Masters in Poland

     After a more or less agitated summer, with many tournaments played in a raw, the time has come for a "serious" chess exam.
     I am heading to a strong ladies tournament in Wroclaw, Poland. It will be very interesting for me to play against some of the strongest WGMs in Europe. As I missed the EIWCC this year, it will be refreshing to compete in a women's event. They all say women's chess is different from men's chess and it is a viable point of view, though I don't necessarily agree with it. Maybe we are somewhat more competitive and maybe short draws don't occur that often in our games, maybe we play a more romantic chess, but I believe that the strongest women players can compete on a very high level with men as well.
     All in all, I hope to have a good tournament and to play some quality chess! You can follow the results and the news of the event on its official webpage: http://wgmradzikowska.pl/?page_id=1242#
     I hope to be in good spirits for sharing impressions from there as well :)
  


P.S.  Hou Yifan's play from the World Cup in Baku can only inspire women to work more on chess and to have more confidence that everything is possible!



xoxo with high hopes :)

From Dracula to Emirates Palaces

     It's been a very interesting month, with lots of new impressions.
     It is a well known fact that the country where you live is actually the one you've visited the least. That's why I decided to visit the Romanian site which attracts the most foreign tourists- "Dracula's (Bran) Castle". When I got there, I had the feeling that I'm somewhere abroad, all the people around were speaking all kind of languages but Romanian. It was very funny- feeling a stranger in my own country :))
     The thing I liked the most about the castle was its location, which granted lots of fantastic views. The so called "Torture Room" was also interesting, though it left me with a strange feeling of insecurity...

Bran Castle

 

     A "little" change of scenery followed. I have arrived to Abu Dhabi a few days later, checked in at a luxury hotel and tried to adapt to the 30 degrees temperature difference. The adaptation process is still on go, while 6 rounds of the tournament have already passed. The last game I played was a marathon one, with 150 moves- it finished at about 11.45 pm and frankly, I was so exhausted and disappointed that the fact that I missed dinner did not matter at all (though, poor arbiters...).

6th round marathon game vs GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov

     It is my first time in UAE and I am overwhelmed by such a different culture. I have met very friendly people, I have met some who wouldn't shake hands with a woman, I have seen strict dress codes and emancipated women as well...  The buildings here are from the "hallucination" category, I've never seen such luxury in my life... Fantastic Malls rising from the middle of the desert is just a usual thing here... Anyhow, it seems to be a very different and a not so easy to fit in culture, especially for Europeans, even though  there's a fantastic mix of nations here.



    All in all, I am grateful for this new experience and I hope for some good chess for the last 3 rounds!
    

    xoxo from Abu Dhabi ;)

Lazy Reflections

     Back to posting!
     I am back to modern life after about one and a half month without a computer. Yeah... that's another side of a chess players' life- changing computers more often than haircuts :)))
     Many, many things have happened since my last post. I can definitely say that the month I stayed in France was not bad at all, what can be bad in France? Wines? No way! Evenings, Alps, La Manche? Naaay! My chess? Well, more or less... One bad tournament, another- not so good and a fabulous one (maybe the best in my life). It's difficult to judge if there was a balance or not.
     Coming back to Romania and adjusting to the super hot August days was the most difficult part. The Open I played in Arad has simply drained my body and brain. (Note for the next summer: check if the playing halls have air conditioning before deciding to play anywhere).
     I am on my last days of vacation before my next tournament, the Abu Dhabi Open. I've never been to Emirates before and I am curious about what it's gonna' be like. I don't have so many expectations from myself from the "chess" point of view. I've learned that it's better to be calm and just play your chess, expectations are not good, you can never know what plans does Fortuna have for you.
     While taking a deep breath of salty, "freshly-after rain" air I admire the predictable (?!) sea and I try not to think about tomorrow. There's the rhythmical sound of waves, the staggering height of the terrace I'm housing my thoughts on, there's nothing to remind me that there might be a tomorrow...


xoxo from a lazy evening ;)

Call of the Alpes

     My chess summer has begun and what better place for it to begin than in France!
     It is really nice here, in Vaujany, surrounded by mounatains and waterfalls. One can wish for nothing else, it is the perfect spot for a chess tournament!
     Many Romanians have come here, I don't know if it's about some "Call of the Alpes", or maybe it's just us trying to escape from the super hot Romanian summer, anyways it feels just fantastic to be here!
    

The playing hall

      Moreover, I have rediscovered an old passion of mine- ping-pong. That's the best preparation for the games and the best way to relax after them ;)

Tough match vs IM Lucian Filip

     Here you can find the link for the tournament: http://www.echecs.asso.fr/FicheTournoi.aspx?Ref=33004


    Wish you all a fantastic summer, and stay tuned for more news from France!


     xoxo from Vaujany ;)

Summer Breeze

     These long summer days with their lazy breeze... With the eyes barely opened and the hot sun fondling my skin I dream about, hm, about- well, I actually live my dream!
     The days of me being a professional chess player have finally come, no more University concerns, no more chains holding me back, I live the life I've always dreamed of. What a fantastic feeling, waking up and not being sure if I still dream or this really is my life :D
     Ah, I've remembered, our team- "Politehnica Iasi" has become the new Romanian Rapid Club Cup winner as well! Not a bad start of the summer season, right? ;)

 

Team "Politehnica Iasi": Vlad and Andrei Ungureanu, Alina l'Ami, Vasile Manole, myself, Vladimir Danilov, Ioana Gelip (photo credits: https://thinkingsquares.wordpress.com/)

     A short trip to the UK has opened my unchained phase of life! It was so nice to see my sister and to spend quality time together! The chess part of the trip was not the best one, but it was not the main goal, so there's not much to complain about :)
     Many tournaments and many dreams coming true are ahead and I can finally say that I am happy! You can envy me for having a job which is actually the thing I love the most- playing chess while traveling around the World! Right now I envy a bit myself so I'll try to make this feeling last as much as possible ;)
     While closing my eyes and letting the sun invade my thoughts, here are some pictures that bring the smile on my face every time I see them:

     Peace and a fantastic summer to all of you!


xoxo from my dreams! ;)

Cool Grandmother

     While living at its fullest my last days as a student- with exams day by day and trying to finish my thesis in the unbearably hot Romanian summer, I catch myself imagining my life after all of these will end...
     I want to believe that many years of playing chess are ahead of me, many tournaments, lots of training, many wins... I wonder for how long I am going to enjoy this stuff, 5 years, 10 years, 2 decades, all my life? I really hope for it to be so. I hope to live long enough in order to be the cool grandmother who participates at Veteran Championships and tells her grandchildren about the adventures of a lifetime of being a chess player!
     I remember once laughing with my friends about us being 65, gathering all our "gang of WGM" at a Veteran World  Championship and having the time of our lives while coming all so pretty to the games, eying the U55 guys :))) Well, joke apart, I want to be that kind of  grandmother, the one with whom kids want to go out to listen to her stories... Maybe I could even teach them how to play chess, if it will survive 40 more years...
     Forgive me for this strange post, the source of this thoughts was the recently watched trailer of a chess movie, with a chess player starring. You can watch it here:


Bondoc Trailer from deFilm on Vimeo.

     Wish you all a nice end of week!


xoxo from Iasi ;)

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!