Baltag and Petrenko clinch Moldova championship
IM Iulian Baltag and IM Svetlana Petrenko are 2021 Moldovian Champions. Iulian Baltag defended his title in a Swiss-tournament, brushing aside the competition of 22 players, including eight International Masters. On the road to the title, he drew four games and scored five wins (7 out of 9), including a very important last-round victory. This is his third triumph in the national championship after 2012 and 2020. Photo: Iulian Baltag Facebook page Andrei Macovei finished just a half-point behind the champion; Ivan Schitco shared the third position with Nichita Morozov but took bronze thanks to better tiebreaks. Final standings: 1. Baltag Iulian (2393) – 72. Macovei Andrei (2453) – 6½3. Schitco Ivan (2473) – 64. Morozov Nichita (2400) – 65. Soltanici Ruslan (2410) – 5½6. Ceres Dragos (2244) – 5½7. Zajarnyi Anatolyi (2289) – 5½8. Agafii Victor (2236) – 59. Bargan Sergiu (2259) – 510. Buzdugan Alexandru (1658) – 5 In the women’s section Svetlana Petrenko and defending champion, Valentina Verbin both netted 6/9 and tied for first place. The tiebreak put Petrenko on top as she emerged as a winner in their direct encounter in Round 3. This is Petrenko’s 13th (!) national title. Twelve players took part in this 7-round Swiss tournament held at the beginning of February. Photo: https://sahmoldova.md/ Final standings: 1. Petrenko Svetlana (2030) – 62. Verbin Valentina (2014) – 63. Mihailova Alina (1741) – 54. Petricenco Ana (1720) – 45. Bargan Victoria (1542) – 46. Bitca Emilia (1238) – 3½7. Dulteva Anastasia (1268) – 38. Varekha Anna (1707) – 2½9. Golban Liudmila (1652) – 2½10. Grebeniuc Alexandra (1228) – 2
FIDE Athletes Commission composition announced
The International Chess Federation is pleased to announce the composition of the newly created Athletes Commission: GM A. R. Saleh Salem (UAE) GM Ahmed Adly (Egypt) IM Alina Kashlinskaya (Russia) GM Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria) IM Carolina Lujan (Argentina) GM David Navara (Czech Republic) IM Dinara Saduakassova (Kazakhstan) IM Ekaterina Atalik (Turkey) IM Jomo Pitterson (Jamaica) GM Joshua Daniel Ruiz Castillo (Colombia) GM Ju Wenjun (China) IM Odion Aikhoje (Nigeria) IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iran) By the deadline of December 21, FIDE had received nine candidacies for the ten elected positions. Therefore, as decided by the FIDE Council, voting was not required and these nine candidates made it directly into the Commission. Along with these athletes who presented their candidacy, four other members were appointed by the FIDE Council: IM Alina Kashlinskaya, IM Ekaterina Atalik, IM Jomo Pitterson, and IM Odion Aikhoje. The FIDE Council reserves itself the right to appoint two more members, in order to reach a total composition of 15 representatives of the players as stipulated in the regulations. The term of election and appointment of all members will be four years, but exceptionally the first term is limited to two years, until the 2022 FIDE Congress. Dinara Saduakassova (Kazakhstan) will be the first athlete to chair this commission for a period of half a year, followed by Ju Wenjun, and Ahmed Adly, in a six-month rotation.