015 in Riga In the beginning of the month, 8-9 August, the ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili met FIDE President Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and three Presidents of the Baltic Chess Federations - Mr. Andrei Korobeink (Estonia), Mr. Peteris Smirde (Latvia) and Mr. Aleksandr Cernov (Lithuania). The meeting was held in Riga, during the 22nd International Chess Festival Liepajas Rokade 2015. After the official meeting, Mr. Azmaiparashvili played in the "Rokade 2015 Super" tournament, one of the festival’s events. The ECU President played against top GMs such as Alexander Khalifman (RUS), Daniel Fridman (GER), Igor Kovalenko (LAT), Vladislav Kovalev (BLR), etc. The tournament was played as a Round Robin one in 7 rounds, with time control 15 minutes+ 5 seconds per player. Results Official Website 7 NL AUGUST 2015 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION Judit Polgar receives the Order of Saint Stephen On 20th August, St. Stephen’s Day, President of the Republic Hungary, János Áder handed over the Order of Saint Stephen, Hungary’s highest state decoration, to retired chess grandmaster Judit Polgár at an opulent ceremony held in the Sándor Palace. The decoration was handed over to the world’s best female chess player and the world-famous composer Péter Eötvös, in the presence of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Speaker of the National Assembly László Kövér.