Meeting the Austrian Presidency: Grandmaster Markus Ragger gives thrilling exhibition at Europchess In the second half of 2018, Austria assumed the Presidency of the European Union’s Council of Ministers. In line with established custom, Europchess invited the best player of the Presidency country to give an exhibition in Brussels in cooperation with the Austrian Permanent Representation. We were very glad that GM Markus Ragger flew in from Graz. The head of the legal department,...
Europchess 1 – Zottegem 2 : 5 – 3 +++ Europchess 2 – Opwijk 1 : 0.5 – 5.5 +++ Europchess 3 – Zottegem 6 : 2.5 – 1.5 +++ Europchess 4 – Nivelles 1 : 3 – 1 +++ Round 8: Crunch time +++ With a neat 5-3 victory over Zottegem 2, the first team defended its lead in Division 2 B. The 3rd team probably saved itself from relegation by beating Zottegem 6...
Already in summer, the 2016-2017 edition of the Europchess Club Championship, held as usual as a 9-round rapid tournament, was completed. This year’s winner was Georgi Tomov who was the only one to reach 7.5/9. Silver and Bronze went to Frank Hoffmeister and Pere Moles Palleja who both finished with 7 points. The tournament was again a big success: 40 Europchess members participated. The 2018 Championship is kicking off in January. Final Ranking ...
On 24 and 25 November 2017, the 1st European Corporate Chess Championship was held in Asnières, near Paris. Europchess as a genuine corporate chess club could of course not miss such an event and so, Christophe Keller, Szymon Pozimski, Johannes Bertram, Luis Parreira and Angeliki Dedopoulou travelled to the French capital and defended the EU colours in a strong field of company, administration and academic teams. In an impressive setting, the festive hall of...
World class performance of the unbeaten candidate On 6 April 2016, the Dutch top player and current champion Anish Giri paid a visit to Brussels in the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands to the European Union, which holds the Presidency of the Council in the 1st half of 2016. The Head of Cabinet of the Commission’s First Vice-President Timmermans, Ben Smulders, welcomed the current No. 4 of the world as the ‘pop-star’ of chess,...
In the end of September 2014, our longest serving active member, Ronny Bonne took his retirement. That may, in itself, not be a bad thing, as it frees more time for chess. However, in Ronny’s case this is clearly sad as he will also leave the chess club as a regular player and organiser. Ronny became a member some 33 (!) years ago and served as the longest-standing board member in our history. As...
On 31 August, KSK Rochade Eupen organised a 9-round rapid tournament which also counted as Belgian Championship in rapid chess. Four Europchess members took the occasion to warm up for the season. József Barta got well into the tournament, using in particular the White pieces to his advantage against weaker rated opponents. Also later, he proved hard to beat and finished with a good 6/9, as best Europchess player on rank 13. Martin Müller...
European Woman Champion lectures and outplays Europchess with style On 8th October 2013, the European Woman Champion of 2011, GM Viktorija Cmilyte paid a visit to Brussels upon invitation of our club. The Lithuanian star was born in 1983 and became world champion of girls under 12 at that tender age. She progressed steadily and became a strong youthful appearance also in male competitions. In 2005, she won the national championship of her country,...
Report by Tom Wiley Each year over the Ascension Day long weekend, the Fédération Echiquienne Francophone de Belgique holds its Championnats Individuels. Last year the championship was hosted in Brussels by the CREB. This year the tournament was hosted by the Cercle d’Echecs Fontainois in Fontaine l’Evêque, a small town not far from Charleroi. There are two tournaments; the Elite group is restricted to the 12 strongest players, and there is an Open group...
Pendant les vacances de Pâques, Europchess a reçu la visite de six enfants amérindiens de Guyane française. Le voyage organisé par le professeur et président du club d’échecs local, Daniel Baur, était leur premier voyage en métropole et en Europe. Pour venir, il leur a fallu une heure de pirogue, trois heures de voitures et puis huit heures d’avion transatlantique et enfin 1h25 de Thalys. Ces enfants vivent en Amazonie sur la frontière avec...