Redhead in Groningen

     Half of the tournament has already passed. Yeah, that's how I'll start this post, no mention of any celebration- still too early for that.

     I have 2,5p/4 with 3 draws and a win- 3 draws!!! I normally make them in 3-4 tournaments :))) Have never ever been such a solid player before! :D Don't think that I didn't try to win- I played 100 moves in the 1st game and 135 in the 2nd one ('ve discovered that the Queen+Knight vs Queen endgame is a dead draw, but not before tormenting my opponent and myself for 50 moves).
     Well, now- getting to the interesting part...
     I had a fantastic experience the other evening! The tournament director invited us to a special event- an evening dedicated to the French composer- Eric Satie. There was live piano music, there was fantastic singing and a mute movie that impressed me a lot and made me regret that I am such a rare bird in the artistic entourage.
     And here comes the Christmas part...
     It is my first Christmas away from home and I don't really feel its spirit. I've always associated it with home, with too much tasty food, lots of presents and too many family members :D
     We had a different celebration of Christmas this year- with chess players, blitz, jokes, fun, going out and fun again :) Can't tell which one I liked more- both have their own charm :P

     All these being said, have a nice Christmas and if you don't- never mind- it's just a day in the calendar!

Ioana Gelip and Vlad Stegariu

With Alex Stegariu

xoxo from the redhead in Groningen

A taste of NL

     There've been no posts lately and, judging by the increasing number of views- everyone was curious about what was going on.
     Well, the beginning of December was too intense- I had many problems to solve and I simply had no mood and no physical or psychological strength to distract on anything else. The conclusion I've drawn out of all this stuff is never to put anyone's interest above yours. People leave, but the sacrifices you've made for them stay with you.
     All in all, I am happy that everything's behind and I have no concerns but how to have a good time until next year ;)
     My friends and I are in Groningen now, playing a tournament here. The city has proved to be very nice so far. We had a really nice walk through the center yesterday! Our hotel is quite far from everything and there's an about 4 km walk to the center. We were lucky to ask the direction we should go a guy in a car and he dropped us in the center :D People in this city seem to be very friendly and I have the feeling that we'll have a very good time here.
     As about the tournament itself- it is organized nicely and the only thing left is to play some good chess :) You can find the results and the pairings here: http://www.schaakstadgroningen.nl/festival/14/A/
     Here are some photos:

With Ioana Gelip

With Ioana Gelip and Alex Stegariu

xoxo from Groningen ;)

Deserting Pieces

     And here I am at the Romanian League in Calimanesti.
     The first round out of seven was played yesterday and it was a pretty dramatic one for our team- Politehnica-Antibiotice Iasi. We made an equal match, but all the games were really crazy... I lost a piece on the 17th move and there was no fight at all. I think it's the first time in many years I make such blunders... The other games looked much better for us, but somehow things got out of control, like Kasparov said- "People are not machines, they have emotions and that's why chess is a sport- not a science."
     There are six more matches ahead of us and I just hope not to be so lavish with my pieces and to be able to play some decent chess. Here is the compositions of our team:

Bo.		Name	RtgI		FED
1	IM	Javakhishvili Lela	2486		GEO
2	IM	Bulmaga Irina	2393		ROU
3	IM	L'ami Alina	2393		ROU
4	WCM	Gelip Ioana	2169		ROU

     You can follow the results here: http://chess-results.com/tnr150089.aspx?lan=1&art=8&wi=821 and some of the games on : http://sahlive.ro/
     As about everything else- the weather is really nice- some degrees above 15- a very enjoyable autumn. Anyways, it's difficult to focus on other things when my pieces desert from the board...
     I will keep you posted, hopefully with better news!


xoxo from Calimanesti :) 

Evolve and Adapt!

     I am in an a bit melancholic mood lately and with "lately" I mean the last 2 days, since the World Junior Chess Championship has started in Pune, India.
     This Championship was my most awaited tournament of the year in 2011,'12 and '13 and many hopes and dreams were linked to it. I guess that I can be called a "veteran" of this Championship, as I participated 4 times there, the first one being in 2005, when I was only 11 yo. I am a bit old for it now, but I am following it's games with great interest, as I know the competitiveness, the pressure and the great tension which rule there.
     Well, I guess it's enough about me, time never stays and one has to evolve and adapt in order to keep the pace with the running away time :D
      Romania is represented by Ioana Gelip in the Girls section and Bogdan Deac in the Open one. You can follow their results and games on the official site of the event: http://www.worldjuniorchess2014.com/ The games start every day at 2.30 pm local time (12 pm Romanian time).
     Thirteen rounds is a very, very long way to go and I wish our players best of luck, lots of inspiration and steel nerves!

Bogdan Deac

Ioana Gelip

     Keep your fingers crossed for them!

     P.S. A great encounter awaits for us on the first board of the Open section today, as Bogdan is facing the nr.1 favorite- Fedoseev Vladimir, rated 2661!


    xoxo from Chisinau ;)

Caruana Adjustment

     I think that each of us admired the great performance of Fabiano Caruana during the recent "Sinquefield Cup". We can guess, was that divine inspiration or just the result of a great amount of work (I think it was both of them)... Anyways, it has certainly inspired me!
     The "Maria Albulet Memorial" has ended today, with me scoring 8p/9 and taking clear first place with a 2561 Performance and +17 Elo points!

Rk.	SNo			Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.
1	3		IM	Bulmaga Irina	ROU	2365	8.0
2	6		WGM	Sandu Mihaela	ROU	2259	5.5
3	1		WIM	Olsarova Tereza	CZE	2296	5.5
4	8		WGM	Cosma Elena-Luminita	ROU	2333	5.0
5	2		WFM	Imnadze Nato	GEO	2082	5.0
6	10		WIM	Olsarova Karolina	CZE	2224	4.5
7	4			Gelip Ioana	ROU	2102	3.5
8	5		WIM	Ciobanu Camelia-Adriana	ROU	2153	3.5
9	7		WGM	Ionescu Irina	ROU	2227	2.5
10	9		WGM	Makropoulou Marina	GRE	2211	2.0

     Here you can find the detailed information about the tournament: http://chess-results.com/tnr143698.aspx?lan=1&art=1&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984
  
      It's been a fantastic tournament for me, one in which I am not ashamed to show any game! I am very thankful to those who have advised me to play here and to those who made this nice event possible!
     Here's a photo report:

WNM Gelip Ioana

WGM Ionescu Irina

WGM Cosma Luminita

Imnadze Nato

WIM Olsarova Karolina

WGM Sandu Mihaela

WIM Olsarova Tereza

WGM Makropoulou Marina

WIM Ciobanu Camelia

 

 

Happy Irina :)

 xoxo from Braila! :)
    

All I want for December

     The last month of the calendar has started with... the Rapid, Blitz and Solving Women National Championship, which took place in Iasi. I took all the collection of medals: a gold, a silver and a bronze ( 1st at solving, 2nd at rapid and 3rd at blitz).
     It was a really nice weekend, which I spent playing chess and hanging out with friends in the meantime.

Roxana Anton, Ioana Gelip, Raluca Sgircea and me (from right to left)

With a good friend- Roxana Anton

At the solving championship

With Raluca Sgircea :)

The diet died in that weekend for an undefined time :P

With Raluca Sgircea and Roxana Anton

Almost happy ;)

     I will leave for London tomorrow and the tournament will start the day after tomorrow, with me playing vs Veronica Foisor- another friend :) It is funny how no matter in which corner of the World you go- a friend is always to be found there :P

     You can find the details of the tournament as well as the news about it on the official site of the event: http://www.londonchessclassic.com/womens_invitational_2013.htm It will be a double round-robin, which means that all play against all with both colours. Here is the list of players:

1. IM Irina Bulmaga- 2396

2. IM Dagne Ciuksyte- 2345

3. WIM Judith Fuchs- 2337

4. WIM Veronica Foisor- 2216

5. WFM Sarah Hegarty- 2127

6. WGM Kruttika Nadig- 2127

     I hope to enjoy the tournament and London!

     Meanwhile, I will have to pass another partial exam for my University, tomorrow, from the airport :D So, I guess- back to studying!

Keep tuned for news and impressions from London! :)

Grand Sweden

     Hello my dear readers!
     I've been relaxing the last few days, not even opening my computer. It's been soooo good to go to the beach and not worry about anything but my tan :D
     My session at the University was so exhausting- I needed some refuel and I definitely got it.
     I spent some quality time with my family and my friends in Golden Sands and I enjoyed the unusual role of being just a spectator of the "Golden Sands Grand Europe Open".

With my dear sister- Elena

With my good friend- Diana Baciu

Elena and me

Olga Hincu, Diana Baciu, Irene Sukandar, Elena Bulmaga, Ioana Gelip and me (from left to right)  trying the chilly water

     Nils Grandelius of Sweden won the tournament with a 7,5p/9, 2706 performance and a very nice +17,5 Elo points! If he couldn't take the Bulgarian hot weather with him in Sweden- he definitely compensated it with some nice amount of cash- 6000 euros! How much sun can he buy with it, what do you think?

     Here's my photo report from there:

Nils Grandelius- the winner of the tournament

Dragan Solak-6th place with 6,5p

Vladislav Nevednichy- 3rd place with 7p

Mircea Parligras

Alin Berescu

Dmitrii Svetushkin

Natalia Pogonina-2nd woman prize with 5,5p

Axel Rombaldoni

Tiberiu Georgescu

Nisha Mohota

Bogdan Posedaru

Irina Ionescu

Irene Sukandar

Angela Dragomirescu

Maria Velcheva

Zura Javakhadze

Levente Vajda

Zbynek Hracek- 2nd place with 7p

     The playing hall was really impressive- it was provided by one of the best 5 stars hotel and casino in Golden Sands. The organizers did a very good job and I think that it was one of the strongest and with the highest prizes Open that one could find in June in Europe!

     

     As about me, I really enjoyed my short holliday and I'm going to prepare for my next tournaments in the following week- Turkish League, Universiade, EIWCC... I hope to have a great summer and to show some serious results!

Wish you all an amazing summer! 

Will keep you posted ;)