The "Cabernet Street"

Playing vs the tournament winner- GM Sergei Zhigalko

     It's spring and my mood is perfectly described by this! :D
     I had a couple of very interesting weeks, first, while playing the "Chebanenko Memorial" in Chisinau and then playing the last match with my team in Bundesliga.
     Let's take it one by one.
     The "Chebanenko Memorial" has already become a strong traditional rapid tournament in Chisinau, Moldova. It saw the light thanks to GM Viorel Bologan- the strongest Moldavian GM ever and a person for whom I have a deep respect, both for his chess accomplishments and his personality. It is well known that Veaceslav Chebanenko was "the coach of all Moldavians", including the above mentioned Viorel. The Rossolimo, the Slav with 4...a6 are only some of his "inventions".

A little speech during the wine tasting

     It is great that there's a tournament which pays honor to his name and I am very happy that I participated in this event. I didn't show my best chess there, nevertheless I took the 1st women prize.
It was a great feeling for me to play in the club where I practically grew up.
     The non chess part of the event was very nice as well. Moldavian people are well known for their hospitality and I believe they showed it once again. There was a very nice excursion organized to the "Cricova Winery Cellars". We walked along the "Cabernet Street", the "Chardonnay Street"...
     They say that Moldova has the best wines and women... I guess I'm not an objective judge, but one should definitely put Moldova on his travel list in order to test it!

     As about the Bundesliga part- I think it deserves a separate post, so- to be continued...
     

Men's Bundesliga

     I am very fond of "Bundesliga". As you probably already know, I play in the German Women's Club Chess Championship and I enjoy the atmosphere and the process itself. This event has a counterpart in the men's section. I think that the German Men's "Bundesliga" is one of the strongest National Club Chess Championships in the World. This implies many interesting matches and games to follow.
     The Baden-Baden club is leading so far. They won all the matches, as you can see below:

	Mannschaft	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16		Sp	MP	BP
1.	OSG Baden Baden	+				4½			6	6½	5½		5½	0	0		7½		8	12	35½
2.	SG Solingen		+	5½	4½							4	0	5½	6	4½	0		8	11	30
3.	SV Wiesbaden		2½	+		0	4½		5	5	0			6½	6½				8	10	30
4.	SC Eppingen		3½		+	4½	5½		0	0	3½			5	7½				8	8	29½
5.	SV Mülheim Nord	3½		0	3½	+		6				5½	5			0	5½		8	8	29
6.	SV Wattenscheid			3½	2½		+					6	0	5	6	4½	0		8	8	27½
7.	SG Trier					2		+	4½	3	4½		4	0	0		4½		8	7	22½
8.	SK Turm Emsdetten	2		3	0			3½	+			0	5			6½	7½		8	6	27½
9.	Werder Bremen	1½		3	0			5		+		0	2½			5½	7		8	6	24½
10.	SF Katernberg	2½		0	4½			3½			+	4	4			0	5½		8	6	24
11.	SV Hockenheim		4			2½	2		0	0	4	+		4½	7				8	6	24
12.	Hamburger SK	2½	0			3	0	4	3	5½	4		+						8	4	22
13.	Schachfreunde Berlin	0	2½	1½	3		3	0				3½		+		6½			8	2	20
14.	SC Forchheim	0	2	1½	½		2	0				1			+	5½			8	2	12½
15.	SV Griesheim		3½			0	3½		1½	2½	0			1½	2½	+			8	0	15
16.	SK Norderstedt	½	0			2½	0	3½	½	1	2½						+		8	0	10½

     It's no wonder, as they have such outstanding players in the team like:

     This weekend's matches aren't any less interesting, as we can see such encounters as:

There are many other interesting games that you can follow on:  http://bundesliga.liveschach.net/

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