European Pairs Chess Championship 2023 starts in Krakow, Poland

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The inaugural European Pairs Blitz Chess Championship starts in Krakow, Poland, as the accompanying event of the Krakow-European Games 2023. The event will be played on Monday, 19th of June, Open and Women’s sections separately, with the participation of eight invited teams.

The composition of the teams:

• Azerbaijan – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2738) & Gunay Mammadzada (2449)
• Poland – Jan Krzysztof Duda (2724) & Oliwia Kiolbasa (2422)
• Romania – Kirill Shevchenko (2684) & Irina Bulmaga (2422)
• Ukraine – Andrei Volokitin (2674) & Doluhanova, Evgeniya (2278)
• Spain – Jaime Santos Latasa (2656) & Ana Matnadze (2393)
• Armenia – Shant Sargsyan (2630) & Elina Danielian (2416)
• Israel – Maxim Rodshtein (2606) & Marsel Efroimski (2444)
• Netherlands – Bok Benjamin (2607) & Eline Roebers (2363)

The official program of the event started yesterday. The Mayor of Krakow prof. Jacek Majchrowski received the ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili, the FIDE Secretary General Lukasz Turlej, and Mrs. Kamila Kałuzna-Turcza the President of the Małopolski Chess Association. Mr. Janusz Koziol – Vice Mayor of the City of Krakow Physical Culture Development and the Vice President of the European Games Kraków-Małopolska 2023 LTD was also present at the meeting.

The opening press conference of the European Pairs Chess Championship 2023 took place Saturday afternoon with the presence of the ECU President Mr. Zurab Azmaiparashvili, the FIDE Secretary General Mr. Lukasz Turlej, Mr. Janusz Koziol – Vice Mayor of the City of Krakow Physical Culture Development and the Vice President of the European Games Kraków-Małopolska 2023 LTD , Mrs. Kamila Kałuzna-Turcza the President of the Małopolski Chess Association, and the Chief Arbiter of the tournament Ms. Shohreh Bayat.

First of all, I would like to give my thanks to Janusz Kozioł, the Polish government, the minister of sports and the organising committee – stated  Zurab Azmaiparashvili, president of the European Chess Union, at the press conference. I am happy chess will be part of the European Games for the first time ever. It is also the first time we will be playing in pairs. We are attempting to build a model for our sport that will enable it to appear at the Olympic Games. During the event in Kraków, top players from eight countries will be competing, providing great excitement. Another exiciting aspect is presenting chess in the Kraków Opera House. As for the Chess Olympiad, I can confidently support Kraków as a potential host of the event in 2028.

– It was always always our goal for sports such as chess to get a foothold in Kraków and to find a place in the minds of the Poles – stated Janusz Kozioł, plenipotentiary of the mayor of Kraków for the development of physical culture and deputy CEO of the 2023 European Games. – It is thanks to Jan-Krzysztof Duda that we fell in love with the game, but we would like to get as many people as possible interested. We plan to organise top-class chess competitions in Poland. Yesterday the Kraków mayor Jacek Majchrowski met with the president of the European Chess Union Zurab Azmaiparashvili and it was confirmed the city was ready to organise a competition as big as the Chess Olympiad. We are happy for chess to be part of the European Games, especially in a place like the Kraków Opera House. From today, we start lobbying for Kraków and Katowice to host the Chess Olympiad – he added.

The time limit in the Championships will be three minutes per game for each player, plus two seconds per move. Men and women will play separately in round-robin format. Let me start by stating our country will be represented by Jan-Krzysztof Duda and European Championships runner-up Oliwia Kiołbasa – said Łukasz Turlej, Secretary General of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). – The other teams will be extremely strong as well, as many players from top nations will be coming. The startlist, as well as the formula, will allow for a full audience in the Kraków Opera House and the excitement is building up for Monday.

– It will be a highly interesting formula – stated  Shohreh Bayat, chief referee of the Championships. – It is unusual, as we start with round-robin games, separately for the women and the open category. Subsequently, based on the results of the qualifications, we will proceed to the next stage, which will be the play-off round, deciding the medals. They will be given out in three categories: open, women and overall team classification (man and woman from each country). We are playing blitz, which makes the competition spectacular and very fast.

– There are many benefits to our participation in the European Games – stated  Kamila Kałużna-Turcza, head of the Małopolska Chess Association. – We are well prepared as organisers and we would like to prove it is no accident we became a part of the Olympic family. It is a small step towards becoming an Olympic sport and it gives us joy to start in Kraków with a new formula, with top-class players. We are going to show our sport can be spectacular to watch, popular and exciting. We are kicking off on Monday, 19 June, at 1:45 PM, with the first round starting at 2 PM. The final round is planned for 7:45 PM, with the conclusion of the competition at 8:15 PM.

The games of the European Pairs Chess Championship 2023 will kick off on Monday at 15:00 CEST. The official opening ceremony of the event will be held shortly before the start of the first round.

The live stream can be followed on the ECU Youtube Channel.