NEWSLETTER 160 (June 11, 2014) ECU SUCCESS STORY: THE MAYOR OF SLIVNITSA VASKO STOILKOV CHOSEN FOR MAYOR OF THE MONTH IN CONNECTION WITH THE ECU PROGRAM CHESS IN SCHOOL The Mayor of the Bulgarian town of Slivitsa, Mr.Vasko Stoilkov, won the title "Mayor of the Month" in the prestigious ranking of the portal of the Bulgarian municipalities Kmeta.bg. Over 100 000 people took part in the vote, which was held in May, 2014. The ranking was held on the topic "Good practices and innovations in the Bulgarian education". Vasko Stoilkov won the competition because of the introduction of the ECU program Chess in school in the educational system of Slivnitsa. You have been already informed that in 2012 Slivnitsa became the first municipality in the European Union which introduced chess as an official subject in its schools according to the ECU program "Chess in school". Ecuonline.net Page 1
The project was carried out with personal support and commitment of the President of the European Chess Union and the Bulgarian Chess Federation, Mr. Silvio Danailov. The news about the joint initiative of the European Chess Union and the municipality of Slivnitsa received wide international response and was reported by various media, even by European political newspapers, such as the Brussels based edition New Europe. Impressed by the introduction of chess as a subject in the Slivnitsa school St.st. Cyril and Methodius the famous German TV channel ZDF sent a special team to provide the story about this innovative and exciting initiative. TO BE CONTINUED CLICHY-ECHECS-92 WINS THE TOP 12 OF THE FRENCH LEAGUE Clichy-Echecs-92 won the Top 12 of the French League with the final result of 29 points. Bischwiller came second on a point distance from the winner. The bronze went to Mulhouse Philidor with 24 points. This was the 13 th national title for Clichy. The final phase of the league was held from 24 th May to 3 rd June, 2014 in Saint Quentin, France. Team composition of the winners was: VACHIER-LAGRAVE Maxime, JAKOVENKO Dmitry, FRESSINET Laurent, MATLAKOV Maxim, VAN WELY Loek, HAMDOUCHI Hicham, TREGUBOV Pavel, LAGARDE Maxime, DELORME Axel and SKRIPCHENKO Almira. Ecuonline.net Page 2
Final Ranking after 10 rounds Rk. Team Pts TB1 TB2 TB3 1 Clichy 29 33 41 8 2 Bischwiller 28 13 28 15 3 Mulhouse Philidor 24 16 27 11 4 Bois Colombes 20 1 25 24 5 Metz Fischer 19-10 18 28 6 Evry Grand Roque 19 3 24 21 7 Montpellier 18-7 19 26 8 Strasbourg 18-8 19 27 9 Chalons en Champagne 17-4 17 21 10 Rueil Malmaison 15-19 16 35 11 Tours de Haute Picardie 13-18 13 31 Official website: www.echecs.asso.fr GM IVAN CHEPARINOV WINS GRAND EUROPE CUP ALBENA 2014 Bulgarian Grandmaster Ivan Cheparinov (ELO 2682) won Grand Europe Cup Albena 2014, which was held in Albena/Bulgaria, 1-9 June, 2014. The win in the last round against Grandmaster Akopian brough Cheparinov the title with the final result of 7.5 points. Cheparinov was the first seed and he justified the role of the main favorite, although he didn't start well. Nevertheless, he scored 4 wins in a row in the last 4 games and finally triumphed. Ecuonline.net Page 3
GM Petar Drenchev (ELO 2487) from Bulgaria and GM Susanto Megaranto (ELO 2540) from Indonesia tied for the second place, and thanks to the better tie-break Drenchev won the silver medal. Final Ranking after 9 rounds first 15 positions Rk. Title Name FED RtgI Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 GM Cheparinov Ivan BUL 2682 7.5 48 52 6 2 GM Drenchev Petar BUL 2487 7 45 49 5 3 GM Megaranto Susanto INA 2540 7 43 46 5 4 GM Esen Baris TUR 2570 6.5 50 54 4 5 GM Kravtsiv Martyn UKR 2587 6.5 49 54 4 6 IM Bernadskiy Vitaliy UKR 2541 6.5 48 51 4 7 GM Bachmann Axel PAR 2619 6.5 47 51 4 8 GM Solak Dragan TUR 2627 6.5 47 51 4 9 GM Parligras Mircea ROU 2581 6.5 47 51 5 10 GM Gabuzyan Hovhannes ARM 2537 6.5 46 50 5 11 GM Georgiev Vladimir MKD 2511 6.5 46 50 4 12 GM Nevednichy Vladislav ROU 2553 6.5 44 48 5 13 GM Gao Rui CHN 2487 6.5 44 48 5 14 GM Can Emre TUR 2519 6.5 43 46 6 15 IM Arsovic Zoran SRB 2442 6.5 37 40 6 The tournament was played according to the Swiss System in 9 rounds, with the rate of play 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game + 30 seconds increment per move, starting from move one. 154 players from 31 countries took part in this year's edition, among whom were 30 GMs, 28 IMs, 10 FMs and 4 WGMs. Ecuonline.net Page 4
Grand Europe Cup Albena is one of the two tournaments in Bulgaria organized within the event Bulgarian Chess Summer. The event is under the patronage of Mr. Silvio Danailov, President of the European Chess Union and President of Bulgarian Chess Federation. More information can be found at www.albena.bulchesssummer.eu GM SEBASTIAN BOGNER WINS LIECHTENSTEIN-OPEN 2014 GM Sebastian Bogner won Liechtenstein Open 2014 with the final result of 7.5 points. The silver medal went to Peter Doggers who finished on a half point distance from the winner. The bronze went to GM Alexander Cherniaev with 6.5 pts. The tournament, organized by the Liechtenstein Chess Federation, was held from 23-31 May, 2014 in Triesen. Chief Arbiter and Tournament Director was Albert Baumberger. The average ELO rating of the competition was 2008. One hundred and five chess player took part in the tournament. Final Ranking after 9 rounds first 10 positions Rk. Title Name Rtg FED Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3 1 GM Bogner Sebastian 2596 GER 7.5 55 43 44.8 2 Doggers Peter 2215 NED 7 51 41 38 3 GM Cherniaev Alexander 2429 RUS 6.5 56 44 39 4 IM Izsak Gyula 2436 HUN 6.5 55 44 38.8 5 IM Hommeles Theo 2417 NED 6.5 53 40 36 6 Kessler Luca 2255 AUT 6.5 52 41 34.8 7 IM Bruno Fabio 2419 ITA 6.5 51 40 34.5 8 GM Kasparov Sergey 2480 BLR 6.5 51 40 35.3 9 GM Cebalo Miso 2423 CRO 6.5 50 38 34.3 10 GM Farago Ivan 2452 HUN 6.5 48 37 34 Official website: www.schach.li Ecuonline.net Page 5
FORTHCOMING TOURNAMENTS RECORD NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS AT ESCC 2014 IN KAVALA Kavala, a beautiful coastal town in northern Greece will be the host of the European School Chess Championship, from 13th till 27th June, 2014 in the City Conference Hall. The Championship is organized by the European Chess Union (ECU), the International School Chess Union (I.S.C.U.) and the Olympic Sports Academy of Thessaloniki. 418 young players from 21 countries are registered so far, which is a record number of participants. The Championship will be played in 12 age groups: U7, U9, U11, U13, U15 and U17, boys and girls separately. The tournament will be played according to the Swiss System in 9 rounds. Rate of play will be 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. Regulations of the Championship can be found here: http://www.chesskavala.gr/wpcontent/uploads/2014/05/europe_chess_school.pdf For more information, you can visit the official website of the Championship: http://www.chesskavala.gr/euroschools2014/ Ecuonline.net Page 6
WELCOME TO GOLDEN PRAGUE FESTIVAL 2014 Dear chess friends, Let me invite you to Golden Prague festival 2014, which will be organized from June 20th till June 29th, 2014 in Prague, Czech Republic. Various tournaments will be organized - round robin tournament (IM - Karel Opoenský Memorial), open tournament Golden Prague (both tournaments from June 22nd to June 29th, 2014). Youth players under 16 and junior players under 20 years will be competing on Friday, June 20th, 2014. Rapid open tournament Golden Prague is scheduled for Saturday, June 21st, 2014. All tournaments (incl. youth, juniors and rapid) will be submitted for FIDE ELO Rating List. Regulations, as well as other detailed information incl. favourable accommodation possibilities you will find at http://www.holdia.cz/en/tournaments/2014/accommodation/ Regulations for download can be found at http://www.holdia.cz/en/tournaments/2014/regulations/ I look forward to meet you in Prague. Růžena Přibylová Director of Golden Prague Festival Find more news about the European Chess Union: on our website or Facebook account Ecuonline.net Page 7