Chess players from several European countries are participating, as of Friday, in the second edition of the "Unirii Trophy' International Chess Festival, organised by the Slatina City Hall and the Municipal Sports Club (CSM), running from 28 November to 1 December.
According to the CSM Slatina coach Florin Risca, the chess festival held at the Sports High School, is a FIDE-approved competition, which includes sections for both registered players and amateurs, with total prizes of around 50,000 lei.
The competition takes place across three sections: "Blitz," "Open" and amateurs, with several international masters from Poland and the Republic of Moldova also confirming their participation.
"There are three competitions: classical, amateur and blitz, held over four days, 28, 29, 30 November and 1 December. In the classical section, I counted 82 participants so far, including three international masters. The amateur and blitz tournaments will take place tomorrow between roughly 14:00 and 16:00. There are 92 participants in the blitz and about 42 in the amateur section. In the amateur and blitz sections, players have a limited time of around three minutes each, while in the classical section, it's one hour plus 30 seconds per move. The participants come from all over the country and of all ages; I even saw players under 10," Florin Risca mentioned.
Slatina Mayor Mario De Mezzo, who played in the amateur section on Friday, said he hopes the festival will grow even further in the coming years and that Slatina will produce a national champion.
"We have over 120 participants from several countries, including Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova, and I believe also from Serbia, if I'm not mistaken, but we want this Slatina International Chess Festival to grow. As I have said from the start, chess will be one of my priorities for the city of Slatina, for the way it harmoniously develops the brain architecture, the inner architecture of children and young people who play chess. I would like every school to have a chess club. Since we couldn't do that, we established the Municipal Chess Club, with which I hope that in four to five years we will produce a national champion," De Mezzo said.
Furthermore, the mayor expressed his confidence that young people's interest in chess in Slatina will grow thanks to the organisation of competitions and the participation of well-known players.
Since September, Slatina has hosted its first chess club within the Municipal Sports Club, after 35 years without one in the county.
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