The 2023 European Youth Rapid&Blitz Chess Championship kicks off on Thursday, 28th of September in Terme Catez, Slovenia.

The event will gather nearly 500 players from 27 European federations who will fight for the European champion title. The European Youth Rapid Chess Championship will be played on 28th and 29th of September, in 6 age categories: U8, U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18 (open and girls sections separately). The tournament will be played in 9 rounds, swiss system, with time control of 15 minutes + 10 seconds increment per player in each section.

The European Youth Blitz Chess Championship 2023 will be played on 30th of September, in 6 age categories: U8, U10, U12, U14, U16, and U18, open and girls sections separately, in 9 double rounds, swiss system, with time control of 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment per player in each section.

Starting rank lists of each section can be found here.

The 22nd European Youth Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship will be played in Hotel Terme Catez, which is also the official hotel of the tournament.

The 21st edition of the European Youth Team Rapid Chess Championship will be held on Saturday, 30th of September, in the afternoon, with three age categories: U10, U14, and U18, open and girls sections separately. The teams shall consist of 4 players from the same federation without reserve players in the Open sections, and the teams of the girls’ sections shall comprise 2 players from the same federation without reserve players. The events will be held in 7 rounds, swiss system, with the time control of 10 minutes + 5 seconds per player in each category.

The event is organised by the Slovenian Chess Federation, under the auspices of the European Chess Union. The global digital security company ESET is a sponsors of ECU and the tournament, and provides 144 pcs of ESET Internet Security Licenses (duration 1 year) and additionally free branded merch with ESET Slovenia branding (eg sunglasses, mouse pads), as prizes and gifts to the winners of the European Championship in Slovenia. The 144 pcs free software will be provided to the 6 winners of each age group in Rapid and Blitz Championship. 

Official website of the event: www.eyrabchess2023.eu

Turkish Chess Federation and the European Chess Union have the honour to invite all the National Federations members of the European Chess Union to participate European Amateur Chess Championship organized in Antalya, Türkiye between 26 November (arrival) – 04  December (departure), 2023.

The European Amateur Chess Championship 2023 will be played in three rating categories: U1700, U2000, and U2300. The Championships are open tournaments for players registered or approved by their federation. ECU member federations shall have the right to send as many players as they wish. All players must not hold any title above CM (or WCM for women) in the sections Under-1700 and Under-2000. All players must not hold any title above FM (or WFM for women) in the section Under-2300.

In order to be entitled to participate in the U2300 championship, players must not have a published FIDE rating of 2300 or greater for at least one year prior to the registration deadline of the event. For the Under-2000 section, a player must not have a published FIDE rating of 2000 or greater for at least one year prior to the start of the championship and for the Under-1700 section, a player must not have a published FIDE rating of 1700 or greater for at least one year before the start of the event.

The championships will be played in 9 rounds, swiss system. The time rate will be 90 minutes for the whole game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one.

The total prize fund of the event is 7.000 EUR. The Winners of the each section will become the European Amateur Chess Champions 2023 for the respective rating category, and the best-ranked Women players in each section receive the title of the European Women’s Amateur Chess Champions of the respective category.

The registration deadline is 15 November 2023, the players should register by sending an e-mail to the organizer umit.kucuk@tsf.org.tr.

The official hotel and the playing venue of the event will be Megasaray West Beach Hotel 5*.

Tournament schedule:

Contact information:
IO Umit KUCUKAHMETOGLU
Tournament Director
E-mail : umit.kucuk@tsf.org.tr

The third quarterly meeting of the ECU Board was held in Mamaia, Romania, on September 7^th. Romanian Chess federation hosted the event under excellent conditions. 

Main information and Decisions:

1. The ECU Board discussed the new FIDE regulations about transgender players. ECU Board notes the following:

• ECU as main principle follows IOC framework for fairness, inclusion and not discrimination.

• ECU follows FIDE registration system and database for all chess players. Based on FIDE public database players have the right to participate in open, women, youth, or seniors’ events. 

• According to the new FIDE regulations, FIDE may temporarily restrict a player from World Women’s Chess Championships and respective WC Cycle qualifications events but allows to all other FIDE Women’s rated events. ECU notes that till today FIDE has not informed ECU or in its database about any of such temporarily restriction. (V. Non-disclosure/Privacy matters). 

• If in the future FIDE temporarily restricts any player and informs in written European Chess Union or its public database, ECU will consult FIDE on what are the open and fair criteria FIDE Council uses to waive or keep the restriction based on FIDE rules, international legislation, and IOC guidance.  

• Parallel ECU opens through its commissions a structured dialogue with ECU members, players, arbiters, organisers to listen to all opinions, concerns, and proposals. 

2.  The Chair of the ECU Trainers Commission, Ivan Sokolov, reported to the ECU Board and informed that the development of the ECU Trainers Syllabus (3 different tutorials with a total of 627 pages) has been completed. The ECU Trainers Syllabus will soon be available on the Chessable online platform after a strategic agreement was signed between ECU and Chessable. The ECU Trainers Syllabus will be the basis for the training of players and coaches by the ECU Trainers Commission.

The annual programme of the ECU Chess Academy will start on 20 November 2023 and will be completed by the end of May 2024 under the guidance of the ECU Trainers Commission

Each European National Chess Federation can register two players free of charge with the support of the FIDE Development Fund. A limited number of additional players can be registered according to the call for applications. Information and registration here: https://www.europechess.org/european-chess-union-academy/

3. ECU Board has been informed about federations requests and regulations changes submitted on time (3 months prior to the GA) for the ECU General Assembly on 19^th November in Budva, Montenegro.

European Chess Championships

1. The official invitation for the European Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship 2023 has been published.

2. The 8^th European Small Nations Team Chess Championship will take place in Jersey from 28October till 5 November. 

3. The European Amateur Chess Championship 2023 was awarded to Turkish Chess Federation to be organized in Antalya Turkey from 26 November to 4 December 2023.

4. The European Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship 2024 was awarded to North Macedonia Chess Federation to be organized in Skopje from 6 to 11 September 2024.

5. ECU Board accepted the proposal by the English Chess Federation for the organisation of “European Youth Online Nations League” from January to March 2024. The teams will consist of 6 players in different age categories. 

6. The calendar for the year 2024 was approved. The exact dates for European Club Cup 2024 to be confirmed by the Serbian Chess Federation. ECU administration works to finalise and send to National Chess federations the ECU calendar for the year 2025 till December 2023. 

7. The upcoming European Youth Rapid Chess Championship in Terme Catez, Slovenia (playing days 28-30 September, 520 players) and the European Club Cup 2023 in Durres, Albania (playing days, 1-7 October, 108 teams) exceed all expectations for participation as the most European Chess Championships this year.

We would like to thank the National federations, clubs and players for their support and the boom in the European Chess Championships and hope that our 2023 Championships can conclude with four great events in Budva, Antalya, Zagreb and Monte Carlo.

Sincerely,
Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou
ECU Secretary General

The European Youth Chess Championship 2023 concluded yesterday in Mamaia, Romania.

Mahammad Kazimzade (AZE) emerged as the winner of the Open U8 section having better tiebreaks than Luca Protopopescu (FRA) who had the same score of 7.5 points but claimed bronze. Three players tied for bronze scoring 7 points, each, but Kucher Artam (UKR) won the medal thanks to the best tiebreak criteria.

Ahmadli Mehriban (AZE) triumphed in the Girls U8 category with the score of 7.5 points. She was followed by three players who tied for second place with 7 points each. Tiebreaks determined Kravchuk Daria (UKR) as silver medalist, Rekviashvili Mariam (GEO) took bronze medal and Badescu Eliza-Ioana (ROU) finished the event fourth.

Vladimir Sofronie (ROU) emerged as the sole winner of the Open U10 category scoring 7.5 points. Four players tied for silver with 7 points, each, and the tiebreak criteria again determined the medalists. Marc Llari (FRA) came second, Uzdemir Ali Poyraz (TUR) won bronze, Nicot Valentin (FRA) was fourth and Brzezina Pawel (POL) came fifth.

With the score of 7.5 points, Maria Anistoroaei (ROU) triumphed in the Girls U10 section, while three players scored 7 points each to tie for the second place. Lilian Schirmbeck (GER) had the best tiebreak criteria to claim silver medal, Kaminska Zuzanna (POL) came third and Lampou Marianta (GRE) finished the event in the fourth place.

FM Ahmad Khagan (AZE, 2306) won the Open U12 competition having better tiebreaks than FM Tudor Henry Edward (ROU, 2261). They scored 7.5 points each, and Nemitz Alfred (GER, 2300) and Ambartsumian Tyhran (ARM, 1877) followed with 7 points, each. Nemitz Alfred had better tiebreaks and won bronze medal.

Lajdamik Kinga (POL, 1552) emerged as the sole winner of the Girls U12 section with the score of 7.5 points, while four players tied for second place with 7 points, each. Ejsymont Blanka (POL) had best tiebreaks and won silver medal and WCM Bashirli Saadat (AZE, 1559) clinched bronze.

The 41st seed on the starting list of the Open U14 section Rustamov Rustam (AZE, 1995) won the competition with fantatic score of 8 points. FM Agasarov Benik (ARM, 2321) came second with 7.5 points, and Lissillour Baptiste (FRA, 2239) won bronze with 7 points.

In the Girls U14 section, Kesaria Mgeladze (GEO, 1994) emerged as the sole winner of the event scoring 7.5 points. Three players scored 7 points each to tie for silver, but Tsetskhladze Mariam (GEO, 1842) had the best tiebreak criteria and came second, while Moskalets Sofiia (UKR, 1908) took bronze.

As many as five players in the Open U16 section tied for the first place scoring 7 points each, and tiebreaks determined the Winner and medalists. FM Jakub Seemann (POL, 2422) won gold, FM Diego Macias Pino (ESP, 2438) came second, FM Nemec Jachym (CZE, 2332) claimed bronze, FM Makridis Dimitrios (GRE, 2354) finished fourth, and FM Makkar Rajat (FRA, 2451) came fifth.

WFM Ter-Avetisjana Agnesa Stepania (LAT, 2080) clinched gold in the Girls U16 category with the score of 7.5 points. Baloglu Dila (TUR, 1874) followed with 7 points and claimed silver medal, while four players scored 6.5 points each to tie for bronze. With the best tiebreaks, Siekanska Maria (POL, 1995) came third.

FM Davtyan Arsen (ARM, 2430) won the Open U18 championship with the score of 8 points. IM Babazada Khazar (AZE, 2463) and IM Abdrlauf Elham (NOR, 2541) tied for silver, scoring 7 points, each. However, with better tiebreak criteria, IM Babazada Khazar came second, and IM Abdrlauf Elham won bronze medal.

WFM Martyna Wikar (POL, 2136) won gold in the Girls U18 section with 7.5 points. WFM Allahverdiyeva Ayan (AZE, 2169) followed and claimed silver with 7 points, while Cornileau Juliette (FRA, 1997) and Ivanytska Liudmyla (UKR, 1965) tied for bronze with 6.5 points, each. Cornileau Juliette had better tiebreaks and came third.

All results and final rankings of each section can be found here.

The European Youth Chess Championship 2023 took place from 4th-15th September in Mamaia, Romania, with the participation of more than 900 players coming from 46 European federations.

Official website of the event

The 2023 European Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships will take place from 14-17 December in Zagreb, Croatia.

The first event on the schedule will be the European Rapid Chess Championship 2023 which will be played on 14-15 December, in 9 rounds, swiss system. The time control of the event will be 15 minutes + 10 seconds increment. The total prize fund of the event will be 30.000 EUR.

The European Blitz Chess Championship 2023 will be played on December 16th, in 13 single rounds, with the time control of 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment. The Blitz Championship will feature the total prize fund of 15.000 EUR.

Participation is open to all players representing one of the ECU federations (FIDE Zones 1.1 to 1.10), regardless of title and ranking. The registration deadline is 13th of November 2023, and players should register by sending an e-mail to the organizer – hss.crochess@gmail.com.

The organizer will provide free accommodation for the ten top players. Interested players rated above 2650 rating should send an inquiry through the official email. 

The championships will be held at the Zagreb Fair, pavilion 10a.

Tournament schedule:

The event is organised by the Croatian Chess Federation, under the auspices of the European Chess Union.

Contact information:
E- mail: hss.crochess@gmail.com

Official website of the event will be: hrvatski-sahovski-savez.hr

Featured photo: View of Zagreb, J.Duval

The ECU Magazine August 2023 is out!

A mag created with Madmagz.

In this edition of the ECU E-Magazine you may read about:

• European Youth Chess Championship 2023 in Mamaia, Romania
• FIDE World Chess Cup and FIDE Women’s World Chess Cup 2023
• FIDE World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad 2023
• European Union Youth Chess Championship 2023
• European Union Chess Academy
• Arbiters corner
• Activities of the ECU Commissions
• European Small Nations Team Chess Championship 2023
• Fun Zone

The ECU E-Magazine August 2023 can be read online together with interactive links here, or it can be downloaded in PDF format down below.

The European Chess Union and ECU Trainers Commission, with the support of FIDE development fund announce the annual European Chess Union training program from 20 November 2023 to 21 May 2024 with some of the best European and world’s chess trainers.

The program will be organized in two groups:

• Group A – For players rated 1900+
• Group B – For players rated U1900

The program will start on Monday, 20th of November 2023, and each group will have 24 live sessions until May 2024, with a total of 48 hours of instruction. The program is based on the new ECU-ETC Trainers’ Syllabuses and aims to systematically develop chess talents.

The lecturers are:

• GM Ivan Sokolov (Theme: Middlegame strategy)
• GM Adrian Mikhalchishin (Theme: Pawn structures)
• GM Stefanova Antoaneta (Theme: Playing on the top)
• GM Miguel Illescas (Theme: Tactical World)
• GM Efstratios Grivas (Theme: Endgame Magic)
• WGM Jana Krivec (Theme: Chess psychology)
• GM Alexander Beliavsky (Theme: Opening preparation)
• GM Ramachandran Ramesh (Theme: Creating Champions)
• IM Robert Ris (Theme: Tactical themes)
• GM Arshak Petrosian (Theme: Classical development)
• IM Jovan Petronic (Theme: Strategy analysis)

Each European National Chess Federations is entitled to register free of charge 2 players, U20 Juniors or Girls one on each Group through the following link: https://forms.gle/SmcKgbRzYCKsxw8j8. The program is open for a limited number of additional participants, from all continents, for each group. The cost is only Euros 200 for 48 hours of top-level training. Registrations of additional participants are made through the following link: https://forms.gle/kcMU21LVNi9c1aSq9.

Each participant will receive an ECU-ETC official Certificate for the respective group upon
completion of the programme – a plus point for a future chess career. For any question please contact: trainers@europechess.org

Five rounds have been already played at the European Youth Chess Championship 2023 in Mamaia, Romania, and only four rounds left to be played before the announcement of the Winners. Most of the categories still have the shared lead with the open battles for the throne, but a few players emerged as the sole leaders of the event.

Scoring perfect 5/5 points, Artem Kucher (UKR) and Andria Jakhaia (GEO) tie for the top of the Open U8 section. They are followed by eight players who tie for the third place with 4 points, each. In the same age category in the girls competition, Mehriban Ahmadli (AZE) and Daria Kravchuk (UKR) tie for the first place scoring 4.5 points each. A group of six players follow them scoring 4 points each.

The top-seeded player of the Open U10 category, Marc Llari (FRA, 2029) emerged as the sole leader of the Championship with the score of 4.5 points. As many as 12 players tie for the second place scoring 4 points each. Veselow Zoe (ENG), Maria Anistoroaei (ROU) and Asnad Bakhshizada (AZE) score 4.5 points each to tie for the top of the Girls U10 section.

Scoring 4.5 points, three players share the lead in the Open U12 section: Pau Marin Ferragut (ESP, 2193), Tyhran Ambartsumian (ARM, 1877) and Gabriel Gabadadze (GEO, 1732). WCM Saadat Bashirli (AZE) is the sole leader of the Girls U12 section with the maximum 5/5 points, while Sara Maria Sunea (ROU) holds clear second with 4.5 points.

FM Benik Agasarov (ARM, 2321) won all five games to be the sole leader of the Open U14 competition, and Rustam Rustamov (AZE, 1995) trails by half a point with a score of 4.5 points. Mariam Tsetskhladze (GEO, 1842), Alexia-Andrea Iordache (ROU, 1827) and Lala Huseynova (AZE, 1847) tie for the top of the Girls U14 category with 4.5 points each.

Three players co-lead the Open U16 section: FM Diego Macias Pino (ESP, 2438), Jan Malek (POL, 2422) and FM Jakub Seemann (POL, 2422) scoring 4.5 points each. In the same age category, girls competition, WFM Agnesa Stepania Ter Avetisjana (LAT, 2080) scores perfect 5/5 points and has the sole lead in the event. Klara Szczotka (POL, 1961) follows her with 4.5 points, while three players tie for third with 4 points each.

IM Elham Abdrlauf (NOR, 2541) and IM Timothe Razafindratsima (FRA, 2450) tie for the top of the Open U18 category with the score of 4.5 points each while eight players follow them scoring 4 points. WFM Zeynep Ciftci (TUR, 2111) scores 4.5 points to be in the sole lead of the Girls U18 tournament, and WFM Ayan Allahverdiyeva (AZE, 2169), WFM Martyna Wikar (POL, 2136), WFM Sofia Blokhin (EST, 1917) and Astghik Hakobyan (ARM, 1841) follow with 4 points.

All results, rankings and pairings can be found here.

Today is the free day and the games will continue tomorrow starting at 15:00 (local time). The top boards of each age section are broadcasted live and the coverage can be followed through Chess24, ChessBase, Chess.com, Followchess etc. Live video coverage from the event including the video from the playing venue can be followed through the Romanian Chess Federation Facebook page or through the Romanian Chess Federation twitch channel

A rich photo gallery is available on the RCF Facebook page.

The 2023 European Youth Chess Championship kicked off yesterday in Mamaia, Romania. The opening ceremony of the event took place shortly before the start of the first round, with the attendance of the ECU President Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili, the President of the Romanian Chess Federation Mr. Vlad Ardeleanu, the President of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee Mr. Mihai Covaliu, Superbet Foundation Executive Director Mr. Cristian Gheorghita and other distinguished guests.

The ceremony started with the speeches by the officials. They welcomed the players to Mamaia and wished them a good stay and a successful tournament.

The ECU President made the first ceremonial move to open the first round and declared the competition officially opened.

The European Youth Chess Championship is played in 6 age categories: U8, U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18 (open and girls sections separately), from 5-14 September, at the Ceremony Hall Dorna. Each category features 9 rounds played in the swiss system, with the time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment for each move, starting from the move one.

More than 900 players coming from 46 European federations participate in the event, including more than 100 titled players.

The first round saw very interesting matches and exciting fights. The top boards of each age section were broadcasted live and the coverage can be followed through Chess24, ChessBase, Chess.com, Followchess etc. Live video coverage from the event including the video from the playing venue can be followed through the Romanian Chess Federation Facebook page or through the Romanian Chess Federation twitch channel.

All results, pairings and rankings can be found here.

Official website of the event

A rich photo gallery is available on the RCF Facebook page.

The European Youth Chess Championship 2023 kicks off on Tuesday, 5th of September, in Mamaia, Romania. The event will be played in 6 age categories: U8, U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18 (open and girls sections separately), from 5-14 September, at the Ceremony Hall Dorna.

Each category will feature 9 rounds played in the swiss system, with the time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment for each move, starting from the move one.

More than 900 players coming from 46 European federations will participate in the event, including more than 100 titled players.

Starting lists for each section can be found here.

The technical meeting for the federation delegates will be held on Tuesday morning, and the Opening ceremony of the event will take place shortly before the start of the first round, on Tuesday, September 5th.

Tournament schedule:

Qualifying & Prizes:

The first three players in each group will be awarded medals and cups; the first six players in each group will be awarded diplomas. The Winners of the each category will become the European Youth Chess Champions 2023 of the respective age category.

Concurrently with the European Youth Chess Championship 2023, Mamaia will host the European Chess Union Board Meeting which will take place on 7-8 September.

Official website of the event

Five-time World Chess Champion and World No.1 on the FIDE rating list GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2835) emerged as the Winner of the FIDE World Chess Cup for the first time in his career!

Magnus Carlsen won the event after defeating 18-year-old GM Praggnanandhaa R (IND, 2690) in the exciting finals. The first two classical games were concluded in a draw, and the Winner of the event got to be determined in the tiebreaks. Carlsen found his advantage in the first 25-minute rapid game in a complicated endgame, and scored a very important victory. The second rapid game concluded in a draw after only 22 moves of play and Carlsen claimed the FIDE World Chess Cup 2023!

On the way to add FIDE World Cup trophy to his rich collection, Carlsen defeated:

• R2 – GM Pantsulaia Levan (GEO, 2564), score 2-0
• R3 – GM Tari Aryan (NOR, 2641), score 1.5-0.5
• R4 –  GM Keymer Vincent (GER, 2690), score 3.5-1.5
• R5 – GM Ivanchuk Vasyl (UKR, 2667), score 2-0
• R6 – GM Gukesh D (IND, 2744), score 1.5-0.5
• R7 – GM Abasov Nijat (AZE, 2632), score 1.5-0.5
• R8 – GM Praggnanandhaa R (IND, 2690), score 2.5-1.5

GM Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2782) and GM Nijat Abasov (AZE, 2632) played the match for bronze medal. Caruana lost the first game as Black, but won the second classical game on demand to take the match to the tiebreaks. He won both 25-minute rapid games to clinch the bronze medal .

The FIDE World Chess Cup 2023 took place from 29th July to 25th August in Baku, Azerbaijan, and featured 206 players. The total prize fund of the event was 1.834.000 USD, with three qualification spots for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024.

Official website

Photos by: FIDE/ Stev Bonhage and Maria Emalianova (chess.com)

The FIDE Women’s World Chess Cup 2023 took place from 29th July to 22nd August in Baku, Azerbaijan, gathering 103 players who fought for the total prize fund of 676.250 USD and three qualification spots for the Women’s Candidates Tournament 2024.

GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (FIDE, 2557) emerged as the Winner of the event after defeating 20-year-old IM Nurgyul Salimova (BUL, 2409) in the thrilling final match. After both classical games finished in a draw, despite Salimova having the winning chances in the second game with Whites, the match advanced to the tiebreaks. The Bulgarian opened the tiebreak match very well, reaching a much better position in the first 25-minute rapid game. However, she missed her chance to score and Goryachkina punished her with the cruel victory in the second rapid game.

With the final tiebreak score of 1.5-0.5, Aleksandra Goryackina clinched the FIDE Women’s World Chess Cup 2023 and won the money prize of 50.000 USD.

IM Nurgyul Salimova finished the event with the silver medal in her hands and booked herself a seat in the FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament 2024. Salimova also won her second GM norm and won the money prize of 35.000 USD.

The match for the third pace was played between GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 2504) and GM Tan Zhongyi (CHN, 2523). The match finished after two classical games as Muzychuk used the advantage of White pieces to win the first game and won the bronze medal with a draw in the second game. Anna Muzychuk won the prize 25.000 USD and qualified for the Women’s Candidates 2024.

The Closing ceremony of the event took place after the tiebrek match for the first place, and was attended by the FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich who also took part in the awarding.

Official website

Photos by: FIDE/ Stev Bonhage and Maria Emelianova (chess.com)

The fights for the EU Youth Chess Championship 2023 winning throne culminated on Thursday, August 24th in Kouty nad Desnou (CZE).

The last rounds were full of fights and tension. In category Boys U8 took the first place Atanas Taskov (BUL, 9 out of 9!), the second place Jean Desfosses (FRA) and the third Kyriakos Skouroupathis (CYP). In category Girls U8 took the first place Karina Ser (LTU), the second place Agathe Gastaldo (FRA) and the third Melania-Cristina Grigore (ROU).

Champion EU in category Boys U10 has become Vladimir Sofronie (ROU), silver medal took Paul David Peglau (GER) and the third place took Vojtech Velim (CZE). In category Girls U10 has won Aleksandra Pehlivanova (BUL), second place took Aida Paunescu (CYP) and the third place took Milda
Alejunaite (LTU).

In category Boys U12 has won Bastien Muller-Moingt (FRA), second place took Alexandru Ioan Constantinoiu (ROU) and the third place took Filip Ochedzan (POL). Champion EU Girls U12 has become Tamae Severina Jakubse (CZE), the second place took Levanah Alcantara (FRA) and the third
place took Charlene Ge (FRA).

In category Boys U14 has won Louis Auribault (FRA), the second place took Daniel Ser (LTU) and the third place took Mark Csernyik (HUN). In category Girls U14 Champion EU has become Bianca-Alexandra Ciocirlan (ROU), the second place took Olivia Sekova (SVK) and the third finished Maria Ioanna Haapsal (EST).

Players who took first three places in each of categories got a cup and diploma. Every participant of EUYCC got a medal. All eight champions EU are leaving Kouty nad Desnou with a notebook! The next five players in each category also got valuable prizes. Every player got a T-Shirt with a logo of EUYCC. The prizes were given by director of the event Mr. Zdenek Fiala together with the tournament director of ECU Mr. Petr Pisk and chairman of Czech Chess Federation GM Martin Petr.

EU Youth Chess Championship 2023 under the patronage of the ECU was organized by Sachovy klub Svetla nad Sazavou in cooperation with the Czech Chess Federation. Boys and girls have played in the same tournament. Eventually, boys and girls were evaluated separately. Championship had 100 players from 15 federations. All games were on-line transmitted.

Young players have been pleased by awarding best game of each round. Thanks to the performance during the last three rounds these players were awarded: Viktoria Lea Stricova (SVK), Vladimir Sofronie (ROU), Adam Rudlof (CZE), Karin Novomeska (SVK), Jean Desfosses (FRA), Vojtech Velim
(CZE), Bastien Muller-Moingt (FRA), Louis Auribault (FRA), Lionel Robin (FRA), Paul David Peglau (GER), Danail Popzafirov (BUL) and Matej Jasso (CZE).

For all participants and accompanying persons organizers had prepared chess and non-chess leisure time activities (simultaneous games with IM Pisk, blitz tournament, trips).

On Tuesday morning there was return simultaneous game with IM Petr Pisk. There was 12 players, who had 30 minutes and Petr Pisk had 40 minutes on his clocks. The result was 8 : 4 for IM Pisk (Hana Bartova (CZE), Kyriakos Skouroupathis (CYP), Oliver Nieminen (FIN) won their games and the draw was made by Vojtech Zvolanek, Petr Broz (both CZE).

Participants of the championship had available many leisure time activities. In the hotel they could use swimming pool, wellness, sauna, table tennis, bowling, pool, etc. On the official website organizers placed photo gallery from tournament and other activities.

Eventually I would like to thank all players for their performance and fair play, all parents and coaches for cooperation, arbiters for running the tournament and all cooperators for their work. Hope you enjoyed together with us this championship and believe to see us again the next year!

Zdenek Fiala, director
Sachovy klub Svetla nad Sazavou

Web of the championship: https://www.chess.cz/mistrovstvi-evropske-unie/
Results: https://chess-results.com/tnr802764.aspx?lan=5
Photo gallery:
https://www.rajce.idnes.cz/sachysvetla/album/euycc-2023
https://www.rajce.idnes.cz/sachysvetla/album/euycc-2023-players

EU Youth Chess Championship 2023 is underway. The level of the event is very good – in category U8 is leading Atanas Taskov (BUL, 6 points out of 6 rounds!), in U10 with 5,5 points Vladimir Sofronie (ROU), in U12 Alexandru Ioan Constantinoiu (ROU, 6 points!) and in U14 Louis Auribault (FRA, 5,5 points).

Since beautiful and combative games are seen, the organizers award best games in each category with prize every day. After the first six rounds Henri Rouanet (FRA), Vladimir Sofronie (ROU), Emir Sensoy (GER), Olivia Sekova (SVK), Dragos-Ioan Rosca (ROU), Hoang Minh Doan (FRA), Anuar Tureshbayev (FRA), Mark Csernyik (HUN), Atanas Taskov (BUL), Milda Alejunaite (LTU), Filip Ochedzan (POL), Mia Golub (CRO), Stefan Mironescu (ROU), Eva Polackova (SVK), Agata Berkova (SVK), Karina Ser (LTU), Aleksandra Pehlivanova (BUL), Alexandru Ioan Constantinoiu (ROU), Valerie Barteckova (CZE), Amalie Martikanova (CZE), Tamae Severina Jakubse (CZE) and Daniel Ser (LTU) have been awarded.

Additional programme started on Friday with simultaneous game against IM Petr Pisk. 12 participants of our championship had 30 minutes against 30 minutes on the clocks of IM Pisk. The finale score was 8 – 4 for IM Pisk. Won K. Pekar, L. Kluska (SVK), K. Skouroupathis (CYP) and M. Komarkova (CZE).

On Sunday there was a blitz tournament, where 14 players (players of EUYCC, coaches, parents) from 5 countries participated. The winner be­came FM Josef Kratochvil (CZE, 8,5 points out of 9 rounds!) ahead of Kyriakos Skouroupathis (CYP, also 8,5 points out of 9 rounds!) and Petr Broz (CZE, 7 points). All winners received nice presents.

Among others leisure time activities, participants of this tournament mostly visit and use swimming pool, bowling, table tennis and enjoying the beauty of the nature in surroundings.

All games are transmitted on-line, so the parents and trainers either at home or present in the hotel can watch their charges.

On the website of Czech Chess Federation we release the news. Among others (results, live games etc.) you can see a rich photo gallery.

Zdenek Fiala, director  
Sachovy klub Svetla nad Sazavou

Web of the championship

Results

The FIDE World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad concluded today in Eindhoven, Netherlands with China emerging as the sole Winner of the event.

China scored 8 victories and one draw – 17 match points in total to clinch the gold medal. The team showed dominance against all the opponents except from Armenia which managed to tie the match to 2-2 score.  Out of the 36 games played, China scored a total of 31 board points. 

The defending champions, Turkey, won silver medal with the score of 15 match points.

Greece and Kazakhstan 1 tied for bronze scoring 13 match point each, but thanks to better tiebreak criteria (Olympiad-Sonneborn-Berger), Greece claimed bronze and Kazakhstan came fourth.

Board Prizes:
Board 1: Read Samadov (Azerbaijan)
Board 2: Tong(Qd) Xiao (China)
Board 3:  Xiangrui Kong (China)
Board 4: Miaoyi Lu (China)

The FIDE Youth U16 Chess Olympiad 2023 took place from 13-18 August in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The event gathered 252 players representing 63 teams from 47 federations and broke the participation record.

This year, the Royal Dutch Chess Federation marks its 150th anniversary as the oldest chess federation in the world. The President of the Federation and WGM, Bianca de Jong-Muhren, expressed her enthusiasm during the opening ceremony, stating, “We managed to bring an international youth championship to the Netherlands, with a new international women’s top tournament as a bonus.

Official website of the event

Photos by: FIDE/ Frans Peeters and Lennart Ootes

The 8th edition of the European Small Nations Team Championship will be held from 28th October 2023 (arrival) to 5th November 2023 (departure) in the Pomme d’Or Hotel, St Helier, Jersey.

Main supporter of the the event is the European Chess Union that annually supports the major event of European Small Nations.

The event is played as a 10-team round-robin event with the participation of the following teams: Andorra, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Guernsey, Jersey, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco and San Marino. Each team shall consist of four players and one reserve player.

The time control will be 90 minutes for 40 moves, with 30 minutes for the rest of the game, and 30
seconds increment per move from move one.

Tournament schedule:

The teams should confirm the name of their representatives until the 28th of September, 2023. The teams should complete the registration form for their players and accompanying persons and return by email to jerseychessfederation@gmail.com.

The official hotel and the playing venue of the event will be ****Pomme d’Or Hotel located on the Liberation Square.

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The Small Nations meeting will be held concurrently with the tournament, on Saturday, 4th of November, 2023.

Featured photo by Maxian (iStock)

On Wednesday August 16th, in the Hotel Dlouhe Strane in Kouty nad Desnou in the Czech Republic, the 21st European Union Youth Chess Championship U8, U10, U12 and U14 has begun. European Union Youth Chess Championship 2023 under the patronage of the European Chess Union is organized again by Sachovy klub Svetla nad Sazavou in cooperation with the Czech Chess Federation and continue in previous successful years.

Boys and girls in each category play the same tournament. Eventually boys and girls will be evaluated separately. The rate of play is 90 min for the whole game + 30 sec increment for each move played. There will be 9 rounds, one round every day. This prestigious event attracts many young chess players – this year there was registered 101 players from 15 national federations of ECU. The highest rated player of the event is Czech player Matej Jasso (U14) with the rating 2143.

For player’s parents and all chess fans the organizers prepared chess and non-chess activities, plus on-line transmissions of all the games! All participants can use the leisure time activities offered by the hotel, such as pool, wellness, bowling, billiard and table-tennis. In Velke Losiny there is a new aquapark opened, there is Sky Bridge 721 and also a possibility to see The Sky Walk in Dolni Morava.

On Thursday August 24th we are going to know eight new champions of EU for the year 2023. For the winners of each category of boys and girls, there are prepared notebooks and for the 2nd and 3rd places in each category digital chess clocks are prepared. All participants will receive memorial
diploma and medal. Every player will receive at least one price because everyone will be awarded with a T-shirt with the logo of the championship. After each round there will be announced the best game of every category awarded with a material price.

On the website of Czech Chess Federation we will be releasing the news as the championship continues. Among others (results, live games etc.) you can await a rich photo gallery.

Zdenek Fiala, director
Sachovy klub Svetla nad Sazavou

Web of the championship: https://www.chess.cz/mistrovstvi-evropske-unie/
Results: https://chess-results.com/tnr802764.aspx?lan=5

One of the greatest Serbian chess players, GM Aleksandar Matanovic, died yesterday in Belgrade, at the age of 94.

Aleksandar Matanovic was born in Belgrade, on May 23rd, 1930. After becoming the Yugoslav Junior Chess Champion in 1948, he joined the Yugoslav representation in 1950 playing the radio-match against the USA team. Aged 25, Matanovic became the grandmaster in 1955 and won the Yugoslavian National Championship three times (1962, 1969, 1978). He was a member of the Yugoslavian Olympic team from 1954 until 1978, and in 1980 became the captain of the team.

In the era of the Serbian golden chess, Svetozar Gligoric, Bora Ivkov, Aleksandar Matulovic and Aleksandar Matanovic were the backbone of the Yugoslavian chess team which was the second-greatest team in the world after the USSR.

Aleksandar Matanovic had won five silver and four bronze Olympic medals, and clinched five medals for the best individual results at the Olympic games (one gold, three silver and one bronze medal). In the period between 1957-1977, Matanovic won five medals at the European Championships – four silver and one bronze medal.

He finished second in the FIDE Zonal tournament 1967 held in Vrnjacka Banja, and won many Open tournaments held around the world such as Opatija 1953, Hamburg 1955, Beverwijk 1957, Buenos Aires 1961, and Zevenaar 1961.

Aged 36, Aleksandar Matanovic became the author of leading chess encyclopedias and founded Chess Informant where he was the founding editor-in-chief. He was the FIDE Vice President from 1990-1994. In May 2022 became the oldest Grandmaster in the world.

The ECU Magazine July 2023 is out!

A mag created with Madmagz.

In this edition of the ECU E-Magazine you may read about:

• European Senior Team Chess Championship 2023
• European Youth Team Chess Championship 2023
• International Chess Day
• FIDE World Chess Cup 2023
• The 1st KCF European Trainers Conference
• European Women’s Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship 2023
• European Youth Chess Championship 2023
• Sponsorship announcement
• Activities of the ECU Commissions
• Arbiters Corner
• Fun Zone

The July 2023 edition of the ECU E-Magazine can be read online together with interactive links and videos through the following link, or it can be downloaded in PDF format down below.

The 2023 European Youth Team Chess Championship concluded yesterday in Iasi, Romania and Poland emerged as the winner of all competitions in the event, winning the unprecedented quadruple gold!

Scoring 13 match points (6 victories and 1 draw), Poland convincingly clinched the Open U12 section.

Turkey was second with 11 match points, while Israel and Germany tied for third scoring 9 match points.

Having better tiebreaks (Olympiad Sonneborn Berger), Israel won bronze medal.

With the same match score of 13 points, the team of Poland emerged as the sole winner of the Girls U12 section, being a full point ahead of the runner-ups.

Romania won silver medal with 12 match points.

Germany claimed bronze, scoring 10 match points.

Poland’s representatives in the Open U18 section won the competition with the score of 12 match points (5 victories and 2 draws).

Israel A clinched silver with 11 match points.

The team of Armenia came third scoring 10 match points.

It was a very tight race for the top in the Girls U18 category and three teams finished the event with the same score of 10 match points: Poland, Israel A and Monte Carlo Chess Club. Tiebreak criteria determined the Winners and silver and bronze medalists. With the best tiebreaks, Poland claimed gold.

Israel won silver medal.

Monte Carlo Chess Club came third and won bronze medal.

The Closing ceremony of the event took place yesterday evening in the playing venue with the attendance of the ECU Treasurer Ion-Serban Dobronauteanu, the Chairman of the ECU Events Commission Paris Klerides, Tournament Director Elena Cristian and other distinguished guests.

Final rankings of all sections can be found here.

Official website of the event