E-MAGAZINE JUNE 2021

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E-MAGAZINE

JUNE 2021

Ivan Saric wins the 11th edition ofthe Mediterranean ChessChampionship held in Petrovac,Montenegro

We have reached CertificateNo.1000 (!) last weekend for ECUTeachers Chess Training Coursein cooperation with ChessPlus.

ECU101 Certificates

Mediterranean Championship

#6 Over-The-Board ECU

Championships annnounced!

Briefly..

The 3rd ECU Board meeting in 2021 took place on Wednesday 9th

of June through teleconference.

Regulations for six (6) European Chess Championships in 2021

have been published. Special health measures will be valid according

the hosting countries rules and ECU protocols.

European Women Individual Chess Championship 2021 will take

place from 8th-21st of August 2021, in Iasi, Romania. 116 players

from 29 federations registered for the event. A few late registrations

are also expected to complete the list.

The Mediterranean Chess Championship 2021 took place succefuly

from 18-27 June 2021, in Petrovac, Montenegro.

ECU organised special webinars in cooperation with FIDE Planing and

Develoment Commission. Reports are inlcuded in the magazine.

+ Webinar for Erasmus #Friday June 18

+ Online FIDE International Organizers Seminar 28 June - July 1

+ Chess Teacher Training Online Course on 19-20 June

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]

Mediterannean #Chess

Mediterannean ChessChampionship 2021 - Finalreport

ECU Board Meeting

Communique of the ECUBoard Meeting - Maininformation and decisions

ECU OTB EVENTS

Preview and invitations ofannounced ECU Over-The-Board events

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Queen's Chess Festival

Final report on Queen's ChessFestival

ECU FIDE IO Seminar

ECU FIDE IO Seminar shortreport

ECU EDU activities

1000+ Certificated ECUChess Teachers!

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Seminar for Erasmus+

ECU Online Seminar forapplication in Erasmus+programs

Arbiters Corner

"Once upon a time inBelgium..."Text by: IA Geert Bailleul

Fun Zone

Newsletter June 2021

MediterraneanCh2021

128 players from 20 federationsparticipated in the 11thMediterranean ChessChampionship. The event wasopened by the ECU President,Mr.Zurab Azmaiparashvili.

After 9 played rounds, GM IvanSaric (Croatia) claimed the title ofMediterranean Champion. He tiedfor the first place with IM SaraciNderim (Kosovo), scoring 7.5points.Additional criteria decided thattrophy goes to Ivan Saric, whileSaraci Nderim took silver.

Three players tied for bronze,scoring 7 points each: GM VahapSanal (Turkey), GM Zelcic Robert(Croatia) and IM Livaic Leon(Croatia), but according to tiebreaks,Vahap Sanal took bronze medal.

IM Stavroula Tsolakidou (Greece)scored 6.5 points to claim theMediterranean Women's ChessChmapion title. WGM Injac Teodora(Serbia) finished 2nd with 5.5 pointsand Eizaguerri Floris Maria (Spain)came 3rd with 5 points.

Mediterranean Chess Championship 2021

Mediterranean ChessChampionship 2021 tookplace from 18-27 June2021 in a 4* Hotel Palas, inPetrovac, Montenegro.

Légende Nemo enim ipsam voluptatemquia voluptas sit aspernatur.

The 11th edition ofthe Mediterranean ChessChampionship took place from18-27 June in Petrovac,Montenegro.

The Closing ceremony of theevent was attended by ECUPresident ZurabAzmaiparashvili and ECU VicePresident and FIDE CEO DanaReizniece-Ozola.

3Newsletter June 2021

The total prize fund of the event was10.500 EUR, with 1.200 EURreserved for the Champion of theevent.

The event was played according toSwiss system, 9 rounds, with timecontrol 90 minutes per player for 40moves, plus 15 minutes till the endof the game, with increment of 40seconds for each move, startingfrom move one.

All the results and final standingscan be found here.


The third ECU Board meeting in 2021

took place on Wednesday 9th of June

through teleconference.

>ECU Board discussed the reports ofEuropean Online and HybridCompetitions, which were organizedfrom March to May 2021 and expressesits satisfaction with the level and resultsof the events. For the European HybridQualifier Tournament, ECU thanksNational Chess Federations, who wentto great lengths to organize the venueswell and also show great concentrationin the anti-cheating guidelines.>ECU Board was informed about theprojects concluded by the support ofFIDE Development fund and especiallythe actions in cooperation with FIDEWomen’s Commission and FIDECommission for the Disabled.>The Board approved the 2020accounts and financial statements,noting that the financial sustainability ofECU has not been affected in thisdifficult year due to drastic cuts in theannual budget. However, the ECUprogram remained active online withmany competitions, webinars, and onlineconferences.

European Chess Championships

>The European Open and Women ClubCup 2021 will take place at Ohrid Lake,North Macedonia from the 17th to the25th of September 2021, with 44.000prize fund.>The European Open and Women ClubCup 2022 will be organised in Austria.>The European Women Club Cup 2023will be organized in Monaco.>The European Team ChessChampionship 2021 will be organized inTerme Omilia, Slovenia, from the 11th tothe 22nd of November 2021.>The European Rapid&Blitz ChessChampionship will be organized inKatowice, Poland from 16-19 December.

Main information

and decisions of

the ECU Board:

COMMUNIQUE OF THEECU BOARD MEETING

ECU CL No5/2021

>The European Individual SeniorChampionship 2021 will be organized bythe Italian Chess Federation. Expectedto start on 25th of September. Exactschedule will be announced.>The European Youth Rapid & BlitzChess Championship is scheduled inNovisad,Serbia from the 26th to 31st ofDecember 2021.>The European CorporateChampionship 2021 in Rotterdampostponed for 2022.>For European Youth ChessChampionship 2021 the decision will bemade in early July, taking into accounttravel conditions and restrictions inEurope especially for young players>European School Chess Championship2021 will be held online. Exact schedulewill be announced.>European Small Nations Team ChessChampionship 2021 will be held in Maltafrom 27th November to 5th Decemberwith the ECU support.

The Board of ECU is aware that thechess calendar for the months August-December 2021 is full of national andinternational events after the long breakof the over the board activities. However,holding more competitions in conjunctionwith the organisers requests than beingcancelled for this year is a positive step.

> The bidding process for EuropeanChampionships available in 2023 willopen with a deadline of October 1, 2021to submit bids. Championships notorganised in 2021 will be carried over to2022 and 2023.

>The ECU General Assembly 2021 willtake place in Terme, Omilia Sloveniaduring the European Team ChessChampionship.

INVITATION

#EICC2021

The Championship will be playedaccording to the ECU Tournament RulesSwiss system of 11 rounds. TheEuropean Individual ChessChampionship 2021 is a qualifying eventfor the FIDE World Cup 2023 with 23qualification spots.The total prize fund is 100,000EUR,with 20.000EUR reserved for the Winnerof the event. Besides the regular prizes,there will be special prizes for best juniorplayers, best women players, bestsenior players and prizes for the 5highest placed ACP Premium Members.

The official venue of the championship isHotel Natura, a historic place with a richhistory of chess events held there.Bobby Fischer stayed at this hotel duringhis 1972 World Championship matchagainst Boris Spassky. A replica of thefamous table used in 1972 can be foundat the hotel. Several other high-profileevents have been held at the hotel,including the 1977 Spassky vs. HortCandidates match and the 1991 GMAWorld Cup. as well as the GMA WorldCup in 1991.The event is open to all playersrepresenting the Chess Federationswhich are members of the EuropeanChess Union, regardless of their title orrating. There is no limit to participantsper federation.

European Individual Chess Championship

European Individual ChessChampionship 2021 willtake place from August26th (1st round) –September 5th inReykjavik, Iceland.

Hotel Natura -Official venue ofthe EuropeanIndividual ChessChampionship2021

Regulations andBoarder Rules

All the detailedinformation altogether withregulations of the eventcan be found on the ECUWebsite.

Important Boarder Rulesof entry to Iceland havebeen published and canbe found on the OfficialWebsite of the event.


Registration deadline is July 15th.

Prolongation of the registration deadlinemay be possible for some federations ifa very special reason is presented as ajustification for the delay.

The list of registered players can befound on the Official Website. Lists areupdated daily

European Women's Individual ChessChampionship 2021

European Women IndividualChess Championship 2021will take place from 8th-21st ofAugust 2021, in Iasi,Romania.

116 players from 29federations registered for theevent. A few late registrationsare also expected to completethe list.

very strong battlefield is led byDzagnidze Nana (GEO,2524), Batsiashvili Nino (GEO,2491), Javakashvili Lela (GEO, 2473),Stefanova Antoaneta (ECU, 2470),Khotenashvili Bela (GEO, 2463), GiryaOlga (RUS, 2448) and others.

he event will be played in 11 rounds,Swiss system, with time control 90minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutesfor the rest of the game with anincrement of 30 seconds per move,starting from /move one.

The total prize fund of the event will be60.000 EUR. The 21st EuropeanIndividual Women Chess Championshipis a qualification event for the FIDEWomen’s World Cup 2022 or 2023.

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PREVIEW

According to the FIDE regulations andthe ECU Board decision, at least 10players will qualify. The number ofqualification spots may be increasedwith a decision prior to the start of theChampionship.

All players and accompanying personsshall be accommodated in the official****UNIREA Hotel due to the specialsanitary measures for the conduct of thechampionship.

All the players should follow medicalprotocol which is described in the OfficialRegulations of the event that can befound on the ECU Website.

Starting list of the players can be foundhere.

INVITATION

#ECCC2021

The championships will be held in 7rounds, played in the Swiss system inaccordance with the ECU TournamentRules. According to FIDE and ECUrules, the time control will be 90 minutesfor 40 moves plus 30 minutes for therest of the game with an increment of 30seconds per move, starting from moveone.

Each European federation is allowed totake part in this competition.According to the regulations,participation is open to:>Obiettivo Risarcimento Padova, Italy,the current cup holder in the opencompetition.>Five (5) clubs per federation in which anational team championship isorganized or four (4) clubs perfederation in which no national teamchampionship is organized.>There is no restriction how the clubswill be selected by the Nationalfederations>Any additional request for participationshould be examined by the ECU Board>In the Women competition all the clubmembers of ECU Federations areallowed to participate.>Clubs shall be registered through theNational chess Federations or direct ifthere is no objection from the NationalChess Federation.

EUROPEAN CLUB CUP 2021The 36th European Club Cupand the 25th European ClubCup for Women will take placefrom 17th-25th September2021 in Struga, Ohrid Lake,North Macedonia.

Légende Nemo enim ipsam voluptatemquia voluptas sit aspernatur.

Hotel Drim,Struga, OhridLake, besideriver Drim.

Prizes

The total prize fund of the eventis 44.000 Euros. The firstranked 3 teams will receivetrophies. Each team member ofthe winning clubs open &women (players, reserves andcaptain) will receive a goldmedal. The team members ofthe 2nd and 3rd placed clubswill each receive a silver andbronze medal respectively.


All players fees and compositionsrestrictions are waived only for the year2021 by decision of the ECU Board.

The date of August 15, 2021, is the

registration deadline. The basic teamcomposition shall be submitted with theentry form.

The open teams shall be composed ofsix (6) players and two (2) reserves Forthe women competition the teams shallbe composed of four (4) players and one(1) reserve.The OPEN event will be held in the 5*hotel Izgrev, Struga, Ohrid lake.The Women event will be held in 4*hotel Drim, Struga, Ohrid Lake, besideriver Drim.

INVITATION

The playing venueof the event will beHotel Terme ČatežSpa.

European Team Chess Championship 2021

European Team Chess Championship 2021 andEuropean Women’s Team Chess Championship 2021 willtake place from 11th-22nd November in Catez, Slovenia.

he events will be played according to theSwiss 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 one.

Each ECU member has the right to enterone team of four players + one reserveplayer in the Open competition and oneteam of four female players + onereserve player in the Women’scompetition. The hosting federation maycompete with more than one team ineach section by approval of the ECUBoard.The registration deadline is

September 30th, 2021. Registrationscan be submitted by National ChessFederations through the following emailaddress: [email protected].

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

The winners of Open and Women’ssections will claim the title of theEuropean Team Champions for theyears 2021-2022. The first three teamsin the Open and Women’s sections willeach receive cups. Each member of thewinning team (players, reserves andcaptain) shall receive a gold medal anddiploma. Members of the second andthird-placed teams shall each receive asilver and bronze medal and a diplomarespectively. The best – performingplayers in the Open and Women’ssections on each board (10 players intotal) will receive gold medals.Performance shall be calculated as perECU tournament rules. Second and thirdplaced players in both sections willreceive silver and bronze medals.

Contact Information:

Email: [email protected] Website – www.etcc2021.eu

INVITATION

#ESCC2021

The event will be played in two agecategories: 50+ and 65+, Open andWomen sections separately. Theevents will be played in 9 rounds,Swiss system, with time control of90 minutes for 40 moves + 30minutes till the end of the game, withan increment of 30 seconds for eachmove, starting from move one.

If the total number of Women teamsis less than 9, Women section willbe merged with Open section withseparate prizes.

The total prize fund of the event willbe 8.000 EUR. The top 3 playersfrom each category of the EuropeanSenior Chess Championship 2021will qualify for the FIDE World SeniorChampionship 2022 or 2023, withpersonal rights (free board andlodging).

Regisration deadline is September5th, 2021. Registrations shall besent to the following email address:[email protected].

European Senior Chess Championship 2021

European Senior ChessChampionship 2021 willtake place from 25thSeptember – 5th Octoberin Budoni, Italy.

Contact information:

Contact person:Nadia Ottavi

E-mail: [email protected] website:www.ecusenior.unichess.it

All the information and officialregulations can be found on theECU Website.


Covid19 measures:Upon arrival to the tournament, allparticipants, referees and staff(including Italian citizens) mustpresent to the OrganisingCommittee a certificate of fullvaccination or a 72h negative PCRtest for Coviv19.

Additional measures will comply withthe Italian and ECU health protocols.

INVITATION

European Senior Team ChessChampionship 2021

European Senior Team Chess Championship 2021 willtake place from 29th August -8th September inPrague, Czech Republic.

he event will be played in 2 agecategories: 50+ and 65+, and open andwomen sections will be awardedseparately. Both sections will be playedin 9 rounds, Swiss system, with timecontrol of 90 minutes for 40 moves+ 30minutes for the rest of the game, with anincrement of 30 seconds per each move,starting from the move one.

The registration deadline is August

15th, 2021. Due to anti-epidemicmeasures all teams are obliged to beaccommodated in the official hotel-venue. The official venue and the hotelduring the event will be Hotel DonGiovanni. Upon arrival to thetournament, all participants, refereesand staff (including Czech citizens) mustpresent a certificate of full vaccination ora 72h negative PCR test for Covid19.

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The European Senior Team ChessChampionship is open to all players,regardless of rating and title, who reachtheir age of 50 and 65 by 31stDecember 2021 and represent NationalChess Federations which are membersof FIDE. Teams can register onlythrough their national chess federations.There is no limit in the number of teamsper federation (club teams, city teams,regional teams, national teams, etc. maystart in the championship, there is nolimitation). There is only one limitation –all team players must be members of thesame European chess federation (forexample CZE).

Organisers have secured variousaccommodation packages for the teamsand prepared also a parallel culturalprogram for the participants.

The total prize fund of the event is 6.000EUR and material prizes for individualboard winners.

All details and official regulations can befound on the ECU Website.

EUROPEAN UNION YOUTH CHESSCHAMPIONSHIP 2021

European Union YouthChess Championship 2021will take place from13th-22nd August 2021, inKouty nad Desnou, CzechRepublic.The event will be played in 4age categories: U8, U10, U12and U14, according to a Swisssystem in 9 rounds, with timecontrol of 90 min for the wholegame + 30 sec increase foreach move played.

nly players based in the EUmember countries are allowed toparticipate. Each Federation canregister to the tournament oneplayer, a boy or a girl, in each ofthe categories – under 8, 10, 12and 14 years. Boys and girls willplay in the same tournament, butwith two separate scores.

Registration deadline is July

12th, 2021. Registration formshall be fullfilled and sent to thefollowing email address:[email protected] .

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INVITATION

The first three players from eachcategory will receivechampionship trophies, medalsand diplomas. The winners ofeach tournament receive alaptop, other medalists willreceive a digital clock. Prizes willreceive at least the first sixplayers of each category. Thetotal value of the prize fund willbe at least 6.000 Euro. Girls ineach category will be evaluatedseparately.

Official regulations and contactinformation can be found on theECU Website.

Queen's Festival

The Queen’s Festival is a unique all-inclusive event with the aim to develop astrong global community of women inchess and enhance participation ofwomen in all aspects of chess life. Builton the recent success and appeal of theNetflix series “The Queen’s Gambit”, thisevent promotes female players,organizers, arbiters, influencers, leaders,and rising stars of all levels,backgrounds and countries.

Players from Africa, Asia, Europe andthe Americas were able to participate inthe Continental Online Blitz QualificationTournaments and those who qualifiedadvanced to the Queens’ OnlineIndividual and Team Finals.

Over 460 female players from 82countries participated in the individualand team tournaments.

Argentina scored 29.5 points andemerged as the winner of the Team BlitzTournament. Georgia with 29 points andIndonesia with 28 points finished secondand third respectively.

The Winners of individual events-Group A:1. IM/WGM Martha Fierro (Ecuador)2. IM/WGM Olga Zimina (Italy)3. WGM Gong Qianyun (Singapore)

Queens’ Festival – Connecting Women in Chess

The Global Women’s Online ChessChallenge “The Queens’ Festival”, aseries of continental and globalwomen’s online chess tournamentsand educative side events, startedon June 11, 2021.

Side-events

For those interested in variouschess-related topics, there wereseminars and networkingevents with special guestsincluding Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Dinara Saduakassova,Jennifer Shahade, SusanNamangale, Regina Pokorna,Sarkhan Gashimov, Dr.Gnounewou Fopa Seraphin andothers.


The Winners Group B:1.WFM Lile Koridze (Georgia)2.WIM Angela Franco Valencia(Colombia)3.Kamila Hryshchenko (Ukraine)

The Winners Group C:1.Miranda Vargas Analia Karen(Ecuador)2.Sanudula C M Dahamdi (Sri Lanka)3.Magpily Francois Marie (Philipinnes)

The Winners Group D:1.Herfesa Shafira Devi (Indonesia)2.Subramanian Anusha (England)3.Gunawardhana Devindya Oshini(India).

The Webinar for FIDE InternationalOrganisers took place from June 28– July 1.

The event wass organized byEuropean Chess Union incooperation with FIDE EventsCommission and FIDE Women’sCommission, co-funded by FIDEDevelopment Fund.

The Webinar was held in Englishlanguage with following topics:>Regulations FIDE Events (GeneralRegulations, Specific Regulations,Bid Procedure)>Events’ Management>Ratings and Titles – TournamentConditions>Titles applications and Tournamentexperience>Organisation of Online and HybridEvents

24 participants took the evaluationtest after 3 days of lectures.

International OrganisersOnline Seminar


We havereachedCertificateNo.1000 (!)lastweekend forECUTeachersChessTrainingCourse incooperationwithChessPlus.

ECU Teachers Chess Training Course- 1000 Certificated Teachers!

The very first training course, ECU101 - The SMART Method to TeachChess has been a great success since its start in 2017.More than 1000 chess educators have taken the opportunity so far todevelop their skills to teach chess for educational purposes andgained the School Chess Teacher Certificate from the EuropeanChess Union.The certificate is widely recognised today between European Schoolsand Teachers and we believe soon to be also recognised by a numberof states!

More details about courses and upcoming events can be found here.


ECU101 Teaching Chess in Schools

ECU101 Teaching Chessin Schools OnlineSeminar took place from19-20 June 2021.

The Webinar was led byJesper Hall, Chairman ofECU EDU Commission,and supported by theFIDE Development fund.

15 participants attended the course,among whom were 13 participantssupported by FIDE Deevelopment fund:Albania (5), Cyprus, Germany, Greece,Luxembourg, North Macedonia (2),Finland, UK.

14 participants took part in the test bythe end of the lectures, and all of thempassed the test with the average testscore of 85.3%.

11 feedback replies, the participantsanswered following questions:>Did you enjoy course? 100%>Would you recommend thecourse?100%>Are you more confident to teachchess? 100%>Are you clear of the education benefitsof chess? 100%


Testimonies:• Thank you for the great course!• Excellent presented from Mr. JesperBergmark Hall and appreciate that beingpart of this team and this course.•Great teacher excellent english, goodstructured - sorry everything was fine• Online teaching is difficult, but giventhe circumstances, this was very welldone.• Jesper, Brigitta and John were all veryfriendly and nice. Jesper managed tocreate a good athmosphere in the group,he also taught everything very well. I amvery happy to have taken this course.Thank you also for providing it in thisPandemic times! :)• Perfect , a huge thank you, will lookforward to other courses....•Very useful course. waiting for otherones.

Seminar for application in Erasmus+

The first Online seminaron how to applicate andrun an Erasmus+ projecttook place on 18th ofJune.Alessandro Dominici andJesper Bergmark Hall asthe main speakers ledthe seminar, introducingprocedures of applicationin Erasmus+ projects.

14 participants took partrepresenting federations andorganizations. The idea with theseminar was to create a networkof federations and peopleinterested in making applicationfor Erasmus+ projects and to:1) Present Erasmus+2) Present the applicationprocedure 3) Present successfulprojects, both smaller and largerones4) Discuss ideas for a futureapplication5) Discuss how to co-operate


Till the next seminar in Augustthe participants will come in withtheir best ideas to Alessandroand Jesper, 2-3 will be pitched,presented, and coached.Hopefully, this can be thefundament for an application.

The action supported by the

FIDE Development fund.

Report by:Jesper Bergmark HallChairmain of ECU EDUCommission

ARBITERS CORNER

The first case occurred during an OpenInternational Tournament.The playing venue (playing area, smallbar, toilets, smoking area...) was clearlyseparated from the bar (+ analysingpossibilities and projection of the livegames).They were both in another building,about 50 meter from each other.

The time control was 90 minutes + 30sec per move starting from move 1.Schedule: 9 rounds.2 rounds per day (during 4 days, the lastday only 1 round), one round starting at10:00 am and the second round thesame day starting at 15:00 pm.The default time was 30 minutes.

During the 4th day of the tournament,the round that had started at 10:00 am(the 7th round) ended at 14:15 pm.The pairings of the round that starts at15:00 pm that day (the 8th round) wereavailable at 14:30 pm.

On the first board two IGM’s wereplaying against each other (on a liveinternet board). It was an importantgame for the first place (and the title) ofthe tournament.

Once upon a time in Belgium...(by IA Geert Bailleul, secretary of the ECU Arbiters’ Council)

The ECU Arbiters’ Council is always interested in the opinion of all their colleagues.By studying several cases, we are convinced that we can learn from each other andimprove our skills as an arbiter.This month I would like to actively involve you all in this article. It is my intention tostart some kind of discussion about two cases which occurred during two differenttournaments in Belgium.

ARBITERS CORNER

For this edition of the Arbiters'Corner, Secretary of the ECUArbiters' Council IA GeertBailleul presents two cases thatoccured during 2 events.The ECU Arbiters Councilwould be very pleased if wewould be flooded withresponses concerning bothcases. We will be glad topublish the most interestingcomments and remarks of thearbiters in the Arbiters’ Cornerof next Magazines.


After the start of that round at 15:00 pm(the 8th), and before entering the playingvenue, the IGM on the first board withthe black pieces was looking on hislaptop (in the bar!) to see what was thefirst move of his IGM-colleague with thewhite pieces.

After seeing that the White player hadplayed 1. e4..., the Black player startedto search on the internet to find gamesof the player with the white pieces inwhich he played 1. e4...He then studied about 30 games of hisopponent on his laptop before enteringthe playing venue.He did that during approximately 20minutes, still being in the bar.After that, he entered the playing hall(without his laptop) to make his firstmove.

Some spectators who, at that time, werein the bar and saw what this player did,informed the chief arbiter (CA) about it.They were rather upset of what theplayer did.They were convinced that it must beinterpreted as cheating.They asked the CA if this wasacceptable and what he (the CA) wasgoing to do about it.


The CA didn’t react because he did notsee the player do it.At the time, when the player wasanalysing the games of his opponent (inthe bar), the CA was in the playing area.

What is your opinion about thissituation?Is this cheating?How to react as an arbiter or CA?How to react as an arbiter if you see aplayer acting like that before he entersthe playing venue?What can we do to prevent this kind ofsituations?

The second case occurred duringanother international tournament inBelgium.The player with the white pieces (playerA) was an older man from about 70years old.The player with the black pieces (playerB) was a 9 years old youth player.

After more than 2 and a half hours ofplay, the situation of player B on theboard was disastrous.He was one bishop and 4 pawns down.At a certain moment in the game, afterplayer B played his move, he reachedout his hand to his opponent and asked:“draw??”.Player A shacked hands with the youthplayer, thinking that he resignedbecause he (player A) didn’t hear playerB ask: “draw??”.Player A was convinced that player Bresigned, because of his disastrousposition on the board.Player B thought that his opponentaccepted the draw offer.

ARBITERS CORNER

Once upon a time in Belgium...

Text by: IA Geert Bailleul

The clock was stopped and turned off byplayer B.The pieces were set again on theiroriginal position.After done all that both players filled intheir score sheets.

Only at that time they discovered theirmistake and the confusion betweenthem.Player A had “1 – 0” on his score sheet,while player B had “½ - ½”.Player A refused to sign the score sheetof player B.

The arbiter was called to solve theproblem.They didn’t play on a live board.How would you, as an arbiter, react inthis case? What has to be done?What is your opinion when players offera draw when their position on the boardis completely lost?

The ECU Arbiters Council would be verypleased if we would be flooded withresponses concerning both cases.We will be glad to publish the mostinteresting comments and remarks ofthe arbiters in the Arbiters’ Corner of oneof the next the ECU Magazines.

IA Geert BailleulSecretary of the ECU Arbiters’ Council.

FUN ZONE

For this edition of theECU E-Magazine weprepared for you 4positions where Whitemates in 2 moves!

Solutions from MayMagazine

#Puzzle 1:1.Rb8+! Rxb8 2.Nf7#

#Puzzle 2:1.Re6+!! Kxe6 2.Qd6#

#Puzzle 3:1.Re6+! Nxe6 2.b4#

Puzzle 4:1.Re8+! Kxe8 2.Qe7#


Tigran

Petrosian

said

about

chess:

>If it is true that a player’s style is

his person, then everyone plays

as he is intended to by nature. I

am naturally cautious, and I

altogether dislike situations

which involve risk.

>In almost any position the

boundless possibilities of chess

enable a new or at least a little-

studied continuation to be found.

>Chess is a game by its form, an

art by its content and a science

by the difficulty of gaining

mastery in it. Chess can convey

as much happiness as a good

book or work of music can.

>In general I consider that in

chess everything rests on tactics.

If one thinks of strategy as a

block of marble, then tactics are

the chisel with which a master

operates, in creating works of

chess art.

Documents

E-MAGAZINE JUNE 2021