The kind Caissa

     As my posts get more and more sporadic, my life becomes more and more pleasing. Yeah, I guess that's how the things work- one doesn't feel the need to share when everything's fine, or is it just about me?
     Anyhow, I thought that I can't just let my blog die, so...
     Since February, I played a round robin tournament in Dubai, one I really enjoyed playing, I finished it sharing  2nd-3rd place, but a win in the last round would have brought me the 1st place. It was a tournament of missed opportunities for me- so many games which where completely wining and I drew or even lost... The average Elo was about 2380, so it was very good as a training before the Romanian Women's Championship. Not many people knew I went to Dubai, as it was quite an unpredictable decision, taken a few days before the tournament. I was really impressed by the chess Club of Dubai, it is like a palace and all the best conditions are created for the chess players. All in all, I enjoyed the nice weather 26-30 Celsius degrees while there were -15 in Romania and the good organisation.

     The Romanian Women's Championship followed, which I was really set to win, as this is the only title I'm missing in Romania. Unfortunately, I shared the 1st-2nd place once again and I became 2nd. Well, I guess I was unlucky that my main contender- IM Corina Peptan was in a very good form and showed a really high level of chess. The both of us scored 8p/9, but she became first as her Bucholz was higher, and she won against me in the direct match. It was a very good result for me, as it's never easy to win 13 Elo points in a tournament, but there was some biterness left...
     Somehow, I've grown to really enjoy the atmosphere at all the later national events- all the friends and hanging out, it's a blessing which I really miss in between tournaments.

     The European Individual Women's Championship in Riga followed shortly after. I have to be frank and say that it was the best women's event I have ever participated at. As I've already mentioned a few times, the hotel & food was great, the playing hall- perfect for playing, the location- very central, with a few walking areas around and I really loved Riga.
     I was very happy to meet all my friends there! I had a really bad start, scoring just 0,5/2, I made a come back then, but lost once again against GM Monika Socko, having a winning positions right after the opening stage- it was painful to lose a whole point in such a manner.... I won again then,vs GM Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan but collapsed in the game vs GM Kateryna Lagno, losing my chances to qualify for the World Cup. The last game was a draw, though it was not dull at all. I scored 6,5p/11 (+2), not a bad result itself, but not what I aimed for.
 

     I rested a few days and came to UK then, for 3 games in the 4NCL. I won all of them vs players with 2150-2190, which was quite pleasing, as I will finally reach a new Elo record. The last one was set in 2012 (!!!), yeah, 5 years ago and you can't imagine how unhappy I was all these years, not being able to show that my chess has improved. My team promoted, so we'll be playing in the 2nd Division next season!

    Last, but not least- my German club- Schwäbisch Hall, has become Bundesliga Champions!!!  (Ah, somewhere in between all these tournaments, I have won 3 games and drew one in Germany as well :D ). I can not express how happy I am! We were so close to this title the last 2 years, but both times we became 2nd. We have such a great team- it's very uncommon for so many women with strong personalities to be great friends and to make such a great company with each other! Our managers are like family already and every time I have to go to Germany- it's like a feast!

Schwäbisch Hall Club

     There are not many upcoming events for me until July... I will play the Romanian Rapid Club Cup and a short tournament in Germnay in June. Many strong events will follow from July on.

     I am grateful Caissa has been kind to me lately and I hope it can last!


xoxo from Oxford ;)

   
   
   

What goes around, comes around

     Here I am, again in Iasi. It's been a difficult week, with a lot of hopes and dissapointments. I finished the tournament on the 5th place and with -0,6  Elo points. It's far from what I hoped and I was very angry with me because of all the foolishly missed chances, but what to do now- there are another 10 tournaments waiting for me this year. I've learned a lot from this championship and there are 20 more years of trying ahead ;)
     Like one of my coaches said once- "It's important to save the people". I am here- all in one piece- so I will keep trying.
     I am very eager to go to Astana-'ve got my flight in 3 days. It's going to be a very strong tournament, you can follow it here : http://astana2013.fide.com/en/teams . I am also very curious to visit the city, I've heard it has changed lots in the last decade. I will go home for the few days left until then, can't wait to see my family :)

xoxo from Iasi ;)
   

A walk to repeat

     Here I am, in Olanesti, a small resort in Romania. The National Championship starts today, in some 2 hours. It's quite nice here. I like this place- it's small, quite, cosy. I'd say that it's the perfect place for a chess tournament. I like having walks and thinking about everything in the world. One has no worries here at all- just to show some good chess. I missed the tournament atmosphere- I haven't played a tournament since December, so I can say that it's the 1st tournament I play this year. It's nice to have so many friends around. This is the thing I like the most about the Romanian tournaments :)
     Here are some photos from my today's walk with Ioana Gelip:

"New sms?"

Hihi, everything is about chess, here's a bar called "The Rook"

     Here are the pairings for the first round:

1	17	WNM	Vasilescu Maria	1883	0		0	IM	Peptan Corina-Isabela	2443	1
2	2	IM	Foisor Cristina-Adela	2389	0		0	WCM	Morea Georgiana-Steluta	1870	18
3	19	I	Dobre Ana-Margareta-Alexandra	1851	0		0	WGM	Bulmaga Irina	2355	3
4	4	WGM	Cosma Elena-Luminita	2332	0		0	I	Bogdan Elizaveta	1829	20
5	21	WCM	Cirlig Ioana-Andreea	1777	0		0	WGM	Ionescu Irina	2253	5
6	6	WIM	Dragomirescu Angela	2235	0		0	I	Prunariu Ana-Maria	1769	22
7	23	I	Toma Elena-Adelaida	1722	0		0	WGM	Sandu Mihaela	2222	7
8	8	WIM	Foisor Mihaela-Veronica	2219	0		0	WCM	Stanciu Ioana-Georgiana	1716	24
9	25	I	Moldovan Petruta-Alisia	1712	0		0	WNM	Anusca Madalina-Maria	2070	9
10	10	WFM	Visanescu Daria-Ioana	2068	0		0	I	Porcoleanu Doina-Olga	1684	26
11	27	I	Nastase Andreea-Cristina	1651	0		0	WCM	Gelip Ioana	2017	11
12	13	WCM	Mathe Katalin	1989	0		0	I	Banciu Bianca-Gabriela	1591	28
13	29	I	Didiliuc Dariana-Gabriela	1573	0		0	WCM	Lolici Iselin-Amanda	1964	14
14	15	WCM	Cosman Andreea-Marioara	1944	0		0	I	Coman Emilia-Florentina	1542	30
15	31	I	Toma Andreea-Simona	1331	0		0	WNM	Olea Liliana	1926	16
16	12	WCM	Ilie Maria-Ruxandra	2003	0	0

     Gotta' go for my "coffee ritual" :D

xoxo from Olanesti ;)

Until 26th!

     Dear readers, I will post rarely, only if I will find some free time until the 26th of February, as I will participate at the Romanian Women's Chess Championship (16.02-25.02). It is an important event for me and  I hope I'll do my best. You may follow it on: http://chess-results.com/tnr92174.aspx?art=0&lan=11&wi=821
     Here's the Top 10 on the starting ranking list:

1	IM	Peptan Corina-Isabela	ROU	2443	Csm Bucuresti
2	IM	Foisor Cristina-Adela	ROU	2389	Cs Aem Luxten Timisoara
3	WGM	Bulmaga Irina	ROU	2355	Cs Politehnica Iasi
4	WGM	Cosma Elena-Luminita	ROU	2332	Acs De Sah Apa Nova Bucuresti
5	WGM	Ionescu Irina	ROU	2253	Csm Bucuresti
6	WIM	Dragomirescu Angela	ROU	2235	Cs Sinandrei Timis
7	WGM	Sandu Mihaela	ROU	2222	Cs Studentesc Medicina Timisoa
8	WIM	Foisor Mihaela-Veronica	ROU	2219	Css Nr. 1 Timisoara
9	WNM	Anusca Madalina-Maria	ROU	2070	Csm Bucuresti
10	WFM	Visanescu Daria-Ioana	ROU	2068	Clubul De Sah Deva

     Keep your fingers crossed for me!

First session

     My first session at the University will start in few days. I've got 6 exams and I'm very nervous about them. Being busy with all kind of chess activity, I didn't have that much time to learn during the 1st semester, so I guess the next 3 weeks could be easily described by "24/7 learning". My first exam is on the 27th of January, and the last one- on the 11th of February, right before the Romanian Individual Championship ( it starts on the 15th of February).

     I hope I'll do fine and I'll be able to go calmly to the Romanian Championship :)

Keep your fingers crossed for me ;)