NEWSLETTER - European Chess Union

NL OCTOBER 2015
ECU CONGRESS & ECU
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
BAR 2015
EUROPEAN CHESS UNION
FIDE WORLD
CHESS CUP 2015
EUROPEAN
UNIVERSITIES
CHAMPIONSHIP
2015
GLOBAL CHESS
FESTIVAL 2015
EUROPEAN CHESS UNION
NEWSLETTER
Siberia and Nona win European Chess Club
Cup 2015
The 31st European Club Cup and the 20th European Club Cup for Women finished tonight in
Skopje/FYR Macedonia, with the closing ceremony held in hotel Aleksandar Palace.
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Russian team Siberia became the winner of the Men’s tournament after the equal score against
one of the biggest rivals Obiettivo Risarcimento Padova in the last round.
Siberia scored 13 match points, with 6 won matches and 1 drawn. Last year’s champion SOCAR
(AZE) took silver with 11 match points and better tie-break than Mednyi Vsadnik (RUS), who took
bronze, and Padova, who eventually finished 4th.
Siberia scored 13 match points, with 6 won matches and 1 drawn. Last year’s champion SOCAR
(AZE) took silver with 11 match points and better tie-break than Mednyi Vsadnik (RUS), who took
bronze, and Padova, who eventually finished 4th.
In Women’s section Chess Club Nona from Georgia defended the title with all 7 victories and 14
match points. The first seed triumphed convincingly, without any surprises and took home
another beautiful trophy.
Second place went to the domestic team Gambit Asseko SEE with 11 match points, and the third
place went to Russian team Ugra with 10 match points.
The organizer also awarded the best board prizes for the best individual results one each board.
1st Board: GM Kramnik Vladimir (RUS 2777) Siberia (RUS) 3102 performance
2nd Board: GM Karjakin Sergey (RUS 2762) Obiettivo Risarcimento Padova (ITA) 2821
performance
3rd Board: GM Najer Evgeniy (RUS 2658) SHSM Legacy Square (RUS) 2982 performance
4th Board: GM Adams Michael (ENG 2742) SOCAR (AZE) 2941 performance
5th Board: GM Aleksandrov Aleksej (BLR 2606) Univerzity-Belorechensk (RUS) 3072
performance
6th Board: GM Yu Yangyi (CHN 2721) Alkaloid (MKD) 2765 performance
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In Women’s Section the prizes went to:
1st Board: GM Stefanova Antoaneta (BUL 2500) Gambit Asseko SEE (MKD) 2801 performance
2nd Board: GM Kosteniuk Alexandra (RUS 2525) SHSM Legacy Square (RUS) 2675 performance
3rd Board: IM Shen Yang (CHN 2460) Gambit Asseko SEE (MKD) 2616 performance
4th Board: IM Batsiashvili Nino (GEO 2500) NONA (GEO) 2672 performance.
The European Chess Club Cup was held in Skopje/FYR Macedonia, 17-25 October, 2015, in Hotel
Aleksandar Palace. Both events will be held in 7 rounds, played in the Swiss system in accordance
with the ECU Tournament Rules.
The organizer of the events are Municipality Karpos (Skopje) and Chess Club “Gambit Asseko
SEE”, under the auspices of the European Chess Union. The Chief Arbiter is IA Ashot
Vardapetyan (ARM).
Official Website
1st European Universities Chess Championship 2015
The first edition of the European Universities Chess Championship concluded on October 11 with
the medal awarding and Closing Ceremony at Ani Plaza hotel in the Armenian capital Yerevan. 82
participants representing 17 Universities from 9 European countries took part in the inaugural
edition of the event which started on October 5 with the General Technical Meeting.
The Championship also attracted five chess players among top 100 on the World Chess Ranking
and 9 Grandmasters, giving the top level to the event. European Chess Union (ECU) supported
the event and the organizers also enabled following games live on largest chess portals.
In both categories the competition was tough, and after 9 games played the Champions title went
to the Ural State Mining University from Russia. The individual achievements of the players were
recognized and awarded as well.
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Medals and awards were presented by the Minister of Education and Science of The Republic of
Armenia, Mr. Armen Ashotyan, 1st Deputy Chairman of the Armenian Chess Federation, chess
grandmaster and President of the Chess Academy of Armenia, Mr. Smbat Lputyan, Vice President
of the European University Sports Association, Mr. Leonz Eder and EUSA Technical Delegate for
Chess, Mr. Oleksandr Sulypa.
The international chess players and officials, volunteers, Organizing Committee members,
arbiters and EUSA representatives all contributed to the unforgettable and very successful event.
At the end of the event, the EUSA flag was passed from the main coordinator of the organizers in
Yerevan to Mr. Eder who passed it to Mr. Rifaat Chabouk, representing the organizers of the next
European Universities Championship in mind sports, which will host Chess and Bridge in 2017 in
Fuengirola, Spain. University student chess players are warmly welcome to join the next
Championship, as well as to attend the European Universities Games 2016 where Chess will also
be played.
Medalists:
Team Men:
Team Women:
1 Ural State Mining University (RUS)
1 Ural State Mining University (RUS)
2 Armenian State Institute of Physical
Culture (ARM)
2 University of Warsaw (POL)
3 Poznan University of Economics (POL)
3 University of Belgrade (SRB)
Official Website
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Sergey Karjakin wins FIDE World Cup 2015
GM Sergey Karjakin (RUS 2762) became the 2015 FIDE World Cup winner after defeating his
compatriot GM Peter Svidler (2727) in the dramatic final.
The World Chess Cup final in Baku was more than the chess lovers could ask for – exciting,
dramatic and with all-in stake! Sergey Karjakin started the final poorly, with 0-2, and just when
we thought it’s all over, as Sidler needed 0.5/2, Karjakin stroke back and forced the tie-breaks!
The final match became more like a nerves game, and whoever had clearer mind would win.
Eventually the title went to Karjakin, as he won both blitz games with the final result 6-4.
The total net prize fund of the 2015 FIDE World Chess Cup was 1,6 million USD. In addition, the
tournament awarded two places in the 2016 Candidates Tournament, part of the FIDE World
Championship cycle, which went to the finalists Karjakin and Svidler.
The FIDE World Cup was held in Baku/Azerbaijan from 10th September to 5th October, 2015. The
official venue was the Fairmont Hotel.
Official Website
Carlsen and Grischuk win World Rapid & Blitz Championship
Magnus Carlsen convincingly won the 2015 FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship by
concluding the event with 11.5/15 points, a full point ahead of the nearest followers.
Carlsen defended the title he won last year in Dubai/UAE.
Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS), Teimour Radjabov (AZE) and Leinier Dominguez (CUB) tied for the
second place with 10.5 points each, but due to the tie-breaks, Dominguez was left without the
medal, while Nepomniachtchi took silver, and Radjabov took the bronze.
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Alexander Grischuk from Russia emerged winner of the 2015 FIDE World Blitz Chess
Championship after concluding the event with 15.5/21 points, half a point ahead of the nearest
followers. This is Grischuk's third World Blitz title, but he said this one was the most difficult to
win, due to a very strong field and more demanding Swiss tournament system.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) and Vladimir Kramnik (RUS) shared second place with 15 points
each. After breaking the tie Vachier-Lagrave is awarded with the silver medal, while Kramnik
claimed the bronze.
The 2015 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship was held from 10-14th October at the
Bolle Meierei in Berlin, Germany. 158 players took part in Rapid tournament and 184 participated
in Blitz, competing for the prestigious title and 200.000 USD prize fund.
Official Website
Photos by Nailya Bikmurzina
Global Chess Festival – 1000 faces of chess
The Global Chess Festival is an international unique event that relies on the 1500 years-old
mystical board game presenting the diversity of 1000 faces of chess. From the perspective of
education, culture, science and games, the festival offers all-day family entertainment.
The founder and organizer of the Global Chess Festival is Judit Polgar, number 1 female chess
player for more than 25 years, who beyond her sport achievements has also succeeded in
developing a unique innovative educational program.
Since 2007 the Global Chess Festival's predecessor the Aquaprofit-Polgar Chess Festival, has
grown into a highly prestigious social event, in which gladly participate well-known personalities,
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sportsmen, artists, scientists, educators and most of all children. People of all nations in the world
are connected by a universal, thought-provoking game.
The goal is in 10 years to attract 5 million people from the 5 continents to join the Global Chess
Festival, and to provide opportunity for people to establish cooperation and build friendships
across the barriers of language, age, gender, ethnicity, religion, physical ability or social status.
Under the umbrella of the Global Chess Festival chess events in 8 locations on 4 continents took
place - Budapest and Győr/Hungary, Santiago/Chile, St. Luis/USA, Subotica/Serbia, Satu
Mare/Romania, Melbourne/Australia, and Christchurch/New Zealand. The events were held on
Saturday, 17 October, 2015.
The highlight of the event was the Highlander rapid tournament, in which former World
Champion Anatoly Karpov and former FIDE-World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov played
against two local players: Olympic silver medalist Csaba Balogh and Benjamin Gledura,
Hungary’s most promising junior player. The concept of the tournament was inspired by the main
theme of the famous “Highlander” movie: "There can be only one winner". Accordingly, only the
winner of the tournament would win a prize, which, however, was quite substantial: 6 million
Hungarian Forint (roughly 20,000 Euros). In the first semifinal match 16-year-old Hungarian
sensationally beat the ex-world with 1.5-0.5 to win the match. Kasimdzhanov beat Balogh in the
semifinals and then defeated Gledura 1.5-0.5 in the finals.
Official Website
Official Video
more YouTube videos
ECU NEWS
1st ECU Congress and ECU General Assembly 2015
The 1st ECU Congress was held for the first time in Bar/Montenegro, joining the recently formed
ECU Commissions and ECU Federation delegates in a friendly working atmosphere under the
main chess moto – Gens Una Sumus!
The Congress started on 8th October in Hotel Princess, with the ECU Events Commission
meeting. The meeting was attended by the ECU Secretary General, members of the Events
Commission, as well as the members of other ECU Commissions and Federations delegates.
The Chairman of the ECU Commission, Mr. Gunnar Bjornsson from Iceland greeted all the
present and thanked the Montenegro Chess Federation for their hospitality and great
organization. Mr. Bjornsson stated that the main aim of the ECU Commission should be to
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establish the proper groundwork for the successful organization and carrying out the ECU events,
and in this manner the meeting continued. The ECU Tournament Rules and proposals regarding
this issue were discussed at the meeting.
After the lunch break, the session continued with the Arbiter’s Council meeting, chaired by IA
Ashot Vardapetyan. The meeting was attended by the ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili, the
members of Arbiter’s Council and others interested in the Arbiter’s matters.
One of the main issues Mr. Vardapetyan pointed out was the Swiss pairings for the European
team competitions, and his proposal to use the Olympic pairing System for the European team
championships, starting at European Club Cup in Skopje and European Team Championship in
Reykjavik.
Parallel with the Arbiter’s Council, the Constitutional Meeting took place, chaired by Mr. IonSerban Dobronauteanu, ECU Deputy President. The main topics discussed at the meeting were
amendments and modernization of the ECU statutes. The proposed changes will come for
discussion and voting at the next ECU General Assembly in Baku 2016.
The second day of the 1st ECU Congress in Bar was held on 9th October and started with the ECU
Board meeting.
The ECU Board, chaired by the ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili and ECU Secretary General
Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou made all the necessary preparations for the ECU Annual General
Assembly.
In the afternoon, the meeting of the ECU Educational Commission took place, with the
attendance of more than 20 representatives from 17 federations.
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Mr. Jesper Hall, the Chairman of the Commission opened the meeting, and after the brief
introduction of all the present, he showed a presentation regarding what has been done so far by
the Commission. Later on, the discussion was opened, with two main questions: what needs do
the countries of ECU have, and what the ECU can do to help.
Representatives of Albania, Armenia, Austria, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland,
Israel, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Turkey discussed
the main problems they face within their federations, as well as the ways to overcome them and
improve Chess in School Program.
Nevertheless, all the present agreed on one thing – chess should be a tool and not a goal, and the
further steps should go in this direction.
The 1st ECU Congress concluded on 10th October with the official opening ceremony in St. Nikola
Castle and General Assembly in Bar/Montenegro.
The opening ceremony was held with the presence of the ECU and FIDE officials, representatives
of Montenegro Chess Federation, Montenegro Government institutions, European Chess
Federations as well as the representatives of the media.
After the presentation of chess tradition of Montenegro and the city of Bar, all the present were
addressed by the Director of Montenegro Directorate for Youth and Sport, Mr. Igor Vusurovic,
Vice-President of Montenegro Olympic Committee, Mr. Ranko Jovovic, President of Montenegro
Chess Federation, Mrs. Angelina Vukovic, the ECU President, Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili, FIDE
Deputy President, Mr. George Makropulous and President of Bar Municipality, Dr. Zoran Srzenic,
who officially opened the Congress.
After the opening ceremony, the ECU Annual General Assembly was held in hotel Princess in Bar,
with the attendance of 42 countries.
The most important decisions of the ECU General Assembly 2015 and the decisions of the Board
can be found in the latest ECU Circular Letter.
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ECU General Assembly awarded the following ECU tournaments:
1. European Individual Women’s Chess Championship 2016 was awarded to Mamaia, Romania.
2. European Youth Chess Championship 2017 was awarded to Mamaia, Romania.
3. European Club Cup & Club Cup for Women 2017 was awarded to Manavgat, Turkey.
4. European School Chess Championship 2017 was awarded to Budva, Montenegro.
5. European School Chess Championship 2018 was awarded to Krakow, Poland.
6. European Seniors Chess Championship 2017 was awarded to Barcelona, Spain.
7. European Senior Team Chess Championship 2017 was awarded to Novi Sad, Serbia.
8. European Youth Team Chess Championship 201 7was awarded to Iwonicz-Zdroj, Poland.
9. European Youth Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship 2017 was awarded to Budva, Montenegro.
10. European Individual Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship 2017 was given as an option, till 31st
January 2016, to Israel Chess Federation to organize it. European Team Rapid & Blitz Chess
Championship could be organized also by the Israel Chess Federation as a test event.
Zurab Azmaiparashvili at European Deaf Chess Championship
The 22nd European Deaf Chess Championships for Clubs, 3rd Deaf Open Clubs Tournament, and
1st European Deaf Chess Championships for National Deaf Chess Teams (Men, Women &
Juniors) was held in Baku/Azerbaijan. The Championship is taking place at the Republican Chess
Centre (Club), from 28th September to 4th October, 2015.
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The organizers of the event were the International Chess Committee of the Deaf (ICCD),
Azerbaijan Ministry of Sports and Youth, Azerbaijan Chess Federation, Azerbaijan Deaf Sports
Federation and Republican Chess Centre of Azerbaijan.
The ECU President, Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili was also present at the opening ceremony, which
was held 28th September at 11.00 am, with the attendance of tournament officials and
participants.
Official Website
Photos by Maria Emelianova
ECU President at Women FIDE Grand Prix Monte-Carlo 2015
The FIDE Women Grand Prix that took part from 3rd to 15th of October in Monte Carlo Casino,
was officially closed in one of the most luxurious private rooms Salle Médecin.
The event was attended by such honorable guests as Mr. Jacques Boisson, Secretary of State of
Prince Albert II of Monaco; FIDE President Kirsan Ilumzhinov; Mrs. Agnes Puons, General
Secretary of Société des Bains de Mer; Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili, President of European Chess
Union; Jean Michel Repaire, the President of Monaco chess federation, and Mr. Andrey Filatov,
FIDE Vice-President and the President of Russian chess federation, among other important
personalities of Monaco and the chess world.
World Champion Hou Yifan won the tournament with round to spare, scoring eventually 9 points,
two points more than Mariya Muzychuk and Humpy Koneru, who tied for the second place.
On the free day of the Women FIDE Grand Prix Monte-Carlo 2015, the official reception in the
Ministry of State of Monaco took place.
The reception was held in the Ministry of State, hosted by His Excellency Mr. Michel Roger,
Minister of State of Monaco.
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Present at the reception were His Excellency Mr. Kirsan Ilumzhinov, president of FIDE, Mr. Boris
Ivanov, Managing Director of GPB Global Resources B.V., Mr. Andrei Filatov, President of
Russian Chess Federation, Mr. Jean Michel Rapaire, President of Monaco Chess Federation and
Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili, President of European Chess Union, among other dignitaries.
Co-operation with Checkmate TV-Show
European Chess Union is proud to announce the sponsorship with CheckMate TV-Show, an
ambitious TV Show of which one of the main supporters is the ECU.
The presenter of the show is Anna Richardson, a producer, TV presenter, writer and journalist,
and the commentator is Simon Kim Williams, chess Grandmaster and author from England.
The series revolves around a tournament which takes place in a hotel venue. It is a ten player allplay-all tournament; 45 games of chess over 10 days. Each game counts and every player needs to
win it.
The players starring in the show are top class chess players and interesting people in their own:
Nigel Short, Wenjun Ju, Arkadij Naiditsch, Elisabeth Pähtz, Richard Rapport, Jovanka Houska,
Igor Lysyj, Nino Maisuradze, Tiger Hillarp Persson, and Irina Krush. Players
The 1st season of the show already started shooting, and the concept is that in each show Anna
will introduce the odd interesting fact about the game and players. These may be obscure rules,
little used moves, facts about the history of the game, women in the chess world and how they
compete against men, etc. Format
Filming location is Gozo Island, Malta, and the venue is the Cornucopia hotel.
Official Website
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FUN ZONE
In the name of the recent dramatic FIDE World Chess Cup final, we have prepared 4
positions of some of the most amazing World Championship blunders of all time for the
October Fun Zone.
White to blunder
Black to blunder
White to blunder
Black to blunder
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Solutions from the NL September 2015:
Luik vs Voorema, USSR 1978
1… Re2! 2. Bxh7+ (2. Bxe2 Ne4; 2. b3 Ne4 -+) 2… Kxh7 3. Qd3+ Ne4 0-1
Omer Ibrahim vs Ibarra, Cuba 2003
1… Nd4! 2. Kxg3 (2. Qxd4 Rxa3 3. Rd1 Qh4 -+) 2… Qh4+!! 3. Kxh4 Nf5+ 4. Kg5 Nf8 (with
Nh7 mate) 0-1
J. Polgar vs L. Pliester, Aruba 1992
1. Rxf7!! Nxf7 (1… Bf8 2. Ra7 Qxa7 3. Ne7+ Kh8 4. Qg8#) 2. Rxf7 Kxf7 (2… Bf8 3. Ra7 +-;
2… Bd8 3. Ra7; 2… Bg5 3. Ra7 Qxa7 4. Ne7+ Kh8 5. Ng6#; 2… Qd8 3. Nxe7 +-) 3. Nb6+
Kg6 (Black is mated in any case 3… Kf8 4. Nd7#; 3… Kf6 4. Bd4+ Kg6 5. Bh5+ Kxh5 6.
Qf7+ g6 7. Qf3+ Kg5 8. Be3+ Kh4 9. Qh3#) 4. Bh5 Kxh5 5. Qf7 1-0 (Black resigned as on
5… Kh4 6. g3+ Kh3 7. Qe6#)
Z. Lanka vs A. Fedorov, Kishinev 1998
1… Qf5!! 2. Nxf5 (2. Ka1 bxc3 3. Nxf5 cxd2! 4. Nd6 Rxf4 -+) 2… Bxf5+ 3. Ka1 (3. Kc1 bxc3
4. Qxd5 Rxf4 5. b3 Bg5 6. Rdg1 Rd4 -+) 3… bxc3 4. bxc3 Rxf4! 5. Rc1 (5. Qxf4 Bc3#; 5.
Kb2 Rb4+ 6. Ka3 Rb6 7. Rde1 Rcb8 and there is no defense against Ra6+) 5… Rxf3 6. Kb2
d4 7. c4 Rb8+ 8. Ka1 d3+ 9. Rc3 Rf2! 0-1
They told about chess…
“Some people think if their opponent play a beautiful game,
it’s ok to loose. I don’t. You have to be merciless”
Magnus Carlsen, World Chess Champion
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UPCOMING EVENTS IN NOVEMBER
ECU EVENTS
EUROPEAN TEAM CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2015
The Icelandic Chess Federation under the auspices of the European
Chess Union organizes the European Team Chess Championship
which will be held from November 12th (day of arrival) until
November 22nd 2015 in Reykjavik, Iceland.
The official venue will be the Reykjavik’s Laugardalshöll arena, which
was the playing hall of the Match of Century in 1972, between Fischer
and Spassky.
The total prize fund is 20.000 EUR, with 5.000 EUR first prize in both sections. The first three
teams in both sections will receive trophies and medals.
Official Website
EUROPEAN EVENTS
LUGANO OPEN 2015
6-8
November
Lugano/Switzerland
Official Website
BRNO OPEN 2015
14 - 21
November
Brno/Czech Republic
Official Website
MALTA OPEN 2015
15 - 21
November
Malta
Official Website
INTERNATIONAL
CHESS FESTIVAL
BENIDORM 2015
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November 8 December
Benidorm/Spain
Official Website
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