Zen

     Here I am in Bulgaria, engjoying the last 2 days of my vacation.

     It's been an amazing week with a lot of sun, relaxation and good mood!

With my dear sister-Elena

     I haven't been very active with the posts, but from now on it's going to change. There are 2 tournaments ahead- the Romanian Club Championship and the World Junior Championship. The first one is going to start on the 31st of August. You can find the list of participants here: http://chess-results.com/tnr109534.aspx?art=8&lan=11&wi=821 The second tournament will start on the 13th of September, in Turkey.

    

     Will keep you posted!

     

Quarterfinals

     The World Cup is getting more and more interesting day by day!
     The quarterfinalists are: Evgeny Tomashevsky, Gata Kamsky, Dmitry Andreikin, Peter Svidler, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Fabiano Caruana, Vladimir Kramnik and Anton Korobov.
     There were many interesting games, fighted until the last drop of blood mini-matches (they can hardly  be called "mini" when the tie-breaks can offer a 7 games show).
     There was only one decisive game yesterday, Kramnik winning against Korobov.

Round 5

5.1

5.2

5.3

5.4

5.5

5.6

5.7

5.8

5.9

Total

Tomashevsky, Evgeny

½

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

0½

½

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

0½

Kamsky, Gata

Andreikin, Dmitry

½

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

0½

½

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

0½

Svidler, Peter

Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime

½

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

0½

½

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

0½

Caruana, Fabiano

Kramnik, Vladimir

1

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

1

0

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

0

Korobov, Anton

   




























       As Korobov told himself, it was a big "suffering" game- it was very unpleasant to play with black and none of the moves that were played were easy.
     The ones I rooted for are already out, so from the ones who are left, I think that the favorites are Vladimir Kramnik and Peter Svidler-who's the reigning FIDE World Cup Champion, having beaten Alexander Grischuk in the final in 2011.
     The 2nd classic game of the quarterfinals will be disputed today. You can follow it with live commentaries here: http://www.chessworldcup2013.com/live
     I hope for some more bloody battles!

Sweet critique

     My vacation continues in Bulgaria, where I am with my family. I missed them a lot, so I really enjoy the time we spend together.
     Being away from home is generally a good thing- you make your own choices, you decide what's good for you and what's not, freedom starts to make another sense when you're on your own.
    Inspite of this, it's good to return home from time to time, you get some good dose of critique, you get a point of view that only the people who really care about you and who don't mind telling you the bitter truth can say.
     It's really good  to know that there's no hypocrisy in anything- it's pure human nature and real personality and character.
     Thanks God, I've got such an amazing family!
     Here are some photos from my vacation:

xoxo from Albena! ;)

Happy Birthday, Dad!

     Here I am finally at home- in Chisinau. I feel so good here- even the walls have greeted me :D
     Greece was amazing- it has charged my batteries and it has made me see life in bright and different colours again.
     The tournament ended for me with a pleasant surprise- 1st woman prize and a +0,3 Elo points- which is a "great success" after the Europeans...
     Here is my new desktop image- a photo I've taken on our restaurant's roof garden :D

    The most important thing of the day- Happy Birthday, dear Dad! I wish you lots of health and happiness and I really hope to do my best in order to make you proud! You're my biggest fan and supporter and I'm the one who loves you no matter what!

xoxo from Chisinau!

Fortress

     The time passes quicker than ever in Kavala, where feeling great is the only option!
     Five rounds have been played and I've got 3p. I guess that it could be better, but it is still ok. You can find the pairings and the results here: http://chess-results.com/tnr106851.aspx?art=2&rd=5&lan=11&wi=821
     I visited the Byzantine fortress on the hill of Panagia yesterday. You can see some photos here:

Exploring might be tiring on heels :P

A big win!

     I won my game today, playing as a favourite- which makes my win kind of expected, but you can't imagine how happy it has made me!
     It's my first win since the 28th of July (yes, I'm counting :P) and I played six games since then against players with less Elo than me. It is such a relief to know that I still can win!
     You can find the live games here:http://www.chesskavala.gr/open/live/
     Can't help myself sharing the game with you!

   

Kavala

     Here I am in Kavala, after a long, tiring and unsuccessful tournament in Belgrade.
     I went to the beach the last 2 days and I had some time to think about what happened. It wasn't in my plans to play so badly- it was even a small shock for me... I wanted to qualify, but instead- I finished on -1 and a big Elo loss. I guess that bad tournaments happen but it's a bit dissappointing when they happen to be the most important ones.
     There are more tournaments to go, more Europeans and more chances to qualify- there's nothing to do now but to try to focus on the upcoming events.
     Kavala is a really nice city, with amazing beaches and nice surroundings. I was a bit afraid to come to play here after my horrible tournament in Belgrade, but I am happy with my decision now- as the Greek sun has charged my batteries, filling it with some positive thoughts :)

     Here is the link where you can follow the results: http://chess-results.com/tnr106851.aspx?lan=11

Wish you all a nice summer!