{"id":22938,"date":"2023-06-02T09:08:51","date_gmt":"2023-06-02T09:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www1090.fide.com\/?p=22938"},"modified":"2023-10-25T11:00:59","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T11:00:59","slug":"kuznecovas-rolls-on-the-way-to-european-chess-solving-championship-in-bratislava","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/kuznecovas-rolls-on-the-way-to-european-chess-solving-championship-in-bratislava\/","title":{"rendered":"Kuznecovas rolls on the way to European Chess Solving Championship in Bratislava"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Photo above: Solving hall in the old building of the Nottingham High School | Photo:\u00a0British Chess News \/ John Upham Photography\u00a0<\/em><\/p>

A perfect month of the World Solving Cup 2022\/23 events is behind us, with six national championships held in less than 30 days. After 11 out of 17 competitions, differing in the average Solvers rating from 4th to 12th Category the top two places in the\u00a0WSC Standings<\/a>\u00a0are still in the firm hold of Lithuanian solvers, but they switched their places, thanks to a series of outstanding results by\u00a0Kevinas Kuznecovas<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>

The 18-years old has been rolling this year, reaching the top 5 places in all nine tournaments he entered. The icing on the cake was his back-to-back wins in Slovakia, Great Britain and France. On the way to it, Kevinas has instantly completed\u00a0norms for solving titles of FIDE Master and International Master. His Next goal is the title of Grandmaster, and the next station is the\u00a0European Chess Solving Championship in Bratislava<\/a>\u00a0(June 2-4).<\/p>

Martynas Limontas<\/strong>\u00a0is still in a good position to regain the top place since he hasn\u2019t used the quota of six tournaments yet. In fact, nobody else except the leader has done it, and the final standings will heavily depend on two main yearly events: the Bratislava ECSC (June 1), and the\u00a0World Chess Solving Championship in Batumi<\/a>\u00a0(September 4).<\/p>

According to the\u00a0WSC Rules<\/a>, the number of points in a competition correlates with the average rating of the ten best participants. In the lowest, 14th Category, the winner gets only 2 WSC points, while the win in the 1st Category event scores 46 points. That explains the high positions of the five solvers who took part in only one WSC leg and still made it in the top 10!\u00a0<\/p>

The\u00a0Open Solving Championship of Serbia<\/a>\u00a0was the strongest national competition since 2019, with seven solving grandmasters taking part and an average rating of 2477.\u00a0Danila Pavlov<\/strong>, double World and European Solving Champion pulled off a convincing victory that brought him 31 points \u2013 enough for the current third position in the WSC race. The 2nd and 3rd places in Belgrade secured the top 10 WSC positions for GM Solver\u00a0Marko Filipovi\u0107<\/strong>\u00a0(on his successful return after several years) and to the double Grandmaster (in chess and solving)\u00a0Bojan Vu\u010dkovi\u0107<\/strong>, the Serbian champion once again.<\/p>

\"\"Winners in Belgrade Bojan Vu\u010dkovi\u0107, Danila Pavlov & Marko Filipovi\u0107\u00a0<\/em><\/p>

This solving competition was a part of the program of the traditional\u00a0Belgrade Problem Chess Festival<\/a>\u00a0revitalized after three years of the COVID break. With B Category for juniors, composing tournament and lectures, it was held in the Chess Club Beograd, on the top of the Football Stadium OFK Beograd. This is where all gatherings of Serbian chess problemists as well as literary evenings devoted to the great chess personalities and events, happen.<\/p>

The week after, the\u00a044th Lithuanian Chess Problem Solving Championship<\/a>\u00a0was held in K\u0117dainiai, a small town on the banks of the Nev\u0117\u017eis River. Over the last two decades, the championship constantly pulsates between the capital and the countryside, occasionally wandering into the bigger cities \u2013 Klaip\u0117da and Kaunas. At the end of the last millennium, the representatives of K\u0117dainiai began to dominate and, not less than 17 times, became the individual national champions. Curiously, the solving event had the same surrounding as in Belgrade \u2013 in the administrative building of the local football club.<\/p>

The fight between the two WSC leaders ended with Martynas\u2018 scoring his eighth national victory. One of the most titled participants of the World Solving Cup, he won this event in 2017\/2018, took second place in 2018\/2019, and came third three times. The record holder Vidmantas Satkus, 11-time Lithuanian champion, earned the bronze medal. The biggest surprise happened in the team competition, where the Vilnius II team (A.Mockus, K.Kuznecovas and V.Paliulionis) ended the eternal rivalry between Vilnius and K\u0117dainiai main chess problem-solving teams.<\/p>

\"\"Winners of the Lithuanian championship V. Satkus, M. Limontas and K. Kuznecovas with the arbiter R.Krolikowski | Photo: Vilimantas Satkus\u00a0<\/em><\/p>

With the 16th European Chess Solving Championship ready to begin, the\u00a031st Slovak Championship<\/a>\u00a0in Bratislava was of special importance as it served as a preparation stage for the solving hot team and the organizing squad.\u00a0<\/p>

Among several parallel competitions, the\u00a0Blind Solving<\/a>\u00a0was an interesting novelty in the 16th ECSC program. Using only the notation of the given problems, the top-rated Slovak GM\u00a0Jergu\u0161 Pech\u00e1\u010d<\/strong>\u00a0dominated, the same as in\u00a0Quick Solving<\/a>\u00a0where the shortest problems in 2 moves are presented on a big screen, one by one.<\/p>

\"\"Blind Solving in Bratislava: the arbiter \u013dubom\u00edr \u0160ir\u00e1\u0148, Marek Kol\u010d\u00e1k (3rd place), the winner Jergu\u0161 Pech\u00e1\u010d and Stasys Steponavi\u010dius (2nd place) | Photo Richard Dobi\u00e1\u0161\u00a0<\/em><\/p>

Although GM\u00a0Jergu\u0161 Pech\u00e1\u010d<\/strong>\u00a0made his debut in a rated solving competition, he did very well in the 31st Slovak Championship, too. Only because of rushing during the moremovers round, when he spent only 30 out of 80 minutes, he missed the 3rd place. The tourney ended with the first out of three consecutive WSC wins for\u00a0Kevinas Kuznecovas<\/strong>, ahead of Slovaks\u00a0Tom\u00e1\u0161 Peitl, Marek Kol\u010d\u00e1k<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Richard Dobi\u00e1\u0161<\/strong>.<\/p>

The main ECSC organizer\u00a0Marek Kol\u010d\u00e1k<\/strong>\u00a0has taken part in all 31 Slovak championships and holds the record with 9 national titles, 11 silver medals and 5 bronze ones. He made it to the podium again, despite all the demanding organizing work this year.<\/p>

The final of the\u00a0Winton British Chess Solving Championship 2022\/23<\/a>\u00a0was organized at Nottingham High School and had a very special atmosphere. The second back-to-back win by\u00a0Kevinas Kuznecovas<\/strong>\u00a0hardly surprised anyone, but the way he did it was really impressive.\u00a0David Hodge<\/strong>\u00a0was the first recipient of the Paul Valois Trophy, for the best British solver, presented by Paul\u2019s sister\u00a0Andrea Holt<\/strong>. The former World Champion in solving\u00a0Jonathan Mestel<\/strong>\u00a0finished only one point behind him, and the bronze went to\u00a0\u00a0Kamila Hryshchenko<\/strong>.<\/p>

\"\"David Hodge became the first recipient of the Paul Valois Trophy<\/em><\/p>

Text: Marjan Kova\u010devi\u0107, WFCC President<\/p>

Official website:\u00a0WFCC \u2013 World Federation for Chess Composition<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo above: Solving hall in the old building of the Nottingham High School | Photo:\u00a0British Chess News \/ John Upham Photography\u00a0 A perfect month of the World Solving Cup 2022\/23 events is behind us, with six national championships held in less than 30 days. After 11 out of 17 competitions, differing in the average Solvers rating from 4th to 12th Category the top two places in the\u00a0WSC Standings\u00a0are still in the firm hold of Lithuanian solvers, but they switched their places, thanks to a series of outstanding results by\u00a0Kevinas Kuznecovas.\u00a0 The 18-years old has been rolling this year, reaching the top 5 places in all nine tournaments he entered. The icing on the cake was his back-to-back wins in Slovakia, Great Britain and France. On the way to it, Kevinas has instantly completed\u00a0norms for solving titles of FIDE Master and International Master. His Next goal is the title of Grandmaster, and the next station is the\u00a0European Chess Solving Championship in Bratislava\u00a0(June 2-4). Martynas Limontas\u00a0is still in a good position to regain the top place since he hasn\u2019t used the quota of six tournaments yet. In fact, nobody else except the leader has done it, and the final standings will heavily depend on two main yearly events: the Bratislava ECSC (June 1), and the\u00a0World Chess Solving Championship in Batumi\u00a0(September 4). According to the\u00a0WSC Rules, the number of points in a competition correlates with the average rating of the ten best participants. In the lowest, 14th Category, the winner gets only 2 WSC points, while the win in the 1st Category event scores 46 points. That explains the high positions of the five solvers who took part in only one WSC leg and still made it in the top 10!\u00a0 The\u00a0Open Solving Championship of Serbia\u00a0was the strongest national competition since 2019, with seven solving grandmasters taking part and an average rating of 2477.\u00a0Danila Pavlov, double World and European Solving Champion pulled off a convincing victory that brought him 31 points \u2013 enough for the current third position in the WSC race. The 2nd and 3rd places in Belgrade secured the top 10 WSC positions for GM Solver\u00a0Marko Filipovi\u0107\u00a0(on his successful return after several years) and to the double Grandmaster (in chess and solving)\u00a0Bojan Vu\u010dkovi\u0107, the Serbian champion once again. Winners in Belgrade Bojan Vu\u010dkovi\u0107, Danila Pavlov & Marko Filipovi\u0107\u00a0 This solving competition was a part of the program of the traditional\u00a0Belgrade Problem Chess Festival\u00a0revitalized after three years of the COVID break. With B Category for juniors, composing tournament and lectures, it was held in the Chess Club Beograd, on the top of the Football Stadium OFK Beograd. This is where all gatherings of Serbian chess problemists as well as literary evenings devoted to the great chess personalities and events, happen. The week after, the\u00a044th Lithuanian Chess Problem Solving Championship\u00a0was held in K\u0117dainiai, a small town on the banks of the Nev\u0117\u017eis River. Over the last two decades, the championship constantly pulsates between the capital and the countryside, occasionally wandering into the bigger cities \u2013 Klaip\u0117da and Kaunas. At the end of the last millennium, the representatives of K\u0117dainiai began to dominate and, not less than 17 times, became the individual national champions. Curiously, the solving event had the same surrounding as in Belgrade \u2013 in the administrative building of the local football club. The fight between the two WSC leaders ended with Martynas\u2018 scoring his eighth national victory. One of the most titled participants of the World Solving Cup, he won this event in 2017\/2018, took second place in 2018\/2019, and came third three times. The record holder Vidmantas Satkus, 11-time Lithuanian champion, earned the bronze medal. The biggest surprise happened in the team competition, where the Vilnius II team (A.Mockus, K.Kuznecovas and V.Paliulionis) ended the eternal rivalry between Vilnius and K\u0117dainiai main chess problem-solving teams. Winners of the Lithuanian championship V. Satkus, M. Limontas and K. Kuznecovas with the arbiter R.Krolikowski | Photo: Vilimantas Satkus\u00a0 With the 16th European Chess Solving Championship ready to begin, the\u00a031st Slovak Championship\u00a0in Bratislava was of special importance as it served as a preparation stage for the solving hot team and the organizing squad.\u00a0 Among several parallel competitions, the\u00a0Blind Solving\u00a0was an interesting novelty in the 16th ECSC program. Using only the notation of the given problems, the top-rated Slovak GM\u00a0Jergu\u0161 Pech\u00e1\u010d\u00a0dominated, the same as in\u00a0Quick Solving\u00a0where the shortest problems in 2 moves are presented on a big screen, one by one. Blind Solving in Bratislava: the arbiter \u013dubom\u00edr \u0160ir\u00e1\u0148, Marek Kol\u010d\u00e1k (3rd place), the winner Jergu\u0161 Pech\u00e1\u010d and Stasys Steponavi\u010dius (2nd place) | Photo Richard Dobi\u00e1\u0161\u00a0 Although GM\u00a0Jergu\u0161 Pech\u00e1\u010d\u00a0made his debut in a rated solving competition, he did very well in the 31st Slovak Championship, too. Only because of rushing during the moremovers round, when he spent only 30 out of 80 minutes, he missed the 3rd place. The tourney ended with the first out of three consecutive WSC wins for\u00a0Kevinas Kuznecovas, ahead of Slovaks\u00a0Tom\u00e1\u0161 Peitl, Marek Kol\u010d\u00e1k\u00a0and\u00a0Richard Dobi\u00e1\u0161. The main ECSC organizer\u00a0Marek Kol\u010d\u00e1k\u00a0has taken part in all 31 Slovak championships and holds the record with 9 national titles, 11 silver medals and 5 bronze ones. He made it to the podium again, despite all the demanding organizing work this year. The final of the\u00a0Winton British Chess Solving Championship 2022\/23\u00a0was organized at Nottingham High School and had a very special atmosphere. The second back-to-back win by\u00a0Kevinas Kuznecovas\u00a0hardly surprised anyone, but the way he did it was really impressive.\u00a0David Hodge\u00a0was the first recipient of the Paul Valois Trophy, for the best British solver, presented by Paul\u2019s sister\u00a0Andrea Holt. The former World Champion in solving\u00a0Jonathan Mestel\u00a0finished only one point behind him, and the bronze went to\u00a0\u00a0Kamila Hryshchenko. David Hodge became the first recipient of the Paul Valois Trophy Text: Marjan Kova\u010devi\u0107, WFCC President Official website:\u00a0WFCC \u2013 World Federation for Chess Composition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":22940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[79],"regular":[],"sticky-post":[],"class_list":["post-22938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chess-news","tag-composition-and-solving"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22938"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22943,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22938\/revisions\/22943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22938"},{"taxonomy":"regular","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regular?post=22938"},{"taxonomy":"sticky-post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sticky-post?post=22938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}