Stormy Me

     No posts since European... How so? Well, something must have gone wrong,or not really- just VACATION! :D
     Many things happened since Plovdiv, including my wining of 67 euros because of sharing the 20th place there :))) It was a normal tournament which could have gone much better if not the few missed opportunities. The Olympiad follows soon, starting from the 2nd of August and I have no idea what to expect considering all these crazy stuff with organization going on. Well, there's still enough time to worry about it, but for now- better to focus on my little escape to Thasos :)

     10 hours of traveling from Plovdiv to Kavala, 1 hour trip on a ferry and here it is- the perfect place for relaxation. Well, as perfect as it is, it won't be normal if there were no storms and rain and not just in the proper meaning.
     I don't know what it is that got me very melancholic- the rain, the storming sea, the strange Marquez's book or the stormy me :)
      It's too bad to understand that there's no magic in the real World and once closing the book you just take on your common life from the place you left it...

xoxo from Thasos ;)

   

Bitter ladies

     Warning!!! Regardless of the title, this post is about lemonade :P

     After my last post I've managed to score only 0,5p/3. The logic of a normal superstitious woman chess player would tell that posting anything else would be insane,but I have always thought that what is not normal is good, so here it is- a new post from Plovdiv.
     Four rounds have passed in no time at all and though I have not so many points, I have a fantastic time here and lots of energy and inspiration that still wait to be directed to the right point.
     I will not speak much about the mistakes I've made during the games, let's say it was just bad luck. The only decision I regret so far is that a waiter convinced me to take lemonade instead of the desired ice coffee- that's where my bad decisions for today have started (maybe it was the same waiter's fault that I sacrificed a bunch of pieces today).
     So, from now on- no more lemonades- cause no one likes bitter ladies, just coffees and the points will start to come :D


xoxo from Plovdiv ;)

Plovdiv

     Here it is, another European Championship- this time in Plovdiv.
     Somehow, I think that I fully understand the time passing only by another Europeans coming... Last year-Belgrad, 2012-Turkey and so on. What is it different about this European Ch? I am not sure that there is anything new about any of them at all. I mean- you just play chess and the best ones qualify to the World Cup and that's all.
     I like playing in Plovdiv, have been here another 2 times and really enjoyed my time :) It is a very pleasant city to take walks in and also for shopping :D These Bulgarian manufactured shoes and bags are just wallet killers :P
     As about the tournament itself, here is the official page: http://www.eiwcc2014.eu/  and here you can follow the results: http://chess-results.com/tnr136442.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=2&flag=30&wi=821
     Some photos from my yesterday's walk:

xoxo from Plovdiv ;)

Gigantic Suitcase

     A great period will start for me soon, one which I can't wait to begin!
     I haven't played chess so much lately, my last tournament was somewhere in the middle of May... I was caught with lots of exams at University (don't mean to gloat- but I passed all of them and now-I'm officially in my last year of Uni  :D ).
     A difficult task is now to be solved- how to pack a suitcase for 2 months? :))) I will go to the EIWCC in Plovdiv on the 4th of July, then a little vacation in Greece, after that- Olympiad and Turkish League, and I will be back home in September :D  The difficult part about it is that the Olympiad will be held in Norway, Tromsø, where it's more an early spring than a real summer in August.
     I've really missed traveling non-stop and playing strong tournaments... I have missed my chess friends, I have missed the tournament atmosphere! I guess you can feel my enthusiasm about the forthcoming months :)
     All in all, I am very optimistic about everything and I am really thankful for the opportunity of having such an amazing life as a chess player!


xoxo from Chisinau ;)

A little faith

     Another rainy day has come with some inspiration for a new post.
     Unlike one must think, it's not another sad text, it is an optimistic one today :)

     As you might have seen, I played an Open in Iasi, in the city where I live the most part of the time. It was a very nice tournament, one which I hope will become traditional.

     The tournament started very well for me, with 3/3p, beating a 2530 GM in the 3rd round and with a totally winning position in the 4th game, with me having black against a strong GM. Unfortunately I lost that game, I guess I felt the victory to close and it made me play some unexplainable moves... All in all, the tournament went pretty good for me, I won some Elo points and I had some very nice time.You can find the final standings here: http://chess-results.com/tnr123153.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=9&wi=821
     Iasi has changed a lot in the last few years. It has become a very beautiful city, with lots of nice places. It felt very good to be "the host" and to show my friends my favorite places.

 
     As about what's next, I will play the Romanian Rapid Club Cup in the upcoming weekend. Until then, I am quite caught up with all kind of projects I have to make at University.
      I will not play any tournaments until July, when I'm going to participate at the European Individual Women Championship, in Plovdiv.
      As about June, it is going to be a month full of exams for me, but I am quite optimistic about them ;)
      I don't know if it's about the summer coming closer and closer, or about something else, but I have started to
look to the future with more confidence and the things have started to get better. All I could complain about some weeks ago is not such a big deal now.
     I guess that "good always wins", just have a little faith.

 xoxo from Iasi ;)

Interview with GM Viorel Bologan

    1.         This year has been a successful one for you, you’ve achieved the highest Elo in your chess career -2734-and climbed on the 18^thrank in the World rating list list (on the 15^th according to the live ratings), repeating the success you had in 2005. So what makes a strong GM become an elite one in your opinion?

     There is very tiny difference between strong GM and Elite GM. For me the Elite list of GMs finishes somewhere on the position 15. So I can say that I neighbored them for a few days. I didn’t really become an Eilte GM. To become one you need stability in results first of all. Many GMs are jumping now over 2700 mark but very little of them can get really high.

2.       You shared the 2^nd-14^th place at the European Individual Championship in Plovdiv this year, taking the 7^th place and qualifying for the World Cup, making it the best performance of yours at an EICC. What made you better than so many other strong Gms at that tournament?

      

          Plovdiv is a good place for me with a good ambience. I feel good there. May be this helped me in a very tough competition which EICC is. Also we had a very strict regime with my friend Ernesto Inarkiev who almost shared the first place.

  3.        You’ve been involved in a lot of “chess activities” lately besides playing- coaching, writing books, DVD-s, introducing chess in schools in Moldova and launching your own Chess Academy. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

One by one J

-          DVDs - I do them for Chessbase and I enjoy not only the payment and the pleasure from the process itself, but also the very friendly atmosphere in Hamburg. For now, I have registered already 17 opening DVDs.

-          Books – this year I’ve sorted out my fifth book on Catalan, which can be very helpful for any level chess player.

-          CiS in Moldova - in the summer together with the Government and Chess Federation of Moldova, Bologan’s Chess Academy implemented a unique project of opening  45 chess classrooms in 45 schools in Moldova. Already in 2012-2013 our Academy together with the national federation and with the financial support of FIDE will introduce chess in another 100 schools in Moldova.

With his wife,Margarita,after winning the super-tournament in Dortmund,2003

   4.       Looking back over the years, what was the best decision you made in order to become who you are nowadays?

    

           I am used to take paradox life decisions from time to time, like last one I moved back to Qatar recently. Normally I don’t regret on what I made. May be the best in me is that I trust myself and just let it go. 

5.        What do you want the New Year  to bring you?

     Progress in my work (both as a coach and as a player), family happiness (spend more time with them), health for my relatives and friends.

Happy Birthday to Viorel Bologan!

   It is the birthday of GM Viorel Bologan today,an outstanding chess player and a person whom I respect a lot and who inspires me! I admire his great willpower and autocriticism that make him strive to become better and better! I think that I'm very lucky to have met him :) I'd like to wish him success in every begining, lots of health and happiness and never to change!

Viorel with his son- Anton

Together with his wife-Margarita

The Moldavian Team-From left to right- Dmitrii Svetushkin, Viorel Iordachescu,Viorel Bologan,me and Svetlana Petrenko, at the EICC in Plovdiv,2008