Cheating and Ego Matters

     While studying hard for my final exams and having no time to throw away at all, I simply couldn't help myself expressing my deepest disgust about the situation where a few WGM's, ex World and European Champions and strong GMs amongst them, accused my colleague from the National Team- WGM Mihaela Sandu for cheating.

WGM Mihaela Sandu

     We have been colleagues and also opponents for quite a few years so far and I find this accusations very disturbing, not only for Mihaela herself, but for the chess community as well. She is a very dedicated player who loves playing and teaching chess. All the games we played against each other were very combative and fought until the last drop of blood. I have a high respect and consideration for Mihaela's chess.
     I understand that losing to a lower rated opponent can be quite frustrating, but I don't understand the need of being so paranoid and unprofessional. I find this whole situation simply outrageous and I want to point out that chess is not war and not all the means that can be used to win are ok. I used to think that professional chess players are very intelligent and highly sensible persons and as sportsmen they all demonstrate a high level of fair play. Well, I guess I couldn't be more wrong.
     I understand that we all want our rights to be respected, then why not respect the rights of others? I can understand the accusations made though I could never agree with them. I understand that with so many cheating cases around, one might get paranoid. What I don't understand is:

1. On what grounds could someone who didn't even get the chance to play against Mihaela accuse her?

2. Why the arbiter to whom the accusations were presented after the game finished didn't check Mihaela immediately in order to clarify the situation and avoid all this fuzz?

3. Why the organizers, after thoroughly having analyzed the situation and having come to the conclusion that there were no proof of any kind and the player was wrongly accused didn't take out those shameful signed letters from the walls of the playing hall? Why didn't they publicly apologize to Mihaela?

4. Why the organizers didn't give a warning to the player who clearly took advantage of this situation in order to put pressure on Mihaela before their game?


     Maybe some of you would think of this words to be somewhat harsh, but how do you think Mihaela felt with all this false accusations? How should I feel now as a professional chess player? Should I be afraid to play good chess and to win against stronger opponents? Does it mean that in 10 years I will be cataloged as an expired chess player who doesn't have the right to play strong? What is with all this nonsense?
     I am very disappointed that such kind of situations can happen nowadays and I hope that conclusions will be drawn and measures will be taken so that such unfair and abusing behavior would never happen again!

     Mihaela, all your friends and colleagues are with you, cheering for you and my admiration for your fighting spirit has only grown! Keep up the good work and I cross my fingers for you to keep offending those high egos!

Caruana Adjustment

     I think that each of us admired the great performance of Fabiano Caruana during the recent "Sinquefield Cup". We can guess, was that divine inspiration or just the result of a great amount of work (I think it was both of them)... Anyways, it has certainly inspired me!
     The "Maria Albulet Memorial" has ended today, with me scoring 8p/9 and taking clear first place with a 2561 Performance and +17 Elo points!

Rk.	SNo			Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.
1	3		IM	Bulmaga Irina	ROU	2365	8.0
2	6		WGM	Sandu Mihaela	ROU	2259	5.5
3	1		WIM	Olsarova Tereza	CZE	2296	5.5
4	8		WGM	Cosma Elena-Luminita	ROU	2333	5.0
5	2		WFM	Imnadze Nato	GEO	2082	5.0
6	10		WIM	Olsarova Karolina	CZE	2224	4.5
7	4			Gelip Ioana	ROU	2102	3.5
8	5		WIM	Ciobanu Camelia-Adriana	ROU	2153	3.5
9	7		WGM	Ionescu Irina	ROU	2227	2.5
10	9		WGM	Makropoulou Marina	GRE	2211	2.0

     Here you can find the detailed information about the tournament: http://chess-results.com/tnr143698.aspx?lan=1&art=1&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984
  
      It's been a fantastic tournament for me, one in which I am not ashamed to show any game! I am very thankful to those who have advised me to play here and to those who made this nice event possible!
     Here's a photo report:

WNM Gelip Ioana

WGM Ionescu Irina

WGM Cosma Luminita

Imnadze Nato

WIM Olsarova Karolina

WGM Sandu Mihaela

WIM Olsarova Tereza

WGM Makropoulou Marina

WIM Ciobanu Camelia

 

 

Happy Irina :)

 xoxo from Braila! :)
    

40th World Chess Olympiad

   Here it is-the most awaited tournament of the last two years-the World Chess Olympiad. It's held in Istanbul.
   This tournament is so amazing not only because of the possibility of becoming an Olympic Champion,but also because of all the people that come from every country of the World. We see friends from the other side of the globe, we chat,remember and make new memories-memories to last a life!
   It's my 3rd Olympiad,well the 1st one I played in Dresden,in 2008, when still being a member of the Moldavian team. I remember how eager I was to go there-I was only 15 years old and playing at the Olympiad had been my dream for years.I played at the 4th board and I managed to score a very good 8 points out of 11. My 2nd Olympiad I played in Khanty-Mansyisk-but this time representing Romania.I was the reserve player,so I played only 4 games,scoring a mere 2,5 points.
    This year I'm playing on the 2nd board-which I am both proud of and worried. It's a big responsibility and I will try to do my best.Our coach and captain is Gergely Szabo. The team is composed of:
                                                                            1.IM Foisor Cristina-Adela 2402
                                                                            2.WIM Bulmaga Irina 2380
                                                                            3.WGM Cosma Elena-Luminita 2352
                                                                            4.WGM l'Ami Alina 2372
                                                                            5.WGM Sandu Mihaela 2246
   We are number 10 on the starting rank list and I believe we have real chances for a place in the Top5!
   I think that Team Spirit is the most important thing in a Women Team Championship and we've got a very friendly one! It's also important to feel comfortable-so having a room-mate with whom to get along really well (as in my case-Alina) is vital.
   We play with Luxembourg in the 1st round.I've got a rest day today,so I'll be supporting the girls from the tribunes (or just virtually,from our fancy hotel room).
   The Opening Ceremony was well organized,but quite boring. The only joyfull thing about it was meeting my friends! This can be also a big problem-when connecting with too many people-which is kind of unavoidable at the Olympiad- one can have a very hard time focusing on chess. Too many people,even if they're friends may not have such a good influence on the quality of your chess.That's why I've decided to detach from all the "outside" factors and to be all in playing chess!
   I will keep you updated and the photos from the R1 will follow soon!
 

   Good luck,Romania!