Romania, gold for boys and silver for girls, for junior chess teams in Germany

Romania won on Wednesday evening a gold medal for boys and a silver medal for girls, at the European Chess Championship for junior teams, in Bad Blankeburg, Germany, during the period of July 11-18, the Romanian Chess Federation announced in a press release, sent to AGERPRES. 

Romania lined up two teams, led by FIDE coach Nad-Titus Petre. The boys' team was composed of David Gavrilescu, George Stoleriu, Alexandru-Bogdan Banzea and Victor Vasiesiu, while the girls' team comprised Daria-Miruna Lehaci and Alessia-Mihaela Ciolacu. 

After 7 rounds, for boys, where 14 teams took part, Romania grabbed the gold, and the next spots were occupied by the Austrian formation and first team of Germany. For girls, where there were 15 teams, the title was obtained by Poland, followed by Romania and Germany 1. 

The head of our delegation, Nad-Titus Petre, specified: "It is a historic result. It is an extraordinary performance, obtained by exceptional kids, that are part of an exceptional generation. Now, important is the way we will be able to support these young people, in order for them to build up a beautiful career, so that they will reach their potential. Boys got the gold, and the girls got silver, after the girls' team kicked off with chance nr. 11." 

In his turn, Sorin-Avram Iacoban, the chairman of the Romanian Chess Federation, mentioned: "We proved to Europe the value of these young chess players, boys and girls, and that they will have a place in the European and world chess hierarchy. Slowly, but surely, our years' worth of work concerning promoting chess among children and introducing chess in school as an optional class started to pay off in the performance area as well. I congratulate the players, boys and girls, they are a role model for their generation. I thank the parents and coaches for the effort they put in and we are eagerly waiting for our chess players to come back home."