Reykjavik Lights

From left to right: Mihaela Sandu,Victor Bologan, me and Luminita Cosma

     A bit more than a week has passed since I came back from the European Team Chess Championship in Reykjavik, Iceland. I have to confess that it felt more like a month :))) I will tell you why a bit later. Let's get back to the Europeans first.
     Our result as a team was not so bad- 10th place, we've completed our minimal goal, though after the first half of the tournament our hopes aimed much higher... I started with 3/4 and it should have been even 4/4 if to look at the positions I got, the team was also doing very well sharing the 3rd place. The problems started after we lost the match to Ukraine in the 5th round. Somehow none of us could pull herself together to play the chess we played at the beginning of the tournament...

     All in all, it was an interesting experience- visiting Iceland, though- frankly speaking, I didn't have much time to enjoy its sites. It was too cold for long walks and too expensive for cabs :)) The thing I liked the most was the fantastic quality of still water and the closing ceremony, which was fun and very well organized. Hm... Yes, besides that- Iceland has left me with a somewhat bitter taste.


     The Romanian Rapid and Blitz Championships followed shortly after our return from Reykjavik. The host was the beautiful city I've never been to before- Cluj. I really enjoyed taking walks through the old center, admiring its beauty and lively people. The tournaments were neither bad nor good for me, a silver medal at rapid and a bronze one at blitz. Both of them were really close to being gold, but an a bit odd coefficient wasn't on my side at rapid and a lost game in the 8th round took the 1st place away from me at blitz.
     That's the way November came and passed for me and I can hardly believe that it's already December and Christmas is just around the corner... One more tournament awaits for me this year- an open in Austria and then... God knows :)))
     Here are some photos from the Rapid & Blitz in Cluj (courtesy to https://www.facebook.com/young.chess.7?fref=ts) :

Playing vs WGM Irina Ionescu

Always tough games vs IM Corina Peptan

From left to right- IM Corina Peptan, me and WGM Irina Ionescu

   
      Two more medals were added to my collection and a busy December has started!



xoxo from Romania ;)
     

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! :)