Moldova ranks first at International Chess Festival “V. Chebanenko”

Moldova’s representative, Great Master Viorel Bologan finished first at the International Chess Festival “V. Chebanenko”. The festival’s final was held in Chisinau on February 19. World champion Anatoly Karpov was the event’s guest of honor, Info-Prim Neo reports. The festival involved chess players from Georgia, Germany, Russia, and Moldova, including the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia and the Transnistrian region. They exchanged opponents and the color of the pieces. “The last game was the most difficult for me as the seconds decided everything. It was a tense game as I lost the advantage I obtained at the beginning. However, I managed to win,” the Great Master said after the game played with the representative of Germany. The participants in the final received money awards. Viorel Bologan was awarded 32,000 lei for the first place, Germany’s representative Arkadij Naiditsch – 20,000 lei for the second place, while another representative of Moldova Vasilii Sanduleac – 18,000 lei for the third place. The president of the Chess Federation of Moldova Igor Dodon said he will make everything possible for the Moldovan chess teams to take part in all the world and European championships. “We recently received an invitation to participate in the world championship “Karpov”. We will definitely take part in it,” he stated. In the semifinal on February 18, Anatoly Karpov played a simultaneous game with 40 competitors. After the first several moves, Viorel Bologan started to play with 20 of the 40 competitors. The opponents were children chess players from all over the country. Anatoly Karpov scored three draws, while Viorel Bologan – four.