20 years to go

     I am again in Romania and it feels... almost right.
     I've been inactive for quite a bit- this past month wasn't easy at all and the reason is the World Junior Championship- the last one for me.
      I took the 5th place, though I was leading the tournament for some rounds. One may think that it was just another tournament- one of the so many others I've played- but it was a special tournament for me- one where many ideas, hopes and tries to prove myself met. There's no point of hidding my disappointment- anyone who understands a professional chess player can see it easily- I did my best at the time and though there might be some things I'd change now- I couldn't have done more.
     An important period of my life has just ended- 20 years have passed in no time at all and it's time for asking myself what's next. What do I want to do now? What is the plan? I am still not sure about the answers and a serious thinking is ahead. There are no hopes, no plans and no ideas, no things I want and nothing I want to try- but there will be... sooner or later. It depends only on me. In fact, who can know better than myself which direction is the right one for me?
     They say that the biggest mistake in chess is to have no plan- "It's better to have a bad plan than no plan at all." The only thing is that we're not talking only about chess here.
     I have about 2 and a half weeks of finding "the plan", of doing all the necessary calculation and estimating the final position after all the possible variations.
     Looking in retrospective- these 20 years were good. God, I'd be a liar if I'd say I'm not happy of the way I lived- it's just that so many "what if" attack me... though I guess there's nothing strange or out of common in this.
      What to say more?

      "There are twnety years to go
       And twenty ways to know..."




xoxo from Romania I guess ;)

Chinese Wall

    Seven rounds have already passed and we have a free day tomorrow.
    The tournament is very tough- as I expected. I've got 6p/7- a nice score, though the real fight is still to come. The distance is very long- 13 rounds- anything can happen. I am happy with my games so far and I hope to keep playing decent chess.
     I am really impressed by the play of the Chinese GM Yu Yangyi (2662),who has 6,5p/7- he shows a very high level of preparation and amazing chess skills. I wonder if anyone will be able to stop him- I guess that the Chinese Wall is kind of unbreakable ;)
     You can find the games,comments, photos and videos from the tournament on the official site of the event: http://wjcc2013.tsf.org.tr/

Will keep you posted!

xoxo from Kocaeli ;)
   

3rd Round

     Three rounds have already passed in the World Junior Chess Championship, which is taking place in Kocaeli,Turkey.
     The tournament is organized really nice, despite changing the place of venue in the last moment (it had to be held in Hatay first, but because of the danger of a chemical attack it was moved). We stay and play in a real 5 star hotel where one can't find anything to complain about.
     I've got 2,5p/3 so far, making a draw against Abdumalik Zhansaya (2277)- a very young player from Kazakhstan. It was a very interesting game which ended with a perpetual. You can check it here:



There are 10 more rounds to go, which you can follow here: http://wjcc2013.tsf.org.tr/en/live-games

Will keep you posted!

xoxo from Kocaeli ;)

Walk this way

     Here I am in Bucharest, on my way to the WJCC, which will take place in Kocaeli, Turkey.
     I expect to arrive in Kocaeli this evening, as the 1st round is already tomorrow, at 3 pm local time.
     It is my last year when I am still a junior and I've already played for 3 times in these championships (2005, 2011, 2012), so I guess that I can say that I'm a "veteran" of these tournaments.
     The special thing about the World Junior Championship is that it has 13 rounds. It's a very long distance and the champion is unknown until the end of the last round. It is not easy at all to win such kind of events, as besides strong play, one needs a bit of luck and most importantly- steel nerves :D (yeah, I'm still talking about women's chess :P )
     All in all, I hope to enjoy the following two weeks and to show some decent chess.
     You can follow the live games, the results and all kind of news about the tournament on the official site of the event: http://wjcc2013.tsf.org.tr/ Here is the unofficial list of participants: http://wjcc2013.tsf.org.tr/images/stories/forms/unofficial_list.pdf

     Wish you all a nice day!

xoxo from Bucharest ;)

Dream Team

     Here I am , again at home- feeling simply great!
     The Romanian Club Championship has ended as we all hoped it would- we've become champions!

Ranking crosstable

Rk.	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	CS POLITEHNICA-ANTIBIOTICE IAŞI	*	2	2½	3½	3	3½	3	3	4	4	17	0	28.5
2	CS STUD. MEDICINA TIMIŞOARA	2	*	½	1½	3	4	3½	4	4	4	13	0	26.5
3	CS AEM LUXTEN TIMIŞOARA	1½	3½	*	4	2	2	1½	4	3	4	12	0	25.5
4	CSM LUGOJ	½	2½	0	*	3	1½	2½	2	3½	4	11	0	19.5
5	CS SÎNANDREI	1	1	2	1	*	3	2	3	3	4	10	0	20.0
6	CLUBUL CENTRAL DE ŞAH BUCUREŞTI	½	0	2	2½	1	*	3	½	3½	4	9	2	17.0
7	CSM BUCUREŞTI	1	½	2½	1½	2	1	*	3½	3½	4	9	0	19.5
8	ACS ŞAH APA NOVA BUCUREŞTI	1	0	0	2	1	3½	½	*	3½	4	7	0	15.5
9	CS UNIVERSITATEA ARAD	0	0	1	½	1	½	½	½	*	3	2	0	7.0
10	CSS TG. MUREŞ	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	*	0	0	1.0

     I scored 8p/9, making two draws and winning some Elo points and the first prize at the 2nd board.

     It was a really nice tournament and I am so happy that I've got such amazing teammates: 

6. CS POLITEHNICA-ANTIBIOTICE IAŞI (RtgAvg:2452 / TB1: 17 / TB2: 0) Captain: MANOLE VASILE
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts.	Games
1	GM	Lagno Kateryna	2542	UKR	2.5	3.0
2	GM	Cmilyte Viktorija	2497	LTU	4.5	6.0
3	WGM	Bulmaga Irina	2410	ROU	8.0	9.0
4	WGM	L'ami Alina	2358	ROU	8.0	9.0
5	WIM	Padurariu Ioana-Smaranda	2205	ROU	5.5	9.0

     

     As about the near future- I will leave for the World Junior Championship the day after tomorrow. It will be held close to Istanbul, though it had to be held in Hatay- at the border with Syria initially. 

Will keep you posted!

xoxo from Chisinau ;)

Step by step

     A few more rounds have passed at the Romanian Superleague and we've won all our matches so far:

Ranking crosstable

Rk.	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	CS POLITEHNICA-ANTIBIOTICE IAŞI	*	2½			3	3½	3	3	4		12	0	19.0
2	CS AEM LUXTEN TIMIŞOARA	1½	*	4	3½	1½			4		4	8	4	18.5
3	CSM LUGOJ		0	*	2½	2½	1½	3			4	8	2	13.5
4	CS STUD. MEDICINA TIMIŞOARA		½	1½	*			3	4	4	4	8	0	17.0
5	CSM BUCUREŞTI	1	2½	1½		*		2	3½	3½		7	0	14.0
6	CLUBUL CENTRAL DE ŞAH BUCUREŞTI	½		2½			*	1	½	3½	4	6	0	12.0
7	CS SÎNANDREI	1		1	1	2	3	*			4	5	0	12.0
8	ACS ŞAH APA NOVA BUCUREŞTI	1	0		0	½	3½		*	3½		4	0	8.5
9	CS UNIVERSITATEA ARAD	0			0	½	½		½	*	3	2	0	4.5
10	CSS TG. MUREŞ		0	0	0		0	0		1	*	0	0	1.0

     It is so, so nice to play in a cool, calm and friendly atmosphere! I keep saying this, but actually- I think that it is the thing that matters the most in team championships- the team spirit.

     As about me, I've got 5,5p/6 so far. I can't say that I'm satisfied with my chess, but I enjoy myself during every game.

Rd.	SNo		Name	Rtg	FED	Club/City	Pts.	Res.
1	30	WGM	Ionescu Irina	2229	ROU	Csm Bucuresti	4.5	w 1
2	36	WFM	Baciu Anca-Otilia	2126	ROU	Clubul Central De Sah Bucurest	3.0	w 1
3	2	WFM	Chirita Andra-Marina	2024	ROU	Acs De Sah Apa Nova Bucuresti	1.0	s 1
4	47	WNM	Olea Liliana	1888	ROU	Cs Universitatea Arad	1.5	w 1
5	8	IM	Foisor Cristina-Adela	2391	ROU	Cs Aem Luxten Timisoara	4.5	s ½
6	51	WGM	Ionica Iulia-Ionela	2195	ROU	Cs Sinandrei	3.0	w 1

     You can follow the results here: http://chess-results.com/tnr109534.aspx?art=0&lan=1&wi=821

and here are some photos:

     You can find more here: http://chess-results.com/Fotos.aspx?key1=822

xoxo from Mamaia ;)

     

Mamaia

     It is very sunny in Mamaia! The weather is simply amazing for getting tanned and for having a swim- things we don't exactly have time to do because of the tournament.
     Another round passed and we won the match:

Round 2 on 2013/09/01 at 15,00
Bo.	10	CLUBUL CENTRAL DE ŞAH BUCUREŞTI	Rtg	-	6	CS POLITEHNICA-ANTIBIOTICE IAŞI	Rtg	½ :3½
1.1	WIM	Marin, Irina-Luiza	2130	-	GM	Lagno, Kateryna	2542	0 - 1
1.2	WFM	Baciu, Anca-Otilia	2126	-	WGM	Bulmaga, Irina	2410	0 - 1
1.3	I	Dobre, Ana-Margareta-Alexandra	1893	-	WGM	L'ami, Alina	2358	0 - 1
1.4	WNM	Vasilescu, Maria	1880	-	WIM	Padurariu, Ioana-Smaranda	2205	½ - ½

     Here are some photos from one of the most popular seaside resorts in Romania- Mamaia:

     Wish you an amazing week!

Romanian Superleague

     The Romanian Club Championship has started yesterday, in Mamaia, with a lot of interesting matches beginning from the very first round.
     We won the match against "CSM Bucuresti":

Bo.	5	CSM BUCUREŞTI	Рейт	-	6	CS POLITEHNICA-ANTIBIOTICE IAŞI	Рейт	1 : 3
5.1	IM	Peptan, Corina-Isabela	2434	-	GM	Lagno, Kateryna	2542	½ - ½
5.2	WGM	Ionescu, Irina	2229	-	WGM	Bulmaga, Irina	2410	0 - 1
5.3	WNM	Anusca, Madalina-Maria	2042	-	WGM	L'ami, Alina	2358	½ - ½
5.4	WCM	Morea, Georgiana-Steluta	1881	-	WIM	Padurariu, Ioana-Smaranda	2205	0 - 1

     I like playing in Romania, especially the Superleague, as it's a team championship and I feel very good playing for my team "Politehnica Iasi". I've missed seeing my teammates, having long walks and just having a great time with them :)

     

     Here you can follow the live games: http://www.sahlive.ro/ and the results: http://chess-results.com/tnr109534.aspx?art=0&lan=11&wi=821

Will keep you posted!