The Serbian Novi Sad is the current center of attention in the chess world. Having started yesterday, the European School Chess Championship 2013 has drawn in almost 300 participants from all over Europe.
Championship in twelve categories
Altogether, the championship is held in twelve different categories: U7, U9, U11, U13, U15, and U17 for both boys and girls. Thus, a wide range of ages is covered, which is common for junior tournaments in Europe. The championship is scheduled to run until June 28th, which will be the day of final announcements of the lucky winners. The starting list records 273 girls and boys, who are eager to compete. While no German students are participating, juniors from thirteen European countries
line up for their nations.
Tournament in Swiss System
The duels between the young talents at the European School Chess Championship are fought in Swiss System with 9 rounds. Especially many students from Serbia are part of this tournament, which takes place in the Master Center on the exhibition grounds of the second largest Serb city. Furthermore, many young talents from Bosnia- Herzegovina, Slovenia and Albania have signed up for the competition. Equally strongly represented are Eastern- European countries, such as Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Lithuania. In addition, many other countries, like Turkey, Austria, England, France and Israel, have sent students to Serbia to be part of the championship.
Within the next days, we will definitely witness striking games and find out, how the chess coaches have prepared their students and countries for this challenge.
written by Michael, translated by Birthe