e-magazine september2021

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E-MAGAZINE

SEPTEMBER 2021

CRF Team wins FIDE Women'sWorld Team Chess Championship2021

European Senior ChessChampions 2021 crowned inBudoni, Sardinia/Italy

#ESCC2021

#FIDE WTCC 2021

#Mednyi Vsadnik and South Ural winEuropean Open and Women Chess

Club Cup 2021!

Briefly..

Mednyi Vsadnik and South Ural win European Open and Women

Chess Club Cup 2021 in Struga, North Macedonia.

European Senior Chess Championship 2021 concluded on Monday,

4th of October, in Budoni, Sardinia/Italy.

FIDE Women's World Team Chess Championship 2021 took place

from 26th September - 3rd October in Sitges, Spain.a.

900 players from 34 European Federations will participate in

European Youth & Junior HChess Championship 2021 one of the

biggest hybrid chess events ever held.

European Team Chess Championship 2021 and European

Women’s Team Chess Championship 2021 will take place from

11th-22nd November in Catez, Slovenia with 70 teams represeniing 38

European federations in open and women section..

contents

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European Chess Union has its seat in Switzerland,Address: Rainweidstrasse 2, CH-6333, HunenbergSee, Switzerland .European Chess Union is an independentassociation founded in 1985 in Graz, Austria;European Chess Union has 54 National FederationMembers;Every year ECU organizes more than 20 prestigiousevents and championships;

[email protected]

#ECCC2021

European Chess Club Cup2021 final report

FIDE WWTC 2021

CRF Team wins FIDEWomen's World Team ChessChampionship 2021

#ESCC2021

Winners of European SeniorChess Championships 2021announced

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Chess Ambassadors

Chess Ambassadors for theEnviornment event and onlinepresentation

Trainers Conference

ECU Online TrainersConference

Tournament of Peace

The historical Tournament ofPeace lauched in Zagreb,Croatia

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22

Invitations&Upcoming

Invitation for ECU events andpreview of the upcomingevents

FA Seminar in Slovenia

Arbiters Corner

Legends Questions

Fun Zone

Newsletter September 2021

European Chess Club Cup 2021concluded in Struga, North Macedonia

The 36th European Chess Club Cup and the 25th EuropeanWomen’s Chess Club Cup took place from 17th-25th Septemberin Struga, North Macedonia.

FIDE President Mr Arkady Dvorkovich, ECU President Mr ZurabAzmaiparashvili, ECU Vice President and FIDE Managing DirectorMrs Dana Riezniece-Ozola , ECU Secretary General Mr TheodorosTsorbatzoglou, and on behalf of the organisers, President of NorthMacedonia Chess Federation Mrs Aleksandra Gakidova, attended theAwarding Ceremony.

3Newsletter September 2021

#ECCC2021

36th European ChessClub Cup 2021

38 teams participated in the36th European Club Cup.Among the players whodefended the colours of theirteams were: reigning WorldChess Champion MagnusCarlsen (NOR, 2855,Offerspiel Chess Club),Grischuk Alexander (RUS,2775, KPRF), MamedyarovShakriyar (AZE, 2762,Alkaloid), and other top GMs


After intense fights in the lastround, team of Mednyi Vsadnikfrom Russia claimed gold andbecame European Chess ClubCup Winner for 2021! With anarrow 3.5-2.5 victory over TeamXtraCon (Denmark), MednyiVsadnik scored 13 match pointsto be the sole Winner of theevent, taking the trophy and the1st prize of 10.000 EUR.

In a direct encounter for medals,Ave Novy Bor (Czech Republic)defeated Silla-Valencia Origin ofChess (Spain) with a result of3.5-2.5, and scored 12 matchpoints to be the first runner-up.

In a match that decided thebronze medalist, VugarGashimov team (Azerbaijan) wonagainst Alkaloid (NorthMacedonia) and with 11 matchpoints came third.

Final rankings of the 36thEuropean Chess Club Cup canbe found here.

Photo gallery from the ClosingCeremony is available on theOfficial Website of the event.

#ECCC2021

European Women'sClub Cup 2021

Both European Open andWomen's Club Cup were playedin 7 rounds, with time control of90 minutes for 40 moves plus30 minutes for the rest of thegame with an increment of 30seconds per move, startingfrom move one.Women's event took place inHotel Drim, and Open section inHotel Izgrev.

Total prize fund of the eventswas 44.000EUR.


Team of South Ural (Russia)dominated the EuropeanWomen’s Club Cup andtriumphed the event with perfectscore of 14 match points. TheWinner team was awarded withtrophy and medals, altogetherwith a winner prize of 6.000 EUR.

Monte-Carlo team defeated thedomestic North Macednonianteam of Alkaloid in the last roundand, with a final score of 11match points, claimed silver.

GRECO Kyiv Chess Federation(Ukraine) took bronze with 10match points as they lost the finalgame against the Winners of theevent.

Final rankings of the 26thEuropean Women's Chess ClubCup can be found here.

Teams of Monte Carlo (Averagerating of players 2513, Monaco),GRECO-Kyiv Chess Federation(Average rating of players 2501,Ukraine) and South Ural(Average rating of players 2441,Russia) proved the top seedsrole.Among the participantswere: Goryachkina Aleksandra(RUS, 2608, Monte-Carlo),Muzychuk Mariya (UKR, 2540,GRECO-Kyiv Chess Federation),Muzychuk Anna (UKR, 2534,GRECO-Kyiv Chess Federation),Dzagnidze Nana (GEO, 2525,Monte-Carlo), Shuvalova Polina(RUS, 2510, Alkaloid) and otherstop European and World femalechess players.

The best perfomances of theEuropean Chess Club Cup 2021

Along with the Team Winners of the European Open andWomen's Chess Club Cups, the best players pefromancesper board were announced and awarded during theClosing Ceremony of the event.

The best individual players perboards of the European Women’sChess Club Cup are:Board1 - GoryachkinaAleksandra (Monte-Carlo)Board2 - Gunina Valentina(South Ural)Board3 - Badelka Olga (SouthUral)Board4 - Solozhenkina Elizaveta(South Ural)


The best individual players ofOpen section are:Board1 - Gukesh D (Prilep)Board2 - Nabaty Tamir (BeerSheva)Board3 - Navara David (AveNovy Bor)Board4 - Alekseenko Kirill(Mednyi Vsadnik)Board5 - Anton Guijarro David(Ave Novy Bor)Board6 - Predke Aleksandr(Alkaloid)

CRF Team wins FIDE Women'sWorld Team ChessChampionship 2021

FIDE Women's World Team Chess Championship 2021took place from 26th September - 3rd October in Sitges,Spain.CRF Team represented by Russian top Female playersdominated the event and claimed the gold medal.


India takes silver medal, and Ukraineand Georgia share the third place.

Photos by Niki Riga&FIDE Website

FIDE WWTC 2021

The final match between teams of India and CRF team started with

sharp and intense fights. Kosteniuk Alexandra and Lagno Kateryna

won the full point in their games against Vaishali R and Kulkarni

Bhakti. Goryachkina Aleksandra suffered a loss on the first board

against Harika Dronavalli, but a draw on the last board between

Kashlinskaya Alina and Gomes Mary Ann was enough for CRF team to

take an important lead to the throne.

Second match ended with convincing 3-1 score for CRF team. Lagno

and Shuvalova Polina scored the full point, while Goryachkina and

Kosteniuk hold a draw for a victory in the second game, taking the

trophy to Russia.

FIDE WWTC 2021

FIDE Women's World TeamChess Championship 2021

The Women's World TeamChampionship was played thisyear under a new format: twopools of six teams each,followed by a knock-out playoffwith the eight best teams. Thetime control has been reducedto 45 minutes + 10 seconds permove, with two games to beplayed each day.This format allowed for thetournament to be played overjust seven days instead oftwelve.


The 2021 FIDE Women's World TeamChess Championship was held in twostages: pool stage and knockout stage.12 teams competed in pools A and B, in5 rounds, round-robin system. The bestranked 4 teams proceeded to the knock-out stage.

Ukraine and Georgia shared the thirdplace as the semi-finalists of the event.

Russian players proved to be wellprepared for the event, and didn't sufferany loss in the tournament, winningevery single match and scoring 35 boardpoints out of the 44 games played.

Results&Crosstables can be found here.

#ESCC2021

After intense fights for the medals till thelast round, IM Bellia Fabrizio (ITA, 2431)emerged as the sole Winner of 50+section with score of 7.5/9 points, afterdefeating Cafolla Peter in the last roundof the event.GM Bischoff Klaus (GER, 2495) drewthe last round against IM Van Der WerfMark and lost the first place. With a finalscore of 7 points, Bischoff Klaus tooksilver medal. IM Krizsany Laszlo (HUN,2397) had the same score of 7 points,but tiebreaks criteria decided that hetakes the third place and bronze medal.

European Women’s Senior ChessChampionship 50+ was merged withOpen section, with separate prizes forthe Winners. With score of 5.5 pointsand an overall 7th place, WIMKrasenkova Elena claimed the tile ofEuropean Women’s Senior ChessChampion for 50+ section.Second place went to BaliunieneMargarita (LTU, 1924) with 5 points, andBorsuk Angela (ISR, 2100) came thirdwith same score, but lower tiebreaks.

IM Birnboim Nathan (ISR, 2375) was thesole leader during the event andmaintained the leadership till the end ofthe Championship. With score of 7/9points, Birnboim Nathan triumphed thechampionship and claimed gold.

European Senior Chess Championship 2021

European Senior ChessChampionship 2021concluded on Monday, 4thof October, in Budoni,Sardinia/Italy.

European Senior ChessChampionship 2021

The total prize fund of the eventwas 6.500 EUR. The top 3players from each category ofthe European SeniorChampionship 2021 qualifiedwith personal rights (free boardand lodging) to the WorldSenior Championship 2022 or2023 according to FIDEdecisions.

Final rankings and full reportcan be found on the ECUwebsite.


FM Chapman Terry P D (ENG, 2236)came second with score of 6.5 points,while three players tied for bronze withscore of 6 points each: Hammar Bengt(SWE, 2130), IM Renman Nils-Gustaf(SWE, 2311) and Fritsch Rold (GER,2177). According to tiebreak criteria,Hammar Bengt won bronze, RenmanNils-Gustaf came fourth, and Fritsch Rolffinished the event as 5th.

WIM Wagner-Michel Annett (GER, 1998)claimed the title of the European SeniorWomen’s Chess Champion for 65+section, scoring 5.5 points, and takingthe overall 7th place in the event. WFMKierzek Mira (GER, 2019) took silverwith score of 3.5 points, and RistojaAulikki (FIN) was third with 3 points.

GlobalChessFestival

The event took place on Saturday 9th ofOctober with the following program.>11:30 CEST Lecture & Q&A session forthe Environment & the Climate ChangeEleni Svoronou, Head of environmentaleducation of WWF Greece>12:15 CEST Break.>13:00 CEST Judit’s Polgar Masterclass/ Chessable Classroom >14:00 CESTBlitz Tournament 5min + 5 sec. – 7rounds/ Chessable Platform

The interactive presentation for childrenby Ms Eleni Svoronou was broadcastedLIVE through the ECU Facebook page.ECU Secretary General Mr TheodorosTsorbatzoglou opened the event andwelcomed the participants.

All participants of the event will receivea special certificate of “ChessAmbassadors of the Environment”.The first 3 winners of the BlitzCompetition will take the following gifts:1st Prize: Adoption of a Polar Bear, +Chessable course of Master Your Chesswith Judit Polgar2nd Prize: Adoption of a Pinguin, +Chessable course of Master Your Chesswith Judit Polgar3rd Prize: Adoption of a Dolphin, +Chessable course of Master Your Chesswith Judit Polgar.

Chess Ambassadors for the Environment

European Chess Union and JuditPolgar’s Global Chess Festivalinvited one player U12 from eachEuropean Chess federation to takepart in the special chess and socialevent “Chess Ambassadors for theenvironment”.

ECU PresidentMr ZurabAzmaiparashvili,ECU VicePresident andFIDE ManagingDirector MsDana ReiznieceOzola at theGlobal ChessFestival inBudapest,Hungary.

Chess Ambassadorsfor the Environment

The special chess and socialevent “Chess Ambassadors forthe environment” took placeOnline on 9th of October, 2021.The event contained lecturesabout the Environment andClimate Changes, as well asthe masterclass with JuditPolgar.


ECU was represented and took part inthe annual Judit Polgar's Global festivalat the highest level.ECU President Mr ZurabAzmaiparashvili, ECU Vice Presidentand FIDE Managing Director Mrs DanaReizience-Ozola and Chairman of ECUEducational Committee Mr Jesper Hallwho all took part in Global ChessFestival in Budapest, Hungary.

More details about the events can befound on Global Chess Festivalwebpage.

Newsletter n°0 - Septembre 2011

PORTFOLIO

ECU Online Trainers Conference

ECU Online Trainers Conference took place through theZOOM platform from October 1st until October 3rd 2021.

ECU President, Mr. ZurabAzmaiparashvili opened the Conferenceand welcomed the participants. Hestarted the first lecture of theconference, discussing the trainers worktogether with GM Adrian Mikhalchishin,

The lecturer of the first day was alsoIvan Sokolov, who started the secondlecture with the topic "How to teachpawn structure".Slovenian FM Matej Guid, Professor ofComputer Science, presented attendeesof the Conference the connectionbetween chess and Artificial Inteligence.A chess company Thinkers Publishingwhich was represented by GM AdrienDemuth and IM Herman Grootenpresented The Educational Value ofBooks – a Publisher’s program with aTrainer.


The second day of the ECU OnlineTrainers Conference was opened byECU Secretary General, Mr.TheodorosTsorbatzoglou.The second day continued with GMGeorg Mohr lesson with a topic: How tostructure the lecture based on the openfile.Mr. Martin Fischer from a ChessBaseshowed attendees of the Conferencehow to use Chessbase for the training.FIDE Trainers Commission chairman Mr.Mikhail Kobalia joined the Conferenceand discussed the work of thecommission and Russian youth system.One of the most experienced coachesworldwide Greek GM Efstratios Grivasgave a lesson how to teach endgames.The day continued with the conversationof Croatian GM Alojzije Jankovic andAdrian Mikhalchishin about the life of achess coach.A very interesting lecture How to teachbeginners by Vladimir Grabinsky.ECU Education commission chairmanMr. Jesper Bergmark Hall talked aboutChess in school, while German CaptainMr. Bernd Voekler shared details ofGerman youth system.

A current Women's WorldCup winner GM AlexandraKosteniuk joined and sharedher thoughts about her wayof becoming a top player.She spoke about the role ofher father as a coach and therole of a great trainer YuriRazuvaev.

After very interesting speechof the surprise guest, GMAdrian Mikhalchishin gave alecture about the role ofstudying classics.

The Conference continuedwith the lecture of thelegendary GM and famouscoach Iossif Dorfman about"The method".

Mrs. WGM Dana Reizniece-Ozola, FIDE managingdirector, and ECU Vicepresident, shared her thoughtabout specifics in Womenchess, within the last lectureof the Conference.

ECU Online Trainers Conference

The third and the last day ofthe ECU Online Conferencestarted with a surpriseattendees.


The tounament is played in theNational and University Library, withparticipation of 10 Grandmastersplaying a round-robin event in 9rounds.

The participants are: ErnestoInarkiev (RUS, 2668), EtienneBacrot (FRA, 2658), Igor Kovalenko(LAT, 2647), Sergei Movsesian(ARM, 2627), Ante Brkic (CRO,2621), Zdenko Kozul (CRO, 2601),Marin Bosiocic (CRO, 2573), HrvojeStevic (CRO, 2570), Robert Zelcic(CRO, 2522), Mladen Palac (CRO,2517).

Starting rank list can be found here.

The opening ceremony of the eventtook place today with attendance ofthe ECU President, Mr.ZurabAzmaiparashvili who addressed allthe players and the organizers of theevent.

Tournament of Peace 2021The historical chess event,Tournament of Peace 2021,takes place from 5th-10thOctober 2021, in Zagreb,Croatia.

ECU President,Mr.ZurabAzmaiparashviliattended theOpeningCeremony of theevent.

Tournament of Peace

The historical chess event-Tournament of Peace for thefirst time took place from 12thApril - 9th May 1965, in Zagreb,Croatia.The tradition of the tournamentwas kept in 1970, 1975, 1985,and then revived in 2018 and2019.Due pandemic of Covid19 virus,the event didn't take place in2020, but this year, the event isagain organized in Zagreb,Croatia.


All the games will be in LIVEbroadcast, and can be followed liveon the following link.Time control is: 90 minutes for 40moves + 30 minutes for the rest ofthe game + 30 seconds incrementfor every move starting from the firstone.

The event is organized by CroatianChess Federation, and supported byEuropean Chess Union and FIDEDevelopment Fund.

INVITATION

#EYRBCC2021

The first on the schedule will be the 20th

European Youth Individual Rapid

Chess Championship (U8, U10, U12,U14, U16 and U18, open and girlssections separately), taking place from27th-28th December. The event will beplayed in 9 rounds, Swiss system, withtime control: 15 minutes+ 10 seconds ofan increment.Registration fee is 20 EURper participant. The best 3 players, ineach category, will receive trophies,medals, and gift prizes.

European Problems solving

Championship will take place on 28thof December. The event will beorganized within 3 age categories: U10,U14 and U18, open and girls categoriesseparately. Registration fee is 5 EUR perparticipant. The best 3 players, in eachcategory, will receive trophies, medals,and gift prizes.

20th European Youth Individual

Chess Championship will be played on29th and 30th of December. The eventwill be played in 6 age categories: U8,U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18 (open andgirls separately), in 9 rounds, Swisssystem, with time control of 3 minutes +2 seconds of an increment. Registrationfee is 5 EUR per participant. The best 3(three) players, in each category, willreceive trophies, medals, and gift prizes.

European Youth Rapid&Blitz Championships 2021

The 20th edition of theEuropean Youth Rapid&BlitzChess Championships 2021will take place from 26th-31stDecember in Novi Sad,Serbia.

All information, including theregistration form, can be foundon the official website of thetournament:www.youthchess.org

Contact Email:[email protected] person: BoškoStanimirović, tel: +381 63 8406135 (Viber + whatsApp)

Official regulations can be foundon the ECU Website.


European Team Chess Championship

2021 will be played on 30th ofDecember, within U10, U14 and U18age sections. Teams should becomposed of 4 players without reservesfrom the same federation. Thetournament will be held in 7 rounds,according to the Swiss system, with therate of play: 10 minutes + 5 seconds ofan increment.Registration fee is 20 EUR per team.Members of the 3 (three) best placedteams in each will receive trophies,medals, and gift prizes.

Registration of participants should bedone by filling the registration form andsending it to the e-mail address of theorganizer, not later than December 3rd.

Photo fromEuropean Online

Youth ChessChampionship

2020

European Youth&Junior HybridChess Championships 2021

European Youth andJunior ChessChampionships 2021 willtake place from 15-21October 2021 and will beplayed as a “hybrid”event within 14categories: U8, U10,U12, U14, U16, U18 andU20, open and girlssections separately.

More than 900 players from 34European Federations will participate inthe event, making the EuropeanYouth&Junior Hybrid ChessChampionship one of the biggest hybridchess events ever held.

Starting lists of participants can be foundhere.

The events will be played in severalvenues with all FIDE rules throughTornelo platform and will be submittedfor rating.

The events will be played in SwissSystem, 9 rounds, with rate of play 90minutes for a game per player +30-seconds of increment after eachmove.


UPCOMING

The winner in each of 12 categories willbecome the European Chess Champion2021 in the respective category and willbe invited to European Youth ChessChampionships 2022.The winners in Open U20 and Girls U20sections will become the EuropeanJunior and Girls Champions 2021 andwill be invited (free accommodation) inthe European Individual ChessChampionships 2022 (qualifiers for FIDEWorld Cup).The first 6 winners of each category (84players) will be awarded with an annualtraining Program (8 months) through theEuropean Chess Academy program withTop Trainers.

More details about regulations andspecial prizes can be found on ECUWebsite.

European Team Chess Championship 2021

European Team ChessChampionship 2021 andEuropean Women’s TeamChess Championship 2021will take place from 11th-22ndNovember in Catez, Slovenia.

70 teams from 38 Europeanfederations have registeredfor the event.

Preliminary starting rank lists of teamshave been published.Team of Russia with average rating ofplayers 2722, Azerbaijan with averagerating of players 2717 and France withaverage rating of players 2708 are thetop seeds of the Open section, amongthe 33 registered teams.The battlefield of Women's section is ledby Russia with average rating of players2539, Georgia with average rating ofplayers 2474 and Poland with averagerating of players 2403.Top rated players of the event are: AnishGiri (NED,2774), Firouzja Alireza (FRA,2770), Mamedyarov Shakhriyar (AZE,2765) and in Women's section:Goryachkina Aleksandra (RUS,2602),Lagno Kateryna (RUS,2550) andDzagnidze Nana (GEO, 2524).


Starting rank list of teams and list ofplayers participating the event can befound here.

The events will be played according tothe Swiss System in 9 rounds, with timecontrol of 90 minutes for 40 moves + 30minutes for the rest of the game, with 30seconds increment for every moveplayed starting from the move on.

The playing venue of the event will beHotel Terme Čatež Spa.

Official regulations and schedule of theevent can be found on the ECUWebsite.

INVITATION

European Online Rapid SchoolChess Championship 2021

The European Chess Union, the Georgian ChessFederation & the Georgian Chess Club “64” invite all ECUmember national federations to participate in the ECUOnline Rapid School Championships, under 10 – 17.

The European Online Rapid SchoolChampionships will be played in 5different age groups – under 10, 11, 13,15, 17 and 2 sections – open and girls,separately.The Rapid Championships will consistof two stages: selection and final, bothtaking place through Tornelo Onlineplatform.

The selection stage tournaments will beplayed by separate online 7-round SwissSystem tournaments (Girls under 10, 11,13, 15, 17 and Open under 10, 11, 13,15, and 17). The time control for theselection stage will be 10 minutes + 3seconds increment starting from the firstmove. First 8 winners per category willbe qualified to the final stages.


For any age group (open and girls) thesecond stage event (Finals) will consistof an 8 – player KO tournament basedon 2 games (with alternate colours) andpossibly one Armageddon tie-break 5/4minutes game with no increment and theblack qualifies if the game is drawn.The time control for the final stage willbe 15 minutes + 10 seconds incrementstarting from the first move.

The registration deadline for the highestrating player to participate in FIDEGrand Prix (15.1-15.5) is October 28,22:00 CET, 2021. Registration deadlineis November 20, 22:00 CET, 2021.

The highest rated registered player (byFIDE October, 2021 standard rating)from each category will gain the right toparticipate in FIDE Online Rapid GrandPrix Series 2021. The first three winnersof the event (in each category) will beawarded with E-Medal and diploma.

Contact information, details aboutregistration and Official invitation can befound on the ECU Website.

FIDE Arbiters Seminar inTerme Catez, Slovenia

With the cooperation of the Slovenian Chess Federationand FIDE Development Commission, the European ChessUnion organizes a “Mixed” FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar in theEnglish language.

The venue will be the city of TermeČatež, Slovenia, concurrently with theEuropean Team Championship. Theevent will take place from Sunday, Nov.15th, to Thursday, Nov. 19th, 2021.

The lecturer of the Seminar will be MsJiřina Prokopová, International Arbiterand FIDE Lecturer.

25 places are available, summing up inperson and remote participation.Applicants requiring participating in theSeminar may apply to email [email protected] the application form. Theregistration is confirmed only once theapplicant receives the confirmation fromthe Arbiters’ Council.The deadline to apply is Sunday,November 7th.


The accommodation shall be bookedwith the ETCC Organising Committee. Itis highly recommended to wait for theArbiters’ Council’s confirmation emailbefore booking any accommodation andtransportation.The registration is free of charge incooperation with FIDE DevelopmentCommission.

The themes of the Seminar will be:>Laws of Chess>Competitions Rules and standards ofchess equipment>Anti-cheating guidelines for Arbiters>Regulations for the rating and over-the-board titles>Regulations for the titles of the Arbiters>Use of electronic clocks>System of games and tiebreaks>Swiss system and pairing rules>Examination

Contact information, application formand invitation for the FIDE Arbitersseminar can be found on the ECUWebsite.


About 13 years ago I was teachingat an arbiter seminar for the firsttime. I was 16 and I was brought intothe ‘craft’ because times werechanging and ‘new blood’ wasneeded.

Why? During the years leading tothat point, the job of an arbiterchanged drastically. A great arbiterused to be recognised by excellentmanual pairing skills with cards andby carrying a tiny screwdriver forsetting analogue clocks with brokenknobs.

But then computers came along,equipped with ‘magical’ programsthat could pair all the players with afew simple clicks. How frustrating itmust have been, if you spent yearshoning your pairing skills toperfection and now having everylittle girl accomplish the same thingwith near zero effort?!

And not just pairings; digital clockswith confusing settings appearednext to chess boards and soon after,electronic boards with wiresreplaced the familiar plastic sets. Anew era of chess events was uponus.

New technology kickstarted themodern image of chess. It gave usdatabases, engines, onlinecommentary for games which aretransmitted live and ultimately madechess more attractive andaccessible. Everything changed.This meant a new wave of playerswere drawn to chess.

ARBITERS CORNER

Future of chess competitions

Text by: IA Jirina Prokopova

And a new wave of arbiters as well!The newbies and those whowelcomed this change. Luckyenough to have those experiencedlong standing members of the arbiterworld alongside us.

And now, here we go again!Recently online mega-platformshave appeared and developed intounprecedented dimensions, covidforced everybody to stay locked-upat home, watch Netflix and playchess. Overcoming a crisis alwaysbrings new possibilities. Motivatesyou to acquire new skills and givesyou an incentive to question the oldways and explore new tools that areavailable to you.

What an exciting time to be alive! Ifyou are a chess arbiter at least.Let’s close our eyes and imagine apossible future of onlinecompetitions.

Hybrid and online chess can makechess accessible to anyone,anywhere in the world. Everybodynow has an option to play a ratedgame with someone on the otherside of the world with no need totravel.

But let's take it a step further, what ifyou are just running late? Could youstart playing your game on a phoneand join your friends in the playingvenue when you get there? Couldwe let players record their games viaan online platform on theirsmartphones instead of decipheringtheir scribbles on a piece of paper?

ARBITERS CORNER

Future of chess competitions

No need for expensive equipmentand all the games would berecorded and transmitted live.

People now use their phones tomanage their lives, to pay for stuff,to play around in virtual words andto do pretty much anything. And wecan be part of that, we can letplayers check in to our tournamentsby scanning QR codes, we can sendthem rules in a form of app, wherethey can collect points, instead oflistening to a technical meeting.Wouldn’t that be a good way to bringa new wave of players in today'sworld?

Text byJiřina

Prokopová


I wouldn’t implement it for the WorldChampionships just yet, but 99% ofchess events don’t includeprofessionals. Let’s have fun withthose! Start with an open mind. Let’sfind new ways to do old things,because there are no limits to whatwe can do in this new era.

I am excited to see who will be thenext to join our forces.

Jiřina Prokopová

1)What are You doing in life at the

current moment?

Try to do something interesting.

2)Your recollections of meetings with

the World Champions?

I spoke more than once with any Worldchampions between Botvinnik andAnand. I’ve played with Tal (some drawsand one win in 30 min game in 1988,Spassky (just draws), Karpov (Capd’Agde 2017– match; tournament oflegends 2018 – Platja d’Aro with almostequal score in both), Lost a famousgame against Kasparov in 1981; WithAnand made two draws in 1987-1988and won 2:0 in Grand Prix Intel in Paris1994). Some years from 2000 wasmanager of Kramnik for France.

3)Your best game?

Vaisser-Kupreichik, 1973 or Miles-Vaisser, 1998

4)Which Your achievement You

consider to be most important?

Victory in the big tournament of Oviedo1993 with 11 out of 13 and 4 timesSenior World Champion in 2010-2016.

5)Best and most important chess

book?

I started to study chess thanks to “Mysystem” of Nimzovich and Zurikh, 1953of Bronshtein

6)How did You start Your chess

career?

When I was 6 I won a match against myneighbor – confirmed amateur with theresult of 6:2.

7)Your favourite openings?

4 pawns attack– In 1997 I’ve publishedthe book on it – “Beating the Kings-Indian and Benoni”

10 questions by GM Adrian Mikhalchishin

Meet GM ANATOLY VAISSER, 4 times Senior World Champion

10)Favourite city, food and drink

Favorite city not really, probably

London.

Town - Paris;Drink -some sorts of French redwines;food - scallop shell.

Photo from European Team SeniorChess Championship 20218)Who was the most difficult and

most easiest opponent in yourcareer?Most difficult was Lautier, easiest –some French grandmasters.

9)Non chess best book, movie andsong for You?Book and film – “Master and Margarita”of Bulgakov, singer Vysotsky since 60years

LEGENDS QUESTIONS

Newsletter September 2021 22

FUN ZONE

For this edition of the ECU E-Magazine we

Solutions fromAugust Magazine

#Puzzle 1:1.Qg7+!! Kxg7 2.Nf5+ Kg83.Nh6##Puzzle 2:1.Nxg6+! Kg8 [1...Ke8 2.Qe7#]2.Qf8+!! Rxf8 3.Ne7##Puzzle 3:1.Rd8!! Bxg7 [1...Rxd82.Bxe6#; 1...Re7 2.Rxf8#]2.Rxe8+ Bf8 3.Bxe6+ Kh84.Rxf8##Puzzle 4:1.Bc5+ Ne7 [1...Qe7 2.Rd8#]2.Rd8#


MIKHAIL

BOTVINNIK

SAID

ABOUT

CHESS:

> It is a well known fact that almost allthe outstanding chess-players havebeen first-class analysts.

>Above all else, before playing incompetitions a player must have regardto his health, for if he is suffering from ill-health he cannot hope for success. Inthis connection the best of all tonics is15 to 20 days in the fresh air, in thecountry.

>There is no better place for learning towork independently and to extend yourhorizon than in higher school.

>You have to accustom yourself topractical study at home, you have todevote time to studies, to the history ofchess, the development of chess, ofchess culture.

>If you are going to make your markamong masters, you have to work farharder and more intensively, or, to put itmore exactly, the work is far morecomplex than that needed to gain thetitle of Master.

e-magazine september2021

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