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! ;)

     

Free day in Astana

     It's been a nice day. The excursion was quite short, but I really enjoyed it. Here are some photos:

We visited a museum that was the residence of the President of Kazakhstan before

The Russian girls- Olga Girya, Alisa Galiamova and Valentina Gunina

This chess set was a present from Anatoly Karpov to the President of Kazakhstan

Alina l'Ami with Gulishkan Nakhbayeva and Davletbayeva Madina

Luminita Cosma,me, Alina l'Ami and Gergely Szabo 

The biggest mosque in Astana

This is how our hotel looks like

     It's time to get back to relaxing now ;)

xoxo from Astana