EU – Baltic States, Forum, Good for Business

As reported, last Sunday the European Youth Chess Championship was launched at Kipsala exhibition center with more than 1,000 participants from 47 countries. Latvia will be represented in the tournament by 110 players.

“I would like to thank all supporters of the tournament, especially BT1 that has helped with technical issues,” said the tournament’s director Egons Lavendelis in a press conference today. “This tournament is a huge honor to Latvia, and also a serious challenge. There are about 2,000 people, each with their own wishes and attitudes. We are trying to do everything possible to make them all happy,” he said.

Among more than 1,000 participants, there are 194 chess players who have earned different titles. There is one grandmaster, ten international masters, six women international masters, and 76 men international masters with titles granted by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) among the players.

Among Latvian players, the only player with the FIDE title is Elizabete Limanovska. Meanwhile, Nikita Kuznecovs can boast of the highest rating (2,280) among Latvian players.

“Latvia in the present championship has the second largest delegation after Russia,” said Lavendelis.

Meanwhile, Ozolins thanked all who helped with organization of the tournament. “I would like to thank the European Chess Union (ECU) that granted the possibility to organize such a tournament. I would also like to thank the Latvian state, sponsors and the Riga City Council for the financial support. We are also grateful to the Riga Technical University,” he said.

Ozolins underscored that Latvian Finance Minister and the leading chess player of the past years, Dana Reizniece-Ozola, has been supporting this project and has also undertaken large responsibility. “She trusts that we will organize the event on a top level. This championship will ensure financial gain and popularity to the Latvian state,” Ozolins said.

Ozolins said that the tournament’s budget is about EUR 400,000.

“This is one of the most complicated tournaments in terms of organization,” said ECU representative and Chess Grandmaster Adrian Mikhalchishin, adding that this is the largest tournament in Europe by the number of participants. “There are a few promising chess players, for example, from the Czech Republic, Denmark,” he added.

The tournament’s chief arbiter, Ashot Vardapetyan, said that this is an important tournament because it ensures the future of chess.

“Of course, it is a complicated event from the point of view of organization, there are many countries, age groups and languages. We are ready to overcome these difficulties - it is our job. I have very good memories of Latvia, including from last year’s European Women Chess Championship. The tournament is not just a good game, it is also mutual communication and atmosphere. We have many experienced arbiters. We are ready for the job. This is a very specific tournament in which every detail is of importance,” said Vardapetyan.

The European Youth Chess Championship will be held until August 29.

The last time such a tournament was held in the Baltic states was in 1997, hosted by Estonian capital Tallinn.