A little faith

     Another rainy day has come with some inspiration for a new post.
     Unlike one must think, it's not another sad text, it is an optimistic one today :)

     As you might have seen, I played an Open in Iasi, in the city where I live the most part of the time. It was a very nice tournament, one which I hope will become traditional.

     The tournament started very well for me, with 3/3p, beating a 2530 GM in the 3rd round and with a totally winning position in the 4th game, with me having black against a strong GM. Unfortunately I lost that game, I guess I felt the victory to close and it made me play some unexplainable moves... All in all, the tournament went pretty good for me, I won some Elo points and I had some very nice time.You can find the final standings here: http://chess-results.com/tnr123153.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=9&wi=821
     Iasi has changed a lot in the last few years. It has become a very beautiful city, with lots of nice places. It felt very good to be "the host" and to show my friends my favorite places.

 
     As about what's next, I will play the Romanian Rapid Club Cup in the upcoming weekend. Until then, I am quite caught up with all kind of projects I have to make at University.
      I will not play any tournaments until July, when I'm going to participate at the European Individual Women Championship, in Plovdiv.
      As about June, it is going to be a month full of exams for me, but I am quite optimistic about them ;)
      I don't know if it's about the summer coming closer and closer, or about something else, but I have started to
look to the future with more confidence and the things have started to get better. All I could complain about some weeks ago is not such a big deal now.
     I guess that "good always wins", just have a little faith.

 xoxo from Iasi ;)

Private Investigations

     Today is a day like any other and yet I felt like sharing some thoughts with you.
      I am 20 yo but I feel like I'm soon to go on pension. It sounds funny when I reread it, but it's a sad smile that it brings on my face.
     Life is joyful, fun, speedy and with no worries when in 20's- at least that's what they all say. So why doesn't it feel like this then? The answer is simple "You've got problems in your head, girl". Do I? Maybe...
     I just wish to remember how is that to be young, that's all.
     I want to make stupid mistakes and to laugh about them the next day and I want to feel happy about stupid things like a new, fantastic cake I've tried or because of a super hot pair of shoes or about an exam I've passed, or a nice game I won, or maybe a cool date I've been on. Well, as depressing as it may sound, I don't feel any happiness about all those things, only sadness if they don't happen.
     What is this point I got to? I can't explain to myself, but I'm so tired of being sad, it's like I'm waiting for minutes, hours, days, years to pass faster so I could finally get a grave. So fuc*ing optimistic, right? Well, that's how it's been lately.
     Maybe it's a bad idea- this post, but it might be as well just another stupid thing to laugh about tomorrow, right?

"And what have you got at the end of the day?
What have you got to take away?
A bottle of whisky and a new set of lies
Blinds on the windows and a pain behind the eyes
Scarred for life - nocompensation
Private investigations."

Are you on diet?

     Life passes day by day and we forget that we live for being happy.
     Everyone should have this thing in mind. We want to earn money, to be successful, to be loved or to be powerful only because it could bring us happiness and this is what we should focus on.
     We get distracted by all kind of worries too often and it is not worth it. Health is not a currency and there are no goods that can be payed by it.
     In my way of becoming an economist I've discovered for myself that money is an entirely fictional value. It has only the value that we empower it with in our minds. It's a construct, an artificial intermediary between things we value.
     In my way of becoming happy I've discovered that health is not fictional and love,honesty, respect and kindness are a real thing, a currency that can be used to purchase real happiness.
     What has made you who you are- the goods that you have, the people you control, the things that you've achieved or the people you've made happy with it on this way?
     In my way of becoming an adult I've discovered that nothing has value in this life unless I give a "sh**" about it. So simple, right?
     The conclusion is simple- take care of your diet, because what you eat day by day turns into how much "sh**" you give on things.

p.s. I am sorry for the language used above- but important things should be said with simple words :)

Window in the sky

     Here it is- the first post in April :)

Pretty cool view to see every morning :)

     I am in Skopje, playing the "Karpos Open". My chess is going not so well, but there's still some time to improve my tournament position. You can find all the information about the tournament here: http://chess-results.com/tnr121297.aspx?lan=11&art=2&rd=7&fed=ROU&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984

     As about my general impressions about Macedonia, it's much nicer than I expected. Skopje has a lot of nice places to see. I like a lot the cities which have an "old town" and the Skopje's one is very cool, with many cosy cafes and traditional shops. 

     Here are some photo impressions:

The Old City

xoxo from Skopje ;)

The Game

     It's been a very interesting month for me, one in which I had some very good time doing the things I like the most.

With a dear friend- Katerina Pavlidou

     The Europeans ended for me not as well as it had started. If I had a 2600+ performance after the first five rounds and a high level of chess, the tournament ended with me showing a 2440 performance and only one truly good game out of the last 6. If to consider that it was the first tournament of the year for me, after a two and a half months break, the result is normal, one that I hope to be followed by better ones :)

     As about Armenia, I enjoyed it and I am grateful for the nice people I have met there and for the friends I've made :)

     Aaah, not to forget to mention, if you remember, I was telling how much I liked the Armenian food in the last post... Well, I guess I liked it too much, as I got a very nasty food poisoning in the last days- maybe that's the reason why I started winning again :))) (I suppose it is a joke, well, the last part, the food poisoning wasn't any of a joke :P )

     I've drawn all the necessary conclusions and I am ready to play the next tournaments (or I will be in about 10 days :)

Constantin Lupulescu

     The last but not the least important thing about the tournament- Constantin Lupulescu shared the 2nd place with an impressive 2759 performance and has qualified for the 2015 World Cup, with which I congratulate him once again! 2/2 in the last two games, both with black, against higher rated players, both in French- hm... maybe I should rethink my opening repertoire ;)

     Now, about next tournaments- I will play the "Karpos Open",which will be held  in Macedonia, from the 29th of March. It is going to be a very strong tournament, I am nr.82 so far in the starting ranking list, which you can check here: http://chess-results.com/tnr121297.aspx?lan=11

     I will play another three tournaments after that, about which I'll keep you posted ( of course :D )!

     That's it so far, I have so much to write about, but let's keep the intrigue until the next posts ;)

     An idea to keep your mind busy- "Do you think your personal karma affects your level of chess?"

xoxo from Iasi ;)

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! ;)

     

Yerevan

     Here I am , in Yerevan- at the European Individual Chess Championship- the tournament that opens this year's chess season for me.
     I like playing the Men's Europeans, as it is the strongest tournament I play every year and there is absolutely no pressure on me, thought it doesn't mean that I don't put some by myself :D
     I've missed chess, as I haven't played for 2 and a half months and the trip to Yerevan has been a very awaited one. It is my first time in Armenia and I like it- everything has been great so far- the food, the hotel, the receipt. I hope that it will continue this way ;)
     The first round starts tomorrow, at 3 pm local time. Here is the official site, where you can find all the information about the tournament, as well as the live games and photo reports: http://eicc2014.am/  I expect to have a very strong opponent tomorrow, as I am nr.167 out of 259  http://chess-results.com/tnr123081.aspx?lan=11&zeilen=99999
     I hope to play some good games and to show my best chess!
     Romania is represented by 7 players here:

46	GM	Lupulescu Constantin	1207822	ROU	2643
74	GM	Nevednichy Vladislav	1205730	ROU	2591
85	GM	Jianu Vlad-Cristian	1208110	ROU	2574
88	GM	Parligras Mircea-Emilian	1204297	ROU	2572
167	IM	Bulmaga Irina	13903063	ROU	2375
188		Deac Bogdan-Daniel	1226380	ROU	2322
252		Porfireanu Serban	1208632	ROU	1903

     I wish them all the best of luck (including myself :D ) !
     Here are some photos from my today's walk through the center of Yerevan:

Seems like chess is a tradition around here

With Mircea Parligras and Constantin Lupulescu

     Will keep you posted!

xoxo from Yerevan  ;)