Winners crowned at International Schools Chess Festival, Ploiești, Romania
The International Schools Chess Festival in the city of Ploiești, Romania, ended in triumph for the Lviv Academic Gymnasium, Ukraine, with a perfect score of 7 wins 7 matches, followed by Otilia Cazimir School from Iasi 6/7, and School no. 10 from Bacau, both from Romania. Organized by ISCU and Romanian Chess Federation under the auspices of FIDE, the event attracted 75 school teams from Mexico, Israel, Poland, Greece, Moldova, Ukraine and Romania (from 19 different counties). On a free day, an open-air blitz event was held in the central park of Ploiesti. The organizers also offered sightseeing tours for tours “Footprints of Dracula” and Bucharest tour to all the participants. The champion, Lviv Academic Gymnasium, received a special award established by FIDE: a travelling grant and accommodation at the World Schools Team Championship, which will take place in Aktau, Kazakhstan, from August 3-8, 2023. The top-finishing teams were presented with special gifts and electronic devices from the partners Rompetrol and Aqua Carpatica. At the awarding ceremony, Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Deputy-Chair FIDE Management Board, delivered a video message on behalf of FIDE, which was warmly appreciated by the audience. There was also a separate ranking in the boys’ section, won by “Saint Vasile” school from Ploiesti, Romania. The team received the trophy “Alexander Kostyev”, named after Professor Kostyev, the founder of ISCU and the initiator of World and European School events. The girls’ section saw the victory of the Academic Gymnasium, Lviv, Ukraine, lifting the “Elisabeta Polihroniade” trophy. Elisabeta Polihroniade, an honorary member of FIDE and vice-president of ISCU was a true chess legend in Romania and a great promoter of chess in schools. Photos: promarkstudio.com/ Official website: iscu.info/club-activities/
Infinite Chess Project: 3rd stage of ends with a Zoom meeting
The final online meeting with partners of the Infinite Chess project (3rd stage: February – June 2023) will be held on 15th July 2023 at 11:00 CEST. This meeting, organized in cooperation with FIDE Social Commission, is open to the project partners and everyone interested in the topic. The main goal of the meeting is to share the outputs of the project, check progress and follow up on outstanding issues. Schedule of the meeting: 11:00 – welcome speech by Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Project supervisor, FIDE Deputy Chair 11:05 – welcome speech by Anastasia Sorokina, Leader of the project, FIDE WOM Chair (recorded video) 11:10 – Viesturs Kapce – chess coach, Latvia 11:15 – See, Swee Sie – national instructor, Malaysia 11:20 – Kamal Daodi – chess coach, Morocco 11:25 – Kanthi Sarjoo – speech-language pathologist, South Africa 11:30 – Sinem Çağla Gündoğan – chess coach, Turkey 11:35 –Sharon Whatley – chess coach, Gibraltar 11:40 – Questions Zoom link to join the meeting:us02web.zoom.us/j/89634977372 Meeting ID: 896 3497 7372 About the Infinite Chess Project FIDE’s INFINITE CHESS Project aims to increase knowledge and awareness of chess for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), give practical advice to teachers and parents, study the benefits of introducing them to chess and develop various teaching methods. In 2019, the Infinite Chess Project started in Belarus when the Belarus Chess Federation launched four pilot groups of 4 people each. In January 2021, a pilot project was launched in 6 countries: Spain, Turkey, France, Gibraltar, South Africa and Norway. The project is very much in line with FIDE’s strategy of promoting inclusivity and equity and the recently approved corporate social responsibility guidelines of FIDE. The 3rd phase of the pilot project (February-June 2023) included simultaneous implementation of the chess training for 120 kids children with autism spectrum disorder, based on the methodology developed by FIDE. The project is currently running in 12 countries: Spain, France, Latvia, Gibraltar, Albania, South Africa, Morocco, Malaysia, Turkey, Taiwan, Cyprus and Mongolia. It is co-financed by the IOC’s Recognized International Federations’ Development Program. As a next step of the project development, FIDE is planning to expand the implementation of the program in the African and American continents.