IM Loïc Travalon (France), representing the French Île de France league, won a double championship at the 8th International Francophone Chess Meetings (RIDEF). 

RIDEF is the Francophone Chess Association’s (AIDEF) major event that has been growing since 2013. This chess forum enables all AIDEF’s to compete for the Francophone titles and share moments of conviviality conducive to developing north-south mutual aid. 

The first seven editions were held in Marrakech (Morocco), Beirut (Lebanon), Montreal (Canada-Quebec), Menton (France), Yasmine Hammamet (Tunisia), Tirana (Albania) and Paris (France). Morocco has hosted this event for the second time.

This eighth edition, which was initially scheduled for December 2021, had to be postponed due to Covid19, but in the unanimous opinion of the participants, it was an exceptional event. The competition that took place at the ONOMO Hotel 4* City Center Casablanca brought together a total of 125 players in the classic championship and 98 in the blitz event representing 24 different countries.

The total prize fund of the event reached €12,000.

The Classic Championship saw a close fight for the title, with five players tying for first place, scoring 7/9. Loïc Travalon came out on top thanks to slightly better Bucholz over his main rivals. 

Classic Championship final standings:

WGM Tatiana Dornbusch, representing Monaco, finished in fifth place and won the women's title.

The title of Senior+50 was won by IM Fred Berend of Luxembourg and that of Veteran+ 65 by Skalli Taoufic of Morocco.

You can find the complete results here.

The champion notched a very convincing victory in the blitz championship, netting 9.5/11.

You can find the complete results of the blitz competition here.

FIDE Arbiter Training Seminar, lead by Laurent Freyd, chairman of the FIDE arbiter commission, ran alongside the main competitions. It attracted 22 participants and was a great success. 

On July 4, participants were invited to the opening of the "Beauty of Chess" exhibition at the Gallery of the Media Library of the Hassan II Mosque Foundation. The exhibition will remain open to the public until July 20.

On July 6, FIDE Executive Director GM Victor Bologan gave a simul to the Casablanca Olympic Club playing against 20 players. It was a tough test for his opponents as Mr Bologan did not concede even a single half point!

The closing ceremony took place at the Mohamed Zefzaf Cultural Complex. It was followed by a cocktail dinner and a fantastic "Chess Opera" concert by the group of musicians from the Foundation for World Cultures "Come to my Home".

A sumptuous traditional Moroccan closing gala dinner was given for the guests on the 27th floor of the 5* Kenzi Palace Casablanca hotel.

A large FIDE delegation, including FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, Deputy President Bachar Kouatly, Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Treasurer Zhu Chen, Executive Director Victor Bolagan and Chairman of the Arbiter's Commission Laurent Freyd, visited Casablanca – a clear indication of the interest for chess within the international French-speaking world in general, and AIDEF in particular. 

Tunisia will host the next International Francophone Chess Meetings at the end of this year. The announcement was made by Mr Nabil Doghri,  President of the Tunisian Chess Federation.

AIDEF also thanks Minister Driss Alaoui M'Daghri, President of the "Fondation des Cultures du Monde", who greatly contributed to organizing the 8th International Francophone Chess Meetings.

Photo: Rencontres Internationales Des Echecs Francophones