Mariano Ortega wins 2022 Cape Verde Championship
From 7 to 11 December, the city of Praia hosted the Final Phase of the VI National Individual Absolute Championship of Cape Verde. The “home” of the Cape Verdean Football Federation was the stage for the sixth edition of the national competition, held in the country’s capital for the first time. These days, eight chess players faced each other in the round-robin format to determine the king of Cape Verdean chess in 2022. The reigning champion IM Mariano Ortega did his best and confidently defended his title with a round to spare. Mariano won the national championship for the third time. As Mariano later admitted, the victory in this year’s championship came easier than last year’s tournament, when he secured the title only in the final round. As the other places on the podium, only the final round decided the silver and bronze medal winners. After winning his last game, António David Anes guaranteed the 2nd position, regardless of other outcomes, since he had the best tiebreaks. Gil Teixeira also pulled off a win in the final round and took bronze, relegating the Women’s National Champion, Célia Rodriguez, to 6th place. Final standings: 1. IM Mariano Ortega – 7 points; 2. António David Anes – 5 3. Gil Teixeira – 5 4. José Carlos Vaz – 4 5. António Monteiro – 2½ 6. WCM Célia Rodriguez – 2½ 7. Luís Barros – 1½ 8. Carlos Mőes – ½ The closing ceremony held right after the final round was attended by H.E. the Minister for Sport and Youth, Dr Carlos Monteiro. After a short musical performance, speeches the President of the Cape Verdean Chess Federation, the deputy of the President of the Olympic Committee and the Minister of Sports and Youth gave speeches. Before the final speech, a message by Tshepiso Lopang, President of the African Chess Confederation, was read to the participants. IM Mariano Ortega received the trophy from the hands of Dr Carlos Monteiro. In the end, a small cocktail party was held with everyone socializing. The players and guests agreed that there were no losers, and the big winner was chess and praised the excellent organization of the competition by the Cape Verdean Chess Federation. MEDIA: https://youtu.be/cwZqRkIcslA https://www.rtp.pt/play/p9678/e658297/reporter-africa-1-a-edicao?fbclid=IwAR2Xp3lUyJO5ku0JhwY3F096_2E_XYhYcS31Q0Bk_pfSdzTnjfF3fsQorh0 (after the 30th minute) Photo: Federação Cabo-verdiana de Xadrez Facebook page Official website: fcvx.org
Winners crowned at 2022 European Rapid & Blitz Championship
The 2022 European Rapid and Blitz Championship is in the books. The event was held in Katowice in the Spodek, one of the largest sport arenas in Poland, from December 16-18. Many guests and partners honoured us with their presence at the ceremonial opening of the tournament. ECU Vice-President Gunnar Bjornsson and ECU General Secretary Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou welcomed all players on behalf of the European Chess Union. Maciej Stachura, secretary of the city of Katowice, was also present at the opening. The tournament would not have been held at such a level without the support of the city of Katowice. Łukasz Turlej, the Secretary General of FIDE, also addressed a few words to the participants, who welcomed everyone to one of the largest chess events in the world, once again in Katowice. As many as 830 players from 38 countries participated in the blitz competition, an 11 double rounds Swiss tournament. After several hours of fierce fighting, three contestants, namely David Navara, Maciej Klekowski, and Shant Sargsyan scored 17½/22 and tied for first place. David Navarra took the title thanks to better Buchholz; Maciej Klekowski is the European blitz vice-champion for the second time in a row; the bronze medal goes to Shant Sargsyan. GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (FIDE) netted 15½/22 and became the best female player. IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya (POL) scored 15/22 and earned silver; GM Antoaneta Stefanova (BUL) took bronze with 14/22. Final standings: 1. Navara, David CZE 2676 17½ 2. Klekowski, Maciej POL 2515 17½ 3. Sargsyan, Shant ARM 2602 17½ 4. Alonso Rosell, Alvar ESP 2514 17 5. Kazakovskiy, Valeriy LTU 2516 17 6. Deac, Bogdan-Daniel ROM 2649 17 7. Gavrilescu, David ROM 2453 17 8. Pultinevicius, Paulius LTU 2486 17 9. Hovhannisyan, Robert ARM 2570 16½ 10. Lagarde, Maxime FRA 2594 16½ You can find the complete results on the official website. GM Jaime Santos Latasa from Spain became the European champion in rapid chess. As many as seven participants came into the final 11th round sharing the first place on 8½/10, but the Spaniard was the only one to notch up a win and grab the title. A huge group of eleven players tied for the second place with David Navara and Daniel Fridman taking silver and bronze respectively by dint of superior Buchholz. Aleksandra Malcewskaya (POL) became the best female player after scoring 2½ points in the last three rounds (8½/11). Alexandra Kosteniuk added the silver medal to her rapid chess title. Another home player WGM Jolanta Zawadzka (POL), earned bronze. Final standings: 1. Santos Latasa, Jaime ESP 2618 9½ 2. Navara, David CZE 2670 9 3. Fridman, Daniel GER 2618 9 4. Azarov, Sergei FIDE 2550 9 5. Yuffa, Daniil ESP 2509 9 6. Lagarde, Maxime FRA 2638 9 7. Drozdowski, Kacper POL 2451 9 8. Grandelius, Nils SWE 2652 9 9. Bartel, Mateusz POL 2519 9 10. Abdrlauf, Elham NOR 2435 9 You can find the complete results on the official website Three players managed to do something very impressive winning medals of the European Championships in both blitz and rapid: Aleksandra Kosteniuk, Aleksandra Malcewska and David Navara. Photo: Rafal Oleksiewicz and Michal Walusza Official website: katowice2022.eu/