Soul Food

     We all have good days and bad days but if you're having the latter- I highly recommend you to spend a day in a Botanical Garden!
     My day turned to be very nice despite the shady start. I had a very lovely afternoon walking down the beautiful alleys and admiring the inspiring nature. I don't know a better way of clearing my head then just walking, discovering beautiful gardens and thinking about anything but daily problems :)

     Here are some photos from my yesterday's walk, one which has reminded me that we are happy as long as we choose to be!

     Nature is beautiful! I hope you can try to remind yourself of this from time to time!


xoxo from Iasi

Fifty Shades

     February has just started and I can't wait for it to pass quicker and no, it's not because I can't wait for the "Fifty Shades of Grey" premier, let me pretend it's just 'cause I can't wait for the next tournament :P
     Though, if talking about this "shades" thing, I think that life is about the moments when you get colors and not just simple shades, a shade of a friend, a shade of love, a shade of freedom, a shade of success, a shade of happiness... Our problem is that we see only shades when we could go for a bright color. People are afraid of living a life full of colors, they prefer a cocktail of shades. How to have a full time job living the color of happiness when there are worries that it may not last? That's how we lose it, we lose our fresh green and we get the shady one.
     On the other hand, I'd prefer to get a shade of black instead of a black blast...
     I wish to live a life which would paint me in all the colors of  the rainbow and I see my job as trying to make myself a high quality paint material, as about providing fine paintbrushes- it's the job of the ones who surround us, so make sure they won't go cheap on you!



xoxo from Iasi ;)
     

Double Skip

With my dear sister, Elena

     There are not many things going on lately, though I can't complain about a loose schedule either ;)
     2015 has started promising for me, I got the chance to spend a few days in Chisinau, with my
family (finally got to see my beloved sister). I am so lucky to have such an amazing sibling! She's my little ray of sunshine :) I miss her too much since she's moved to study in the UK...
     I got back to Iasi then, have to honor my being a student mission. The exams will start soon, so I have to study a bit :) It's only half a year left and I'll graduate! I am happy about it, though I can't stop wondering how could time fly so quickly...
     I feel like I'm on a crossroad, what's next now? You know, they say- graduate high school, get a degree and then... I don't like the get a job part, so I'll just skip it, the marrying, children part- double skip- too early, so I guess I have a "some" years gap to fill in with smth- preferably with some amazing chess memories ;)
     These being said, I'll try not to look too far away in the future and focus on my Uni Saga :))) I promise a huge article about the Romanian Studying System when I get my degree, there might be some curious professors getting friendly with google :P
     Wish you all a fine week and a great time following Wijk aan Zee!



xoxo from Iasi ;)

Iasi 600 Simul

     It seems like summer is back in Iasi these days!
     Many, many interesting events are taking place during the "Days of Iasi Festival" here. One must take a walk down the Stefan cel Mare street in order to understand the great atmosphere of these "oh,so summerish" days of Autumn! You can check out the program of the events here: http://www.primaria-iasi.ro/uploads/Sarbatorile_Iasului_2014.pdf
     It felt great to be a part of the holidays! A big simul given on 600 boards by the best 20 sportsmen of Iasi was organized yesterday. It took place in front of the City Hall and it attracted lots of kids, chess lovers and just curious spectators. I think that it is a great way of making chess popular and I am grateful to the organizers- the "Iasi County Chess Association" for making this event possible! It is their tireless efforts that have put Iasi on the World Chess Map! Check the latest chess news from Iasi here: http://ajsiasi.ro/

     I played so many games yesterday, that I can't even count them. One kid was taking a sit after another, even arguing who's turn it is to play! It was a great joy being a part of it! Parents prompting moves to their children and when they didn't obey, just waiting for them to finish the game and then sitting themselves to play against me!
                                                              I don't know the final score, but I remember that I had to congratulate 2 of my opponents for beating me and another one for managing to make a draw. In my defense, they were far from being kids :D and I suspect them to be serious club players! Anyways- good for them- it is a pleasure to discover that there are a lot of people who love chess and are good at playing it!
     Once again, I would like to say a big thank you to the participants, organizers and to all the chess lovers! It is great to see kids being encouraged to play "the game of the wise"!

   

xoxo from Iasi ;)
    

10

     How to start better the day than with a big coffee and an omelette? Well, I have smth in mind, but better to keep it for another post ;)
     My last days can be characterized easily by: learning, eating, studying, coffee break, learning, sleeping and so on... There might be some more coffee breaks, but you've got the idea.
     I've never been so motivated to study and get good marks since I'm in University. My only goal used to be just to pass the exams, not putting to much effort into this. But guess what happened now- I got two "10"s (the maximum grade) at the first two exams, the "Business English" and "Communication and Negotiation in Business" (thing that never happened since I'm in University, I had 9.72 or 9.50 before) and I got very motivated to continue this way :D I guess that good results and successes stimulate one to want to achieve even more.
     I have the "Management" exam tomorrow, it is not as easy as I first imagined it to be, but I still have some time for revising. The exams keep getting more and more difficult, with the "Finances" and "Econometrics" ones to come. The last exam will be at "Organisational Behaviour", which is intend to be quite easy.
     I haven't played chess for more than one month- a thing that happens to me rarely, but I feel good this way. I will have plenty of time for chess after my session ends. It doesn't mean that I don't follow Wijk though :P It is nice to watch Aronian smashing more or less everyone!
     These being said, guess what- back to studying! :D

xoxo from Iasi ;)

The Sport's Gala

     It was a very nice day yesterday!
     The day started not so great, with me having a terrible headache and not being able to get out of the bed, but it turned out that the day would get better and better with every hour that passed by. I took one of the numerous "wonder pills" that exist nowadays on the market and I felt better quite soon.
      I found out then that I took the highest possible mark- 10.00- at the 1st exam at Uni- the "Business English" one! You can't imagine how quick I forgot about the headache! :D
     I was called then and asked to take part at the Iasi Sport's Gala, at which I got the prize for "the best chess player of the city" and which was broadcasted on TV, I even had to give a short speech. The event was really cool, I met a lot of interesting people and old friends and I enjoyed myself there. Here's a photo from the event:

     The evening ended with a cocktail and some small chat in the beautiful building of the National Theatre.

     Well, these being said, have to get back to studying, as I have 4 more exams to pass in the following 10 days.

Will keep you updated!

xoxo from Iasi! ;)

Trigger

     Here I am back in Iasi.
     It's a bit strange- after these days I spent in London, being back to my routine. I somehow got used to seeing all those nice buildings, streets, parks. I liked walking my way to the playing hall and having all the stars of the Chess World playing some meters away from me. I saw a different World, I mean, I always knew it existed, but being a part of it for some time made me realize that, indeed, there are things that you may never have.

     I had a terrible tournament, but London has been an experience that changed me somehow- I think that it triggered something and I have the feeling that changes are to follow.
     We always say "I want this...", "I'd like that...", but it's not always we take action in these directions. Well, I think it's the time for me to do something and make all I want happen.

Thank you, London- you're indeed a great city!

xoxo from Iasi :)

Playing giveaway

   The tournament "Pius Branzeu Memorial" has finished. My result was far from my expectations, I wanted myself to fight for the general prizes, but ended up taking only the 4th women prize...

    Here are the final standings:

1	GM	Nevednichy Vladislav	ROU	2545	2545	Cs Aem Luxten Timisoara	7.0	50.5	39.5	38.00
2	GM	Manolache Marius	ROU	2541	2541	Cs Studentesc Medicina Timisoa	6.5	53.5	42.5	37.25
3	GM	Jianu Vlad-Cristian	ROU	2498	2498	Csm Lugoj	6.5	52.0	41.0	36.25
4	IM	Anton Teodor	ROU	2423	2423	Cs Studentesc Medicina Timisoa	6.5	49.5	39.5	33.00
5	IM	Bogdan Dan	ROU	2379	2379	Sah Club Cugir	6.5	48.5	39.0	34.25
6	IM	Foisor Cristina-Adela	ROU	2383	2383	Cs Aem Luxten Timisoara	6.5	44.5	34.5	32.00
7	IM	Petrisor Adrian-Marian	ROU	2380	2380	Css Nr. 1 Timisoara	6.0	54.0	43.0	34.50
8	I	Deac Bogdan-Daniel	ROU	2039	2039	Sah Club Ramnicu Valcea	6.0	50.0	40.0	31.25
9	IM	Peptan Corina-Isabela	ROU	2447	2447	Csm Bucuresti	6.0	50.0	39.0	32.75
10	IM	Milenkovic Mladen	SRB	2399	0		6.0	48.5	37.5	30.75
11	WFM	Visanescu Daria-Ioana	ROU	2050	2050	Clubul De Sah Deva	6.0	38.5	31.0	20.50
12	WGM	Bulmaga Irina	ROU	2364	2364	Cs Politehnica Iasi	5.5	49.5	38.5	28.25
13	WIM	Foisor Mihaela-Veronica	ROU	2208	2208	Css Nr. 1 Timisoara	5.5	47.5	37.5	26.75

   I'd like to congratulate the winner- Vladislav Nevednichy- he showed a great fighting spirit, managing to win 3 games in a row after losing from his "student" Adrian Petrisor.

Vladislav and his daughter- Alexandra, together in happiness and  sorrow

   There's been a very unpleaseant incident yesterday. I won't mention the names of the persons who were involved, but I would never believe that they were capable of such things if I didn't know for sure. In order for his opponent to take a prize and to share it with him afterwards some player "blundered" in a completely winning position. I didn't believe that his opponent agreed for such a thing- I respected that player and I believed he had a future in chess ahead, now I think he must do some serious thinking and to reconsider his status of a "chess player", because this kind of people are no better than cheaters and there is no place for them in any kind of sports.

   As about the tournament, I can't help being amazed by Deac Bogdan-Daniel, an 11 yo boy who beated me and scored 6 points out of 9, showing a great playing skill!

   I will leave from Timisoara tomorrow, returning to Iasi for some days and then I'll go to Chisinau for hollidays. Coming to Timisoara always leaves nice memories, though this time they were somehow bitter-sweet...