myself.MD

Orheiul Vechi

     There's a small country called Moldova which happens to be my homeland.
     Being a chess player, I've traveled a lot, have seen many interesting places all around the World. It's not only about discovering new cultures, it's also about finding new "my selves ".
     It's not a thing to brag with, but I've never visited the cultural sites of the country I come from. That's why I decided, having a few free days, to fill this gap.
     The famous natural, archeological and turistic complex "Orheiul Vechi" was the first one on my list. The place has a very interesting history which dates from as early as the 10th century BC. You can find out more about this here: http://orheiulvechi.com/ Another interesting thing about this place are the cave monasteries- places of cult from the early stages of Christianity. You can spot them in the next photo:

Cave Monasteries

     Here are a few more photos with views from a traditional Moldavian village.

Martins nests

Traditional Moldavian house

     Next to follow was the beautiful "Curchi Monastery". This place induced me into such a peaceful state that I thought that it would be great to retreat there for a week or two with a suitcase full of books!
    

     Though living in Romania, it is a great pleasure for me to return from time to time to Moldova and to remember where my roots come from!


xoxo from Chisinau ;)

Good Day

     There it is- a half of the Europeans has already passed.
     It is as I expected, a very difficult, but in the same time a very challenging and interesting tournament. I've played against strong opponents, I learned new things and I've fighted in every game until the very end. I am satisfied with my chess so far- well, it's impossible to be 100% satisfied, but I understand that there's a reason I'm still an IM and not a GM- there is place for improvement.
     We had a free day today and as a "real professional" I went to an excursion through the holly places of Yerevan. I had some very good time and I learned many new things about christianity and about the Armenian history.
     Another thing I can't help mentioning is the Armenian food- it is so tasty that I think I will try to learn how to cook some of their dishes- especially their traditional soup "Spas". I eat it at least once a day :D
     I hope that the second part of the tournament will go at least as well as the first one :)
     The other Romanians keep their chances for qualification, with Constantin Lupulescu and Mircea Parligras having the best score among us- "+2".

46	GM	Lupulescu Constantin	2643	ROU	1	1	½	½	½	½	4.0	42	2670	10	2.50	Official results
74	GM	Nevednichy Vladislav	2591	ROU	½	0	1	0	½	1	3.0	158	2308	10	-20.00	Official results
85	GM	Jianu Vlad-Cristian	2574	ROU	1	½	0	1	½	½	3.5	87	2515	10	-2.90	Official results
88	GM	Parligras Mircea-Emilian	2572	ROU	1	0	1	0	1	1	4.0	67	2529	10	-2.20	Official results
166	IM	Bulmaga Irina	2375	ROU	½	1	0	½	½	0	2.5	161	2547	10	12.10	Official results
187	FM	Deac Bogdan-Daniel	2322	ROU	0	1	½	0	½	0	2.0	202	2324	15	0.30	Official results
251		Porfireanu Serban	1903	ROU	0	0	0	0	0	1	1.0	255	1337	15	-18.30	Official results

     Here are some photos from the last days:

You can find more photos on the tournament's site: http://eicc2014.am/gallery

With Maria Gevorgyan and Katerina Pavlidou ;)

xoxo from Yerevan! ;)