Europchess is not giving up its activities in these pandemic times. Despite the compulsory suspension of over-the-board chess, online blitz tournaments are organised twice a week, and training activities continue via online platforms. Europchess started the year with a training session on chess endings by FM Georgi Tomov, which took place in January. Last week, our Vice-President (and recognised chess historian) Frank Hoffmeister presented some nice games taken from the book that he has...
Brussels Chess Club was the first club in the capital to come out of confinement in August, to resume playing over-the-board chess. Under the necessary special hygienic conditions, the traditional “Brussels Express” rapid tournament was held on four evenings, with a total of 17 rounds. Five Europchess players participated. Martin Müller was the clear favourite by rating and was able to fulfil expectations, winning the tournament with a good score of 14.5/17, 2.5 points...
In times of the Coronavirus, where all traditional “on-the-board” chess competitions are suspended, opportunities to play tournaments online flourish. The European Chess Union joined the trend and organised from 16 to 31 May the European Online Chess Championship via the platform chess.com. Players from all over Europe competed successively in five different rating groups, with a 10’ + 2’’ increment time control. The best 250 players in each ratings group qualified for a final...
With the lockdown making chess activities on the board impossible, Europchess continues its activities online. Besides the regular blitz tournaments, on Saturday, 2 May, we took up a special challenge by playing an online friendly match against SK Bebenhausen 1992, the former club of president Johannes Bertram. Bebenhausen is located in the Southern German university town Tübingen. Its chess club is very active, especially in the youth sector, where it could win several national...
In February 2020, just before the Coronavirus made physical meetings impossible, Europchess held its annual general assembly. On the occasion, several members were elected into new functions. After 11 years, Frank Hoffmeister stepped down as President of Europchess, stating that for any organisation, being led for too long by the same person is not necessarily healthy. His presidency was marked by a remarkable and continuous evolution: the club registered for the Belgian and Francophone...
Wachtebeke 1 – Europchess 1 : 7.5 – 0.5 +++ Boitsfort 2 – Europchess 2 : 4 – 2 +++ Boitsfort 4 – Europchess 3 : 2 – 2 +++ Boitsfort 5 – Europchess 4 : 1 – 3 +++ Wavre 5 – Europchess 5 : 3 – 1 +++ Round 9: Draw with Boitsfort +++ In Round 9, Wachtebeke 1 annihilated the first team by 7.5-0.5, but the derby with Boitsfort ended in a good...