Elephant Chess Cup 3 - Everything Thread

by **Graintfjall** » Tue Mar 01, 2022 11:50 am

Article from the news magazine The New Week National Atlantic News Spectating Economist Time Man.

In A Land Of Peaceful Pachyderms, A Pavolan Friendship Splinters Darkly

Map of northern Græntfjall and Bollonich

Detail showing the Hofvinger exclave and territory ceded to Bollonich

[Continued on Page. 7

“I really have no idea!”

Kaija Michaelsdóttir threw up her hands in exasperation. Chess was one of those things she thought was a lovely thing to have in the world – a game of pure intellectual skill, the elegant simplicity of it all – while knowing almost nothing about it. She dimly remembered that the horses weren’t called horses. And yet, here she was, over a chessboard. A magnificent chessboard, of ivory and onyx. Gifted to her by the Ambassador from the Kingdom of Sabuja Parbata. She almost dared not touch it.

“It’s easy,” said Guðjón, her husband, encouragingly. He was a keen chess player, and at one point had been ranked nationally, though he was rather rusty. The other day some 11 year old had beaten him at online chess and the blow to his ego had been immeasurable.

“Look at the board, and choose a piece to move. Do you want a hint?”

She nodded desperately. After their latest argument, they’d agree to put together some time – one hour a week – just as a couple. Away from the demands of civil service reform and collective bargaining agreements and intelligence analyses. One hour, where they could be together. Which, she felt she had to give him, after all he’d borne for her. Only – did they really have to spend that hour playing chess?

“OK. Why don’t you move this piece out?” he suggested, tapping one of the small white things.

“My prawn.” If they’d spent the hour cooking a lovely savory curry, hmm, she could almost smell it…

“Pawn, but yes.”

“Porn?”

He sighed. “Kaija, just move the piece.”

An hour spent watching porn. Now there was a way they could reconnect as a couple.

“KAIJA MOVE THE FUCKING PAWN GOD DAMMIT!?”

She moved the piece. Guðjón sighed, visibly relaxing.

“I’m so glad we’re spending this time together, honey…”

“Mmm. Now, that’s a standard opening. It’s called a King’s Pawn game. ‘One, e four’. OK?”

“OK. A standard opening sounds good…”

1. e4

WIRE REPORT: The Hvíturriddari heavy cruiser has transgressed the 24 nautical mile territorial limit of Bollonischian sovereign waters, heading through the Komodo Channel towards the northern exclave territory formerly known as Eastern Hofvinger…

by **Srednjaci** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 3:23 am

ELEPHANT CHESS CUP III

START YOUR ENGINES -INTERVIEW WITH DANIJEL PARADŽIK

by Danijel Grlić

Dear viewers, welcome to the show dedicated to chess competitions. today we will mostly talk about the ECC III competition.
Our guest in the studio will be our grandmaster, Daniel Paradžik.
Daniel welcome.

DANIEL: Thank you for inviting me to the show.

REPORTER: Let's start first, how do you feel before the first match?

DANIJEL: After the tournaments played at home and abroad, I think I feel ready. I am satisfied with this season. I had time for rest but also for matches.

REPORTER: This makeshift small chess studio is located in the Ivory Crown Hotel, how satisfied are you with the accommodation and conditions here?

DANIJEL: I have to admit that I sleep a lot better here than at home hahaha

REPORTER: The hosts of South Newlandia did their best to ensure that no competitor lacked anything.
What is the situation in domestic chess?

DANIJEL: The Garvida competition started chess in our country, then the competition in the first edition of the Elephant Chess Cup took it even higher. Today in our country we have several tournaments from all series of ranks. The first rank of the tournament, the second rank, the third rank, followed by the semi-amateur rank, the amateur rank and there are also junior tournaments. This is a great opportunity for everyone who wants to play chess. We have never had such an organization before.

REPORTER: due to political developments in the country, we didn't participate in the last edition of this competition.
What is the competition like here?

DANIJEL: Dotivija did not apply for this competition, so for the first time we are participating alone. We have two young trump cards who are progressing, learning and could quickly reach the top in our country. However, there are great chess forces with their trump cards. This year we see Bollonich and Graentfjall performing separately.
Bollonich came in a very strong lineup leading with the great Clara Josep. Clara is a big name in world chess, she also has two gold medals in this tournament with the previous team Bollonich/Graentfjall. Then there is Brian Hayes, the champion of that country.
Graentfjall on the other hand also came with great players. Ánýá Klæðskera-gleđi is one of the great players. She belongs to the nomadic tribe Kamdyr, Ánýá is the absolute star of Graentfjall. Of course, we also remember her in the Garvida Chess tournament. Like Clara Josep, she belonged to that golden federation of Bollonich/Graentfjall.
We must not underestimate Raspotochje with Ivan Habijanić and Edita Vukorepac who are great grandmasters. Finalist at first edition of this competition Eshialanad with Jason Severn and Stephanie Jacobson. We don't know the line up of the hosts yet, but let's say the team Tjorl will be interesting.

REPORTER: means a lot of strong names and grandmasters in one place and under the same roof?

DANIJEL: Yes, this is the cream of world chess, there is nothing to add or subtract.

REPORTER: Let's remind ourselves of our lineup.

B1-DANIJEL PARADŽIK - WHITE : Catalan Opening,Queen's Gambit, BLACK : Sicilian Defence
B2-JELENA TABAK - WHITE : Ruy Lopez,Italian Game, BLACK : Sicilan Defence, French Defence
B3-BOJAN HERCEG -WHITE : Giuoco Piano Game, BLACK: Grünfeld Defense
B4-XIYU SU -WHITE : Catalan Opening , Italian Game, BLACK : King’s Indian Defence, Sicilian Defence

DANIJEL: Xiyu Su is a very interesting player. Although she is very young, she plays amazing and remembers the game fantastically and incredibly fast. Su handles multiple combinations of opening and defense, she’s fast and that could be a minus for her at sometimes. But she is a great, absolute prodigy.

REPORTER: our national team definitely has great chances for the very top. We will see how the young hopefuls manage.
Thank you very much for visiting us in our show. Dear viewers, it remains for us to enjoy chess on your WAS program.

by **Bollonich** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 6:11 am

A failed Cold War invasion, more of the same to come?

To understand the failure and dynamics of the invasion of Eastern Hofvinger at the Battle of Bergeforsen, we need to look at how Bollonich happened to have a small bit of land at a location culturally dominated by Græntfjallers with a channel of water separating this territory from mainland Bollonich. For this let’s travel back to the times of the Bollonich-Græntfjall Cold War and Græntfjall’s communist takeover. With communism having taken a strong foothold in Græntfjall, the Bollonischian government had cut all diplomatic ties strongly fearing the revolution which had been sweeping through Pavola to result in uprisings in Bollonich too. And while the Socialist Party was getting some increased support, it was not really yet of much concern to the Libertarian Party as they focused more on the anti-communist perspective fearing international forces. The Whites having fled to the Northern Hofvinger Exclave had established some distance between them and communist Græntfjall, and established a fiefdom declaring independence from Græntfjall. The Bollonischian Government sensed their chance at this point.

Despite being a channel of water across from the communist mainland, there was a constant security threat as the threat of invasion loomed over their heads. This is when Bollonich came to their rescue as an agreement was made between the two parties to allow Bollonich to construct military bases in the Hofvinger Exclave and were also ceded a small amount of territory on the peninsula called Eastern Hofvinger just beside a small gulf known as the Bergeforsen Gulf. This was understandably a bit too much for the communist government to accept as Bollonich now had the upper hand over them and were also helping out their largest foes, the Whites. Something had to be done, and the communists were going down the option of using force. A plan had started to take place in the minds of the communist leadership, a plan to seize hold of Bollonischian land in East Hofvinger and to rid themselves of the nuisance that the Bollonischian government had turned out to be. The plan for the communists was to use a limited number of surface vessels to accompany amphibious and transport vessels to facilitate the landing of their troops on the peninsula.

The communist Government made a huge miscalculation here though as they expected most of the battles to be fought on land. This was not to be the case as the Bollonischian military had largely modernised in terms of their naval fleet to protect the rather susceptible shores of their new allies and newly procured territory. Since tensions were high at that point, Bollonischian aircrafts were increasingly active in surveillance missions in the Komodo Channel to locate any movement of vessels which gave the Bollonischians an early warning as to the oncoming invasion. The Græntfjaller intelligence had initially seen the presence of a weak fleet defending the coasts of Eastern Hofvinger especially the beaches of Siglufjodur. What they did not calculate was that the Bollonischian navy would get an early warning allowing them to dispatch a massive fleet of naval vessels from a naval base in Fermont. What followed was a major clash in the Gulf of Bergeforsen as it was a bloodbath with entire Græntfjaller transport ships carrying men being sunk by the far superior Bollonischian navy. The Bollonischian airforce was also called into action, carrying out bomber strikes from the airbase in Sigulfjodur. The Græntfjaller airforce on the other hand was much far off and the invasio was too unsynchronised to allow the airforce to provide the surface vessels any support. The resulting battle was an embarrassing defeat for the Græntfjaller military and government as they had been completely repelled from any advancements in Eastern Hofvinger. While official sources claim deaths in the low hundreds, it’s rumoured that the Græntfjaller military suffered many more losses most notably from an infrastructural standpoint.

This solidified Bollonich’s claim over Eastern Hofvinger and even with the fall of Communist Græntfjall and the unification with the Hofvinger exclave, Bollonich’s claim over Eastern Hofvinger did not budge. Græntfjall since then has tried to pressurise the Bollonischian government into making secessions in the region to no avail. This could be especially relevant now as tensions have recently been increasing in the region’s water with increased naval activity in the region from both sides.

1. ......e5 

WIRE REPORT: The 24th Patrol Aircraft A24 and 2nd AWACS Squadron A2 have been dispatched from the Hafnarfjordur Airbase, to patrol the Bollonischian contiguous zone off the coast of the Northern Exclave territory formerly known as East Hofvinger.

by **Sarzonia** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 7:50 am

The previous time Lloyd Conway was here, he had to pull double duty.

He was Sarzonia's first Grandmaster in chess. In fact, at the time of the second Elephant Chess Cup, he was the only Grandmaster in the country. Sure, Sarzonia had chess, but it was hardly an organised structure the way it has been in host nation South Newlandia or other nations that have sent competitors to the first Elephant Chess Cup or the second. As such, there was no formal managerial structure in place for the team, and that meant the hastily-assembled governing body decided to have Conway serve as essentially a player-manager.

This time was different. Conway is no longer the only Grandmaster in the country. And not only that, but he's not even the only Grandmaster on the team. Lisa Boudreaux, who was a Candidate Master on the Sarzonian team that finished with bronze medals last time, is now a Grandmaster herself, although she preferred to use Grandmistress as the title, at least where it would be allowed. Audrey Tate was now a Candidate Master, and now there were alternates who could step in if necessary.

And more importantly for Conway, he was now solely responsible for himself, and not for the entire team. Sure, he still had some additional responsibility in that as an experienced member of the team, manager George Tunney would consult with him to gauge the morale of the team and also acclimate himself to his role as manager on the international stage. But making the decisions about who would play which board, making sure the team gathered for various activities, and the various other responsibilities a manager must address were no longer Conway's to navigate.

He woke up on the morning of his scheduled opening match against Norrhem and went down to the café to get a cup of coffee before he pored over notes about his opponent. He saw a sign posted outside the room designated for Sarzonia's match and raised an eyebrow. He walked up to it as he hoped to read its contents before he heard his name called for his coffee order.

"All matches postponed for 24 hours" it read. There was some fine print that he started to read before he heard the number for his order called.

"Number 329, the house with heavy creme and sugar!" the attendant called out. Conway turned away from the sign and walked up to get his order. He figured he would use the additional time to further his preparations for the match, even though he'd have an additional 24 hours to finish those preparations. He texted Tunney, since he didn't have to be the one to text his teammates. He could just send his text, go back to his hotel room, finish his coffee, and break out his notebook where he'd scribbled down some tendencies he'd noticed of his Norrhemian opponent.

by **South Newlandia** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 9:14 am

Elephant Chess Cup 3 – South Newlandian roster

Chess is the 4th-most popular sport in South Newlandia, behind football, baseball, and the other football. Many children learn chess at a young age, and quite a few choose to pursue chess professionally. That number has dropped off a bit in the last years, so the South Newlandian Chess Association is now attempting to show the public that chess players can be stars, too. What better way to do that then with a big international tournament, right here in South Newlandia?
All South Newlandians usually feel more comfortable in open positions, which can be a weakness against skilled opponents. All of them are eager to play for their country, and will try their best to be competitive, but these expectations might be holding them back, too.

Board 1:
Cecilia Blossom, 24 (St. Riecarn Monks)
Blossom is one of the biggest talents for South Newlandian chess. Despite her young age, she has been taking the country by storm, including winning several local tournaments and becoming a role model for many South Newlandian children. She is easily able to keep calm under pressure, and likes to create chaos on the board, especially when up on the clock. Her opening repertoire includes the Italian with both colours; however, Blossom is also known to create chaos early by playing interesting side-lines.

Board 2:
Lisa Morgen, 31 (Walstreim Lions)
Morgen is one of those players who are really, really fast. She’s not at the very top in Classical, but in the faster time controls, she really excels. She sometimes plays a bit too fast, but it works out well for her. Her favourite openings are the Caro-Kann with both sides, as well as the Slav with Black.

Board 3:
Robert Kane, 42 (Elephant Valley Chess)
Kane is one of the more experienced South Newlandian professionals, and has a solid opening knowledge regardless of the situation. When he was a bit younger, he used to win national titles frequently, and he is still a good player and great mentor. He likes to play the English with white and e6-b6 setups with the black pieces.

Board 4:
Maria Sally, 32 (Newport Rooks)
Sally, playing for the local Rooks, is playing on the last board for the team. She does get into time trouble a lot, but few players are as good at working under pressure as Sally is. She prefers the Italian with white, and frequently plays into the Albin Countergambit with black.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my lineup: Yes
Decide board results: Yes
Decide moves made: Yes, but I’d also love to collaborate on this!
Godmod game events: Please do ask first
Godmod other events: Please do ask first

by **South Newlandia** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 12:20 pm

This is the first cutoff for the third ECC! If this is your first time, here's how this will work: I will now scorinate the first match. In a bit, the results of MD1 and a table will be added to this post along with the MD2 pairings. After a short break, the MD2 results, a MD2 table, and the MD3 pairings will be added.

Match 1 – Friday, 11:00

Results:
(the team listed first has white on boards two and four)

Sannyamathland 2–2 Assymetrica
Kriegiersien 3½–½ Tekatus
Sarzonia 2½–1½ Norrhem
Apatosaurus 2–2 Raspotochje
The 14 Stars 2–2 Nlarhyalo
Insulamia 2½–1½ Magnecia
Boomer Park 2–2 KiwiRoos
Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom 1½–2½ Morover
Octapolis 1½–2½ Eshialand
Kyzhurkistan 1–3 Bollonich
StrayaRoos 0–4 Tjorl
Srednjaci 2½–1½ Crenstan
South Newlandia 3–1 Zug um Zug
Natanians and Nosts 2½–1½ Qasden
TJUN-ia 2–2 Græntfjall
Alezian Union 3–1 Esthe

Table:

P                             Pld    W   D   L    PF   PA    PD   Pts 
 1 Tjorl                        1    1   0   0     4    0    +4     2
 2 Kriegiersien                 1    1   0   0     3.5  0.5  +3     2
 3 Alezian Union                1    1   0   0     3    1    +2     2
   Bollonich                    1    1   0   0     3    1    +2     2
   South Newlandia              1    1   0   0     3    1    +2     2
 6 Eshialand                    1    1   0   0     2.5  1.5  +1     2
   Insulamia                    1    1   0   0     2.5  1.5  +1     2
   Morover                      1    1   0   0     2.5  1.5  +1     2
   Natanians and Nosts          1    1   0   0     2.5  1.5  +1     2
   Sarzonia                     1    1   0   0     2.5  1.5  +1     2
   Srednjaci                    1    1   0   0     2.5  1.5  +1     2
12 Apatosaurus                  1    0   1   0     2    2     0     1
   Assymetrica                  1    0   1   0     2    2     0     1
   Boomer Park                  1    0   1   0     2    2     0     1
   Græntfjall                   1    0   1   0     2    2     0     1
   KiwiRoos                     1    0   1   0     2    2     0     1
   Nlarhyalo                    1    0   1   0     2    2     0     1
   Raspotochje                  1    0   1   0     2    2     0     1
   Sannyamathland               1    0   1   0     2    2     0     1
   The 14 Stars                 1    0   1   0     2    2     0     1
   TJUN-ia                      1    0   1   0     2    2     0     1
22 Crenstan                     1    0   0   1     1.5  2.5  −1     0
   Magnecia                     1    0   0   1     1.5  2.5  −1     0
   Norrhem                      1    0   0   1     1.5  2.5  −1     0
   Octapolis                    1    0   0   1     1.5  2.5  −1     0
   Qasden                       1    0   0   1     1.5  2.5  −1     0
   Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom    1    0   0   1     1.5  2.5  −1     0
28 Esthe                        1    0   0   1     1    3    −2     0
   Kyzhurkistan                 1    0   0   1     1    3    −2     0
   Zug um Zug                   1    0   0   1     1    3    −2     0
31 Tekatus                      1    0   0   1     0.5  3.5  −3     0
32 StrayaRoos                   1    0   0   1     0    4    −4     0

Match 2 Pairings – Friday, 13:00

Tjorl - Kriegiersien
Bollonich - Alezian Union
Eshialand - South Newlandia
Morover - Insulamia
Natanians and Nosts - Sarzonia
Srednjaci - Apatosaurus
Assymetrica - Boomer Park
Græntfjall - KiwiRoos
Nlarhyalo - Raspotochje
Sannyamathland - The 14 Stars
Crenstan - TJUN-ia
Magnecia - Norrhem
Qasden - Octapolis
Esthe - Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom
Zug um Zug - Kyzhurkistan
Tekatus - StrayaRoos

Match 2 - Friday, 13:00

Results:
(the team listed first has white on boards two and four)

Tjorl 2–2 Kriegiersien
Bollonich 2–2 Alezian Union
Eshialand 3½–½ South Newlandia
Morover 1½–2½ Insulamia
Natanians and Nosts 2–2 Sarzonia
Srednjaci 2–2 Apatosaurus
Assymetrica 2–2 Boomer Park
Græntfjall 3–1 KiwiRoos
Nlarhyalo 1½–2½ Raspotochje
Sannyamathland 2½–1½ The 14 Stars
Crenstan 1–3 TJUN-ia
Magnecia 2½–1½ Norrhem
Qasden 2½–1½ Octapolis
Esthe 2–2 Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom
Zug um Zug 1–3 Kyzhurkistan
Tekatus 2½–1½ StrayaRoos

Table:

P                             Pld    W   D   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts 
 1 Eshialand                    2    2   0   0    6    2    +4     4
 2 Insulamia                    2    2   0   0    5    3    +2     4
 3 Tjorl                        2    1   1   0    6    2    +4     3
 4 Kriegiersien                 2    1   1   0    5.5  2.5  +3     3
 5 Alezian Union                2    1   1   0    5    3    +2     3
   Bollonich                    2    1   1   0    5    3    +2     3
   Græntfjall                   2    1   1   0    5    3    +2     3
   TJUN-ia                      2    1   1   0    5    3    +2     3
 9 Natanians and Nosts          2    1   1   0    4.5  3.5  +1     3
   Raspotochje                  2    1   1   0    4.5  3.5  +1     3
   Sannyamathland               2    1   1   0    4.5  3.5  +1     3
   Sarzonia                     2    1   1   0    4.5  3.5  +1     3
   Srednjaci                    2    1   1   0    4.5  3.5  +1     3
14 Apatosaurus                  2    0   2   0    4    4     0     2
   Assymetrica                  2    0   2   0    4    4     0     2
   Boomer Park                  2    0   2   0    4    4     0     2
   Kyzhurkistan                 2    1   0   1    4    4     0     2
   Magnecia                     2    1   0   1    4    4     0     2
   Morover                      2    1   0   1    4    4     0     2
   Qasden                       2    1   0   1    4    4     0     2
21 South Newlandia              2    1   0   1    3.5  4.5  −1     2
22 Tekatus                      2    1   0   1    3    5    −2     2
23 Nlarhyalo                    2    0   1   1    3.5  4.5  −1     1
   The 14 Stars                 2    0   1   1    3.5  4.5  −1     1
   Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom    2    0   1   1    3.5  4.5  −1     1
26 Esthe                        2    0   1   1    3    5    −2     1
   KiwiRoos                     2    0   1   1    3    5    −2     1
28 Norrhem                      2    0   0   2    3    5    −2     0
   Octapolis                    2    0   0   2    3    5    −2     0
30 Crenstan                     2    0   0   2    2.5  5.5  −3     0
31 Zug um Zug                   2    0   0   2    2    6    −4     0
32 StrayaRoos                   2    0   0   2    1.5  6.5  −5     0

Match 3 Pairings – Friday, 16:00

Eshialand - Insulamia
Tjorl - Alezian Union
Kriegiersien - Bollonich
Græntfjall - Natanians and Nosts
Raspotochje - TJUN-ia
Sarzonia - Sannyamathland
Assymetrica - Srednjaci
Apatosaurus - Boomer Park
Kyzhurkistan - Magnecia
Morover - Qasden
South Newlandia - Tekatus
Nlarhyalo - Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom
The 14 Stars - Esthe
KiwiRoos - Norrhem
Octapolis - Crenstan
Zug um Zug - StrayaRoos

by **Kyzhurkistan** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 1:29 pm

Gulnaz scratched her hair as she saw Zhanna Pazylova shake hands with her opponent Laura Parish. The rising star from Kyzhurki chess had put up a good fight but the composed Parish managed to squeeze the seconds on the clock better, forcing Pazylova eventually to make fast and faulty moves. With this, the opening tie of the Elephant Cup was done and dusted for both teams, with the favourites grabbing the expected victory. Whilst every bookmaker would…

Wait, can you bet on chess? For a second, Gulnaz shook her head and tried to hop back on her train of thought.

… would have placed his money on the defending champions (or at least half of them), she had hoped for more positive signals in the opener. She herself had contained Felip Oliver, but mainly because the young talent made a rare mistake that cost him an assured point. She had not yet been able to dive into the performance from Ilyas, but after only a handful of minutes against Clara Josep, he had risen and left the hall in the Ivory Crown which had been assigned to the team. At first, Gulnaz thought he was just taking a walk for inspiration, but between his teeth he mumbled something like ‘I’m gonna hit the pool for a second’. He hadn’t been spotted since, while Josep grinned as if she had had a morning walk in the park. Farkhat had won the other remise for the Kyzhurki team. Hayes might be a national champ, but he profited from the fact that Kalykovs style was still unknown abroad: Gulnaz feared the moment when they undoubtably found the holes in his formidable defence.

It didn’t get that far yet. As Pazylova had contested nearly the longest game of the session, the draw for the next opponent came on the board soon, Zug um Zug, and Ilyas reappeared with wet hairs and what seemed to be the imprint of goggles around his eyes. Gulnaz seated herself against the impressively named Georgina Withington-Fox. She couldn’t be old enough to drive, something that got confirmed on the first contact with the opposition.

“Sup, yo?”
“My apologies, come again?”
“Sup, yo?”

Gulnaz shook her head slowly. She had heard of all sorts of mindgames, but this was downright bizarre. Was this about soup? When thinking about it, Gulnaz did have a slight rumble in the stomach. After her game with Oliver, she had only grabbed a sokolakuki and the sugars in that had quickly ran out of energy. Maybe she should look for a good soup tomorrow. Maybe onions, or car-

“That’s yo queen down, yo.”

It didn’t require an expert to see that Gulnaz had worked herself into an impossible corner and according to the laws of gamesmanship, she nodded, shook the hand of Withington-Fox and signed the scoresheet.

“I resign, ehm, yo.”
“Cool.”

It had seemingly gone by in seconds, but on the other three boards, they were nearing the end as well. And much to Gulnaz’ surprise, they went in an unexpected direction. Ilyas had managed to gain a second queen and was on route to glory, Zhanna held the upper hand against Felstead and even Farkhad seemed to have opted for the attack. A few minutes later, the team rejoiced over their first win. Gulnaz tried, despite being the weak link against Zug um Zug, to smile along but she knew that she had something to correct against Magnecia.

by **Alezian Union** » Wed Mar 02, 2022 4:10 pm

This has been a repeat broadcast from my comic thread!
Don't forget to check that out if you're interested! Have fun!

by **Graintfjall** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 4:41 am

Foreign ministers talk, but no sign of de-escalation in the Komodo Channel

The Foreign Ministers of Græntfjall and Bollonich have spoken by telephone, sources in Háttmark and Vreton have confirmed. Bollonich’s Audie Eccleston phoned Brynjúlfur Brynjarsson to relay the Republic’s concerns over the movements of heavy missile cruiser Hvíturriddari, which has entered the territorial waters claimed by Bollonich off their Northern Exclave, territory claimed as sovereign territory by the White Winter Queendom who does not recognize the territorial concession made in the mid-20th century. Irredentists have long argued Græntfjall should reunite the entire Hofvinger peninsula under the blue-and-white flag, and the movements of the Hvíturriddari appear designed to press the issue, which lay dormant under the previous Left-slate government.

“I can confirm that both foreign ministers had a full and frank expression of views,” said spokesperson Moritz Vífilsson. “The Foreign Minister [Brynjarsson] made clear that the aggressive escort dispatched from the Hafnarfjordur Airbase should immediately break off and cease their harassment of the Hvíturriddari, which is performing legitimate peaceful patrol of sovereign Græntfjaller waters,” before confirming that the Bollonischian response had been a “super bad word” that “my mom won’t let me say out loud”. Defense analysts say Græntfjall’s next move is likely to be bring reinforcements from the Hofvinger Naval Base through the Komodo Channel to bolster the Hvíturriddari.

Here, the opposition has divided over the question of the incursion, with the Blue-Greens largely supporting the government, and Left-slate overwhelmingly opposing them, while no one cares what the Catholic Democrats think. Ingiberg Leifsson, emerging as a surprise frontrunner for the Left-slate leadership after further damaging allegations about financial wrongdoing by former favorite Nusaiba Jihaadsdóttir el-Siddiqui have hurt her campaign, led a ‘Peace Rally’ in Blue Square, in which he urged a peaceful deescalation. Former Prime Minister Zóphonías Juliusson addressed the rally, harshly criticizing what he called “Kaija Michaelsdóttir’s reckless thirst for blood”.

Also in the paper:

NEWS: Pro-government rally in Hofvinger attracts thousands
BUSINESS: Rush to gold, bonds as investors seek out safe harbors in face of escalating tensions
SCIENCE: GANAX announces discovery of new dwarf planet named “Norðri”
CULTURE: Mighty Morphin’ Power Milkmaids to feature first trans character
SPORT: 30-move checkmate from Páll Heiðbergsson highlight of first set of games for chess team

Guðjón brought his pawn out. Kaija studied the pieces. He grinned at the way her nose crinkled adorably as she consulted the ‘cheat-sheet’ to remind her what way all the different pieces could move.

“I love you so mu–…”

“Yeah shut up. So if I move my horse here,” she tapped out her king’s side knight. “…it can take your prawn!”

“Mmm, yes. But what if I reply…” He brought out his queenside knight. It took her a moment, but she eventually processed that it was covering his pawn. She searched around for another piece to move, and found that her bishop could move out and attack his knight. She slid it out.

“You know, you’ve just discovered one of the most fundamental chess openings,” he said encouragingly. “Very good!” Kaija accepted that he was trying to help her and smiled back.

She still thought they’d be having more fun if they were watching some porn, though.

2. Nf6 Nc6
3. Bb5

WIRE REPORT: Elements of the C60 Amphibious Assault Task Force have embarked from Hofvinger Naval Base, including the amphibious assault ship Biskup and amphibious helicopter carrier Hrókur…

by **Zug um Zug** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 4:58 am

The Bishop

The pawns seek ritual, and to unite
Around the ancient hymns and creeds and prayers.
Be something more or less than black and white:
To thank--if not to sway--the hands upstairs.

They look for consolation, of a kind.
Not faith in lives on other boards than these
But that the cause is worth the pain they'll find
In seeing foes or friends struck down with ease.

My light-square rival is already slain,
She thinks (a "she" this time--but no one cares.)
Who am I to think I can speak to pain
Of those who struggle for contested squares?

There may be atheists, but no foxholes.
No place to hide for forward-leaping souls.

by **Srednjaci** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 5:23 am

SREDNJACIAN CHESS TEAM STARTED WITH WIN AND DRAW

ANA BAKOVIĆ :An excellent match was played by Srednjaci chess players against Crenstan. Although it was a 2½–1½ victory over Crenstan, Srednjacian team can do better.

Srednjaci 2½–1½ Crenstan

Danijel Paradžik vs Player1 (1:0) - first point for our team was winn by Danijel Paradžik, Paradžik was really main player in this match, match was fast and Danijel didn't have any trobles here.
He immediately impose the authority on board and lead the game. Opponent was saw that he doesn't have chance here. After 15 moves, first check by Paradžik. Crenstan player try to to escape using defense manuver but after 20th move was checkmate.

Player 2 vs Jelana Tabak - second point for our team brings Jelena Tabak beating Crenstan's player2. Like her team mate Danijel, Jelena also didn't have any problem with second player from opponent team.
After 22 moves, her player realize thet he have no chance to win or draw here .After the first imposed check on the board, the opponent handed over the match.

Bojan Herceg vs Player 3 - Bojan tried to prove himself in the first match. He was stood wery well on the board, he played very well and confidently, however on the 24th move he made a key error, he lost knigths on one bait set by his opponent. That bait succeeded and after that there was no return. The first point lost.

Player 4 vs Xiyu Su - Despite hers great talent, Su still has no experience in matches of this rank. Despite the great game and the advantage she gained after the 13th move, Su complicated everything later. It's amazing how quickly she managed to mess everything up and win a draw.

The next match is against the huge Apatosaurus. Apatosaurus is the team that drew a draw against Raspotochje. We definitely need to be very careful about this team.

DRAW WITH APATOSAURUS

Srednjaci 2–2 Apatosaurus

After the victory came a draw. Like the Raspotochje team, we failed to gain an advantage over the Apatosausrus team. Paradžik and Su won, the surprising defeat of Jelena Tabak shook us.

Danijel Paradžik vs Gillian Kadelak 1-0
James Clifford vs Jelena Tabak 1-0
Bojan Herceg vs Tisha Francis 0-1
Player 4 vs Xiyu Su 0-1

Young Xiyu's first victory is, here are her impressions of the competition so far.

"Everything here is very well organized. The hotel is great and all the players feel great.
I am satisfied with the game in the second match. In the first one, I had a certain advantage and my concentration dropped and I blew it all up. It is good that I played a draw because it was close to defeat. I believe I learned a lot in that match. "

After two matches played, our team has a victory and a draw. We are currently around the ninth position with several other teams. It is just the beginning of the competition in which as many as 32 teams are competing.

P                             Pld    W   D   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts 
 1 Eshialand                    2    2   0   0    6    2    +4     4
 2 Insulamia                    2    2   0   0    5    3    +2     4
 3 Tjorl                        2    1   1   0    6    2    +4     3
 4 Kriegiersien                 2    1   1   0    5.5  2.5  +3     3
 5 Alezian Union                2    1   1   0    5    3    +2     3
   Bollonich                    2    1   1   0    5    3    +2     3
   Græntfjall                   2    1   1   0    5    3    +2     3
   TJUN-ia                      2    1   1   0    5    3    +2     3
 9 Natanians and Nosts          2    1   1   0    4.5  3.5  +1     3
   Raspotochje                  2    1   1   0    4.5  3.5  +1     3
   Sannyamathland               2    1   1   0    4.5  3.5  +1     3
   Sarzonia                     2    1   1   0    4.5  3.5  +1     3
   Srednjaci                    2    1   1   0    4.5  3.5  +1     3
14 Apatosaurus                  2    0   2   0    4    4     0     2
   Assymetrica                  2    0   2   0    4    4     0     2
   Boomer Park                  2    0   2   0    4    4     0     2
   Kyzhurkistan                 2    1   0   1    4    4     0     2
   Magnecia                     2    1   0   1    4    4     0     2
   Morover                      2    1   0   1    4    4     0     2
   Qasden                       2    1   0   1    4    4     0     2
21 South Newlandia              2    1   0   1    3.5  4.5  −1     2
22 Tekatus                      2    1   0   1    3    5    −2     2
23 Nlarhyalo                    2    0   1   1    3.5  4.5  −1     1
   The 14 Stars                 2    0   1   1    3.5  4.5  −1     1
   Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom    2    0   1   1    3.5  4.5  −1     1
26 Esthe                        2    0   1   1    3    5    −2     1
   KiwiRoos                     2    0   1   1    3    5    −2     1
28 Norrhem                      2    0   0   2    3    5    −2     0
   Octapolis                    2    0   0   2    3    5    −2     0
30 Crenstan                     2    0   0   2    2.5  5.5  −3     0
31 Zug um Zug                   2    0   0   2    2    6    −4     0
32 StrayaRoos                   2    0   0   2    1.5  6.5  −5     0

by **Kriegiersien** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 6:50 am

“Arthur is a problem!”, Marin Collins smashed his hand on the table, before rearranging his tie, while Mary Muffin was eating a donut and Hubertus Schimmel was grabbing his coffee, so that it didn’t spill over the table.
“Look, he is playing card games with other players now!”

“Why not? I try to extend my horizon by playing other games, too”, said Hubertus Schimmel.

“But he is a fricking program. He is mingling all the tactics of different games, modifying his software.”

“I thought that was genius. In the first game he convinced his opponent from Tekatus, this Maximilian, that they should decide the outcome by a game of tic-tac-toe. And in the end they decided to draw. Great fun”, said Mary.

“He could have won this, he gave away an advantage! I think his opponent convinced him to play it this way. And he lost the second game. Because he suddenly used real dice to choose his next move.”

“Admittedly, that made his match really unpredictable. I think it was clever”, said Hubertus, lifting his cup of coffee.

“We are now playing against Bollonich. This comical tactics won’t work against them. I say we get a screwdriver and replace his program with a nice chess software. Anyone should do better.”

“That is a deep violation of his mind. I am against it”, said Hubertus and Mary nodded.
“We can’t do that.”

Marin looked angry at the two, then closed his eyes and stretched.
“Ok, let us make some more game analyses at twelve hundred. Until then, everyone has spare time”, he said and stood up.

“I will get some more Dooonuts”, sang Mary, leaping off.

“Where are you going?”, asked Hubertus Marin.
“To the DIY Store”, said Marin with a straight face.

by **Bollonich** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 10:10 am

Worrying build up of forces in the Komodo Channel

The political situation surrounding that of East Hofvinger has always been a very controversial one. This land which had been ceded to Bollonich is still not recognised as sovereign Bollonischian territory by Græntfjall despite the nations having opened up relations once again. And that is when the story starts to go south, notably with the Græntfjaller navy deploying a heavy cruiser in the waters near the region. The Bollonischian government’s response was not one of subtlety as they calmly but firmly established our claim over the peninsular land with Bollonischian planes taking to the sky. With growing fear of further escalation in a region with strong support for a secession from Bollonich, the Foreign Minister spoke to Græntfjaller minister said a spokesperson.

“We can confirm that the Bollonischian Foreign Ministry is in contact with its Græntfjaller counterparts. In a phone call this morning, Secretary of State Mr. Ecclestone has spoken to Mr. Brynjarsson of Græntfjall regarding the deployment of the Hvíturriddari heavy cruiser in the Bollonischian contiguous zone off the coast of the Northern Exclave territory. They have refused to withdraw their troops, which is a thorn in the solving of such conflicts diplomatically. We will also be deploying our own troops to the region to ensure the safety from any possible invasion while still trying to mediate the problem diplomatically.”

The spokesperson’s words gives us an important insight into the thinking and mindset of the current government and also the military situation in the region with reports being unreliable and subject to much scrutiny. A conflict in the Komodo Channel would be devastating to say the least with it depleting a significant amount of military resources. Apart from impacting trade and commerce in the region, it would possibly result in a completely unnecessary loss of life. If this conflict is to make it to the shores of the Hofvinger Exclave, the resulting conflict would be even bloodier and terrible which is why a diplomatic solution would be by the better option. That option however looks increasingly difficult to achieve with the stance of both nations on their claim over Eastern Hofvinger being adamant. Whether either side would want to make any compromise without some shots fires seemed questionable.

3. …..a6
4. Ba4 - Nf6

WIRE REPORT: The 16th Strike Wing A16 and the 4th Bomber Squadron A4 have been deployed to the Hafnarfjordur Airbase from the Karvian Airbase.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 O-O 5. Nge2 d6 6. Ng3 e5 7. d5 Ne8 8. Be2
Qh4 9. O-O a5 10. a3 Nd7 11. Rb1 Bh6 12. Bxh6 Qxh6 13. b4 Qf4 14. Nb5 axb4 15.
axb4 h5 16. f3 f5 17. exf5 h4 18. Ne4 gxf5 19. Nf2 Ndf6 20. Nd3 Qe3+ 21. Kh1 Bd7
22. Nc3 Ng7 23. c5 f4 24. c6 bxc6 25. dxc6 Be6 26. Re1 Qb6 27. b5 Nf5 28. Ne4
Nxe4 29. fxe4 Ne3 30. Qc1 Ra4 31. Bf3 Qd4 32. Nb2 Rb4 33. Rg1 Kf7 34. Nd1 Rxb1
35. Qxb1 Nc4 36. Qb4 h3 37. gxh3 Rh8 38. Qe1 Nd2 39. Qe2 Rxh3 40. Qg2 Qxg1+ 41.
Kxg1 Nxf3+ 42. Kf1 Bc4+ 43. Kf2 Rxh2 44. Qxh2 Nxh2 45. Nc3 Ng4+ 46. Kf3 Nf6 47.
b6 cxb6 48. c7 Ba6 49. Na4 b5 50. Nb6 Ke6 0-1

by **Tekatus** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 10:23 am

Tekatus Team Room, Post-Match

Maximilian sat in his chair, making his lucky poker chip walk up and down his fingers idly. “Observation: That was an unorthodox match.” Henry said, breaking the silence. “You managed to change the game to something far simpler, and you ended the match in a Draw.” Advisor added, her holo-avatar cocking her head to the left.

Maximilian would have smiled had he been built to be more life-like, instead he chuckled. “Like everything, there is always a gamble. But when one plays for Cat in Tic-Tac-Toe, the outcome is guaranteed. Besides, it does us no good to pull out our best plays and performances so soon. I was having fun, biding my time.”

Advisor smirked before turning to Buster “Your match wasn’t exactly without flaw either. A living Strawberry!”

The faceless arm lowered it’s claw, as if bowing it’s head. “Unusual. Abnormal. Unorthodox.” Henry remarked.

Buster sighed and ran a hand down his faceplate. “Let’s just, collect ourselves. We clearly were not expecting such unusual players, lesson learned. Let’s try to learn from those mistakes for this ‘Strayaroos’ team…”

(O.O) · by **TJUN-ia** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 10:41 am

Hello and welcome to our first update from the 3rd Elephant Chess Cup here at the Ivory Crown Hotel in Newport, South Newlandia! This will cover our first two matches in our history in the Friday Morning Session against Graintfjall, which we knew about, and Crenstan, which we did not, as your previous results determine your next opponent here in the world of chess. Let's see how we all got on then.

IM Yevgeny Solovyanenko
Game 1 (vs Græntfjall): bt GM Ánýá Klæðskera-gleði
Game 2 (vs Crenstan): bt Player #1

Leaving behind a city currently divided by events in U1, Yevgeny Solovyanenko is always one of the last players to finish his games in any given time slot and that is exactly what he did here in both contests. Ánýá Klæðskera-gleði was always going to be a tough test to face but with white on his side, he managed to pull off a result nonetheless. He had heard of her expertise with rooks towards the end of the game and he managed to take both rooks down by turn 20 in response, practically sealing her fate right there and then - giving TJUN-ia a famous draw over the joint-defending champs. The player he faced from Crenstan was a debutant like him, but it was still easy work to give the Jaguar Knights the 3-1 win.

IM Tshering Gyeltshen
Game 1 (vs Græntfjall): bt by GM Reynir Ýrarsson
Game 2 (vs Crenstan): bt Player #2

So young yet so powerful at the same time, 18-year-old Tshering Gyeltshen was mainly here to just enjoy the game of chess and see if he could win a game or two. Starting with the black against a player as skilled as Reynir Ýrarsson, the current national men's champion, was always going to be a struggle and he got beaten in 45 turns thanks to the opponent's relentless attacking play. Still, it was good experience to take and Tshering certainly used what he learnt to good effect against his Crenstani opposition, the joyful attitude of the man still looking like a boy may be getting into the opponent's head in this contest.

CM Anne Christian-Warren
Game 1 (vs Græntfjall): bt by GM Páll Heiðbergsson
Game 2 (vs Crenstan): bt Player #3

Pitkerner and proud, Anne Christian-Warren had a tough time, to say the least, against the openly-gay blitz chess champion Páll Heiðbergsson. His quick play was certainly quick and ACW could only watch as her chances fell to checkmate in only 30 moves. She certainly didn't want that to happen again and so, she used her go-for-broke style to full effect against her opponent from Crenstan, managing to break apart their resistance despite ending the game with only 5 pieces left on the board - certainly a visual of her style of play.

CA Margarita Altamiranda
Game 1 (vs Græntfjall): bt GM Teifion Bradwrsson
Game 2 (vs Crenstan): bt by Player #4

And finally, semi-pro Margarita Altamiranda kinda had a "reverse" day in which she lost the game she should've won but won the game she should've lost. Teifion Bradwrsson is a four-time champion who has written that many books on the game itself, so beating him of people was always going to be a pipedream for the 26-year-old from Ciudad Calamar, especially with black. But then she pulled out the game of her life, using her quick and ferocious style of play to topple ten pieces in 20 moves and set up a monster upset that set up the 2-2 draw. Not bad for a semi-pro, but her weaknesses were also on display in her defeat against the opponent from Crenstan. She has the talent, of course, but can she refine that here?

A 2-2 draw over the joint-champs and a 3-1 win will certainly be taken by a debuting nation such as ours and seeing our name joint-5th is certainly a sight to behold. The road continues after lunch, kicking off against Raspotochje with white on board two and four.

by **Apatosaurus** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 4:50 pm

This is the first time that Apatosaurus has ever competed in the international sporting arena. Captain Kadelak was nervous as the match began, as a loss in this competition would reflect badly on the Oesuan Chess Team in Apatosaurus' first competition.

Match with Raspotochje

The first of our matches was that with Raspotochje's team.

Edita Vukorepac vs James Clifford
Tomislav Grenik vs Tisha Francis
Pero Vodovic vs Mitch Todd
Ivan Habijanic vs Gillian Kadelak

Vukorepac, perhaps unsurprisingly, resoundingly defeated Clifford, while Francis defeated Grenik. The match between Todd and Vodovic was also highly competitive, with a number of checks between Vodovic and Todd, until after nearly an hour Vodovic managing to defeat Todd.

However, Habijanic and Kadelak also had a highly competitive match. In the beginning, Habijanic was well ahead of Kadelak and it seems almost certain that Habijanic would win. However, Kadelak would soon make a comeback and triumph over Habijanic.

After this match, Apatosaurus would have to face Srednjaci's team.

by **Insulamia** » Thu Mar 03, 2022 5:53 pm

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1669019

by **Eshialand** » Fri Mar 04, 2022 12:08 am

Things Change, but Stay the Same
Octapolis 1½-2½ Eshialand
Eshialand 3½-½ South Newlandia

"Now Charlie, are you sure you've set everything up correctly this time?"
"Has anything ever gone wrong on my watch before?"

Josh Seametzle was a bit suspicious of his cameraman. Although Charlie had a point, nothing had gone wrong on his watch, far too often there had been times when he wasn't watching where things would go wrong behind his back, ruining everything. Lights going out in Tournament Report broadcasts. Game tapes being lost under mysterious circumstances. The duct tape he needed to shut Karsten up with on those particularly annoying Wednesday nights vanishing into thin air... he knew Charlie didn't do anything wrong and that he never would do anything wrong, but something was almost certainly going to go wrong anyway.

"Okay then Charlie, start rolling. If something goes wrong, I'm going to need a Klaspiren."

"Okay then... in 5, 4, 3, 2..."

"Hello and welcome back to ENN! This is Josh Seametzle, here today LIVE from wonderful Newport, South Newlandia for the 3^rd Annual (at least for us) Elephant Chess Cup!

"This tournament has always been a bit of an interesting one, in the sense that nobody ever thinks it's interesting... until of course, it always winds up interesting. Now, before the word interesting loses all meaning for me, let's look at what has changed since the second edition.

"First, the participants! This year will see thirty-two teams battling it out, in stark contrast to 2021's twenty and 2022's twenty-four. With so many more teams, there are bound to be a colorful cast of first-time comers ready to make their splash. Among them, we have both nations known in the international sporting scene, such as the Alezian Union, StrayaRoos, Kyzhurkistan, and the biggest name of them all -- or at bare minimum the most capitalized -- TJUN-ia, as well as those names which haven't proven their worth yet, like Apatosaurus, Assymetrica, Nlharyalo, and Tekatus. It's a wild world out there, and with more teams than ever, it's only bound to get wilder.

"Brand new names aren't the only names I'm happy to see on this list, as Srednjaci and Raspotochje, who notably sat out ECC 2 despite their teams earning 6^th and 4^th respectively in ECC 1, have returned for another go 'round in the 3^rd running! While there may be no Dotivijans on Team Srednjaci this time around, I'm sure many are just as happy to see them regardless.

"Sadly, teams didn't just come into this tournament anew; some are eyebrow-raisingly absent this time, most important among them, at least to fans in Eshialand and abroad, being ECC 1 runners-up Mertagne, ECC 2 fourth-place finishers Polkopia, as well as the Cordian Isles and... Atheara? It'll be different without them for sure...

"Another thing to note is this tournament's wild card: joint delegations. Multiple nations have always been allowed to enter teams together and, historically, two joint teams have always entered the tournament. One of those teams, the one from Bollonich and Græntfjall, has walked away from the tournament with the gold both times... but not this time. In ECC 3, there will be no joint delegations. Bollonich and Græntfjall will enter the tournament as separate teams following a dispute over the region around Siglufjodur and Bugembe on the Hofvinger Peninsula, causing that Pavolan Friendship team to fall apart at the seams... this would, of course, put the second-place finishers in ECC 2, our very own Eshian side, on high alert to win it all... but it will still be far from an easy fight for them.

"The first moves are about to be made here in Newport, and when they're made, another three day-long story will unfold, yet again. How does this story end? Well, we'll just have to find out on Sunday."

Octapolis 1½-2½ Eshialand
Severn ½-½ REDACTED
REDACTED ½-½ Nerata
Blaine ½-½ REDACTED
REDACTED 0-1 Jacobson

Eshialand 3½-½ South Newlandia
Blossom 0-1 Severn
Nerata ½-½ Morgen
Kane 0-1 Blaine
Jacobson 1-0 Sally

by **Raspotochje** » Fri Mar 04, 2022 4:14 am

RASPOTOCHJEAN CHESS FEDERATION WEB SITE

ONLY DRAW WITH APATOSAURUS

Edita Vukorepac 1-0 James Clifford
Tomislav Grenik 0-1 Tisha Francis
Pero Vodović 1-0 Mitch Todd
Ivan Habijanić 0-1 Gillian Kadelak

EDITA VUKOREPAChas successfully launched its campaign in this competition. Edita brought the first point to our team in the first match. The opponent was James Clifford and the player from Apatosausrus showed that he has a certain quality. Yet Edita has far more experience and is a far stronger and bigger name in the chess world. Edita immediately attacked her opponent and did him great damage with her knights. Clifford quickly realized that he would not have too many chances and spent almost the entire match on defense. After the 31st move, Edita settled the battle with a checkmate.

TOMISLAV GRENIK was defeated in one very even match by Tisha Francis. Grenik and Francis played one very open match but Francis was more focused in the finish and brought the first point for her team Apatosaurus. Francis managed to tie the score to 1-1.

PERO VODOVIĆ achieved his first career victory in his first match at the Elephant Chess Cup. Our player was better than the player from Apatosaurus, the giant, Mitch Todd. Todd played great until the middle of the match when he made an enormous mistake. Vodović saw this and gave his opponent chess with the bishop on the black field.
From the moment Todd moved from the offensive to the defensive, which enabled our player to chase the opponent on the board. In the end, he also gave a checkmate.
With this victory, our team managed to take a 2-1 lead in the overall result.

IVAN HABIJANIĆ was shockingly defeated in his first match. No one expected this outcome. The moment our team had a 2-1 lead against Apatosaurus, our grandmaster was expected to finish the job but that didn’t happen. Gillian Kadelak made a big impression at the tournament. She managed to beat Ivan Habijanić in an incredible chess turn. Habijanic dominated, setting up his authority and then an incredible drop in concentration and a drop in play. Gillian noticed a moment of insecurity in our player and used a small space to attack. This bore fruit for her and she eventually celebrated. With this point, Gillian saved her team from defeat.

WIN AGAINST NLARHYALO
Nlarhyalo 1½–2½ Raspotochje

Ivan Habijanić recovered from the shock he suffered with the defeat in the first match. Habijanic won his first match for our team in the match against Nlarhyalo. This time, our grandmaster has the greatest national chess and one of the greatest names in international chess, he left nothing to chance. He crowned his dominance in the match with a victory.
Edita Vukorepac won her second match of this competition. Edita looks great in this tournament and in two matches so far she has achieved two convincing victories.
Tomislav Grenik managed to get his first points in the tournament. Grenik did not manage to overcome his opponent, but he got out of the difficult situation with one great maneuver and brought our team a draw with which we achieved an overall victory before the end of the last match.
Pero Vdović was defeated on the back board, but this defeat did not affect the overall victory of our team against Nlarhyalo.

NEXT MATCH IS VS TJUN-ia

Next match our team is playing against TJUN-ia.
We hope that our grandmasters will be at the peak of their task against a difficult opponent.
A difficult match is ahead of our team. TJUN-ia played 2-2 against the strong Graentfjall and this is a big warning to us that the team led by Yevgeny Solovyanenko and young Tshering Gyeltshen is looking for a way to the medals.
However, we also have our trump cards and this match could be very interesting.

Eshialand started very convincingly and they are expected to fight for the very top. Eshialand and Insulamia are the only two teams with 100% efficiency, two matches, two wins.
However the next match is right between these two teams, one of them or even both will lose the status of 100% efficiency.

P                             Pld    W   D   L    PF   PA   PD   Pts 
 1 Eshialand                    2    2   0   0    6    2    +4     4
 2 Insulamia                    2    2   0   0    5    3    +2     4
 3 Tjorl                        2    1   1   0    6    2    +4     3
 4 Kriegiersien                 2    1   1   0    5.5  2.5  +3     3
 5 Alezian Union                2    1   1   0    5    3    +2     3
   Bollonich                    2    1   1   0    5    3    +2     3
   Græntfjall                   2    1   1   0    5    3    +2     3
   TJUN-ia                      2    1   1   0    5    3    +2     3
 9 Natanians and Nosts          2    1   1   0    4.5  3.5  +1     3
   Raspotochje                  2    1   1   0    4.5  3.5  +1     3
   Sannyamathland               2    1   1   0    4.5  3.5  +1     3
   Sarzonia                     2    1   1   0    4.5  3.5  +1     3
   Srednjaci                    2    1   1   0    4.5  3.5  +1     3
14 Apatosaurus                  2    0   2   0    4    4     0     2
   Assymetrica                  2    0   2   0    4    4     0     2
   Boomer Park                  2    0   2   0    4    4     0     2
   Kyzhurkistan                 2    1   0   1    4    4     0     2
   Magnecia                     2    1   0   1    4    4     0     2
   Morover                      2    1   0   1    4    4     0     2
   Qasden                       2    1   0   1    4    4     0     2
21 South Newlandia              2    1   0   1    3.5  4.5  −1     2
22 Tekatus                      2    1   0   1    3    5    −2     2
23 Nlarhyalo                    2    0   1   1    3.5  4.5  −1     1
   The 14 Stars                 2    0   1   1    3.5  4.5  −1     1
   Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom    2    0   1   1    3.5  4.5  −1     1
26 Esthe                        2    0   1   1    3    5    −2     1
   KiwiRoos                     2    0   1   1    3    5    −2     1
28 Norrhem                      2    0   0   2    3    5    −2     0
   Octapolis                    2    0   0   2    3    5    −2     0
30 Crenstan                     2    0   0   2    2.5  5.5  −3     0
31 Zug um Zug                   2    0   0   2    2    6    −4     0
32 StrayaRoos                   2    0   0   2    1.5  6.5  −5     0

GO RASPOTOCHJE TEAM !!

by **Nlarhyalo** » Fri Mar 04, 2022 8:24 am

Nlařyur Chess Team Draws, Loses in First Two Matches of Elephant Cup

NEWPORT, SOUTH NEWLANDIA - The Nlařyur Chess Team got off to a rocky start in the first two rounds of South Newlandia's Elephant Cup, drawing their first match against The 14 Stars before dropping the match against Raspotochje 1½–2½.

Against The 14 Stars, respected grandmaster Kaðe Zazas scored a win with the Black pieces on Board 2, continuing his resurgence of strong form and supporting his bid to re-cross the 2700 'Super-GM' barrier. Unfortunately, this victory was not to be he deciding factor in the match, as Uzŭdyoyelað Elahařosŭ suffered a loss as Black on Board 4. On Boards 1 and 3, grandmasters Ekeðŭ Flakarehu and Elaloðaf Rahusu managed draws against their opponents as the teams played to a 2-2 tie.

The match with Raspotochje was not to go so well. On the top board Flakarehu lost a tense struggle to Raspotochje's top player, Ivan Habijanić; while on Board 2 Zazas lost a shocker as White against Edita Vukorepac, who appears to be in fine form. Rahusu drew Tomisalv Grenik on Board 3 to continue his string of solid but uninteresting results going back to domestic tournaments; the youngster will have to play with the fire of youth at some point if he wishes to move into the world's top players. The only light for Nlařyalo in the second match was Elahařosŭ, who scored a stunning victory against Pero Vdović on Board 4.

The Nlařyur players' performances are as follows:

Board 1: Ekeðŭ Flakarehu (+0 -1 =1; 0.5/2)
Board 2: Kaðe Zazas (+1 -1 =0; 1.0/2)
Board 3: Elaloðaf Rahusu (+0 -0, =2; 1.0/2)
Board 4: Uzŭdyoyelað Elahařosŭ (+1 -1 =0; 1.0/2)

In the third round, Nlařyalo will face the team from Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom (1½–2½ Morover, 2-2 Esthe).

by **South Newlandia** » Fri Mar 04, 2022 12:55 pm

This is the second cutoff for ECC3.

Match 3 – Friday, 16:00

Results:
(the team listed first has white on boards two and four)

Eshialand 2–2 Insulamia
Tjorl 1–3 Alezian Union
Kriegiersien 0–4 Bollonich
Græntfjall 1½–2½ Natanians and Nosts
Raspotochje 1–3 TJUN-ia
Sarzonia 3–1 Sannyamathland
Assymetrica 2½–1½ Srednjaci
Apatosaurus 2½–1½ Boomer Park
Kyzhurkistan 2½–1½ Magnecia
Morover 2½–1½ Qasden
South Newlandia 2–2 Tekatus
Nlarhyalo 3–1 Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom
The 14 Stars 2½–1½ Esthe
KiwiRoos 2½–1½ Norrhem
Octapolis 2½–1½ Crenstan
Zug um Zug 2–2 StrayaRoos

Table:

P                             Pld    W   D   L    PF   PA    PD   Pts 
 1 Bollonich                    3    2   1   0    9    3     +6     5
 2 Alezian Union                3    2   1   0    8    4     +4     5
   Eshialand                    3    2   1   0    8    4     +4     5
   TJUN-ia                      3    2   1   0    8    4     +4     5
 5 Sarzonia                     3    2   1   0    7.5  4.5   +3     5
 6 Insulamia                    3    2   1   0    7    5     +2     5
   Natanians and Nosts          3    2   1   0    7    5     +2     5
 8 Apatosaurus                  3    1   2   0    6.5  5.5   +1     4
   Assymetrica                  3    1   2   0    6.5  5.5   +1     4
   Kyzhurkistan                 3    2   0   1    6.5  5.5   +1     4
   Morover                      3    2   0   1    6.5  5.5   +1     4
12 Tjorl                        3    1   1   1    7    5     +2     3
13 Græntfjall                   3    1   1   1    6.5  5.5   +1     3
   Nlarhyalo                    3    1   1   1    6.5  5.5   +1     3
15 Srednjaci                    3    1   1   1    6    6      0     3
   The 14 Stars                 3    1   1   1    6    6      0     3
17 KiwiRoos                     3    1   1   1    5.5  6.5   −1     3
   Kriegiersien                 3    1   1   1    5.5  6.5   −1     3
   Raspotochje                  3    1   1   1    5.5  6.5   −1     3
   Sannyamathland               3    1   1   1    5.5  6.5   −1     3
   South Newlandia              3    1   1   1    5.5  6.5   −1     3
22 Tekatus                      3    1   1   1    5    7     −2     3
23 Boomer Park                  3    0   2   1    5.5  6.5   −1     2
   Magnecia                     3    1   0   2    5.5  6.5   −1     2
   Octapolis                    3    1   0   2    5.5  6.5   −1     2
   Qasden                       3    1   0   2    5.5  6.5   −1     2
27 Esthe                        3    0   1   2    4.5  7.5   −3     1
   Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom    3    0   1   2    4.5  7.5   −3     1
29 Zug um Zug                   3    0   1   2    4    8     −4     1
30 StrayaRoos                   3    0   1   2    3.5  8.5   −5     1
31 Norrhem                      3    0   0   3    4.5  7.5   −3     0
32 Crenstan                     3    0   0   3    4    8     −4     0

Match 4 Pairings – Friday, 18:00

Bollonich - Eshialand
Alezian Union - TJUN-ia
Insulamia - Sarzonia
Natanians and Nosts - Apatosaurus
Assymetrica - Kyzhurkistan
Morover - Tjorl
Græntfjall - Nlarhyalo
Srednjaci - The 14 Stars
KiwiRoos - Kriegiersien
Raspotochje - Sannyamathland
Boomer Park - South Newlandia
Tekatus - Magnecia
Esthe - Octapolis*
Qasden - Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom*
Norrhem - Zug um Zug*
StrayaRoos - Crenstan*

due to a mistake, the *-marked schedules were initially marked incorrectly. They are now correct.

Match 4 - Friday, 18:00

Results:
(the team listed first has white on boards two and four)

Bollonich 2–2 Eshialand
Alezian Union 2–2 TJUN-ia
Insulamia 2½–1½ Sarzonia
Natanians and Nosts 2–2 Apatosaurus
Assymetrica 2–2 Kyzhurkistan
Morover 2–2 Tjorl
Græntfjall 3–1 Nlarhyalo
Srednjaci 3–1 The 14 Stars
KiwiRoos ½–3½ Kriegiersien
Raspotochje 3½–½ Sannyamathland
Boomer Park 1–3 South Newlandia
Tekatus 3½–½ Magnecia
Esthe 2–2 Octapolis
Qasden 1½–2½ Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom
Norrhem 1½–2½ Zug um Zug
StrayaRoos 1½–2½ Crenstan

Table:

P                             Pld    W   D   L     PF   PA    PD   Pts 
 1 Insulamia                    4    3   1   0     9.5  6.5   +3     7
 2 Bollonich                    4    2   2   0    11    5     +6     6
 3 Alezian Union                4    2   2   0    10    6     +4     6
   Eshialand                    4    2   2   0    10    6     +4     6
   TJUN-ia                      4    2   2   0    10    6     +4     6
 6 Natanians and Nosts          4    2   2   0     9    7     +2     6
 7 Græntfjall                   4    2   1   1     9.5  6.5   +3     5
 8 Kriegiersien                 4    2   1   1     9    7     +2     5
   Raspotochje                  4    2   1   1     9    7     +2     5
   Sarzonia                     4    2   1   1     9    7     +2     5
   Srednjaci                    4    2   1   1     9    7     +2     5
12 Apatosaurus                  4    1   3   0     8.5  7.5   +1     5
   Assymetrica                  4    1   3   0     8.5  7.5   +1     5
   Kyzhurkistan                 4    2   1   1     8.5  7.5   +1     5
   Morover                      4    2   1   1     8.5  7.5   +1     5
   South Newlandia              4    2   1   1     8.5  7.5   +1     5
   Tekatus                      4    2   1   1     8.5  7.5   +1     5
18 Tjorl                        4    1   2   1     9    7     +2     4
19 Nlarhyalo                    4    1   1   2     7.5  8.5   −1     3
   Octapolis                    4    1   1   2     7.5  8.5   −1     3
21 The 14 Stars                 4    1   1   2     7    9     −2     3
   Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom    4    1   1   2     7    9     −2     3
23 Zug um Zug                   4    1   1   2     6.5  9.5   −3     3
24 KiwiRoos                     4    1   1   2     6   10     −4     3
   Sannyamathland               4    1   1   2     6   10     −4     3
26 Qasden                       4    1   0   3     7    9     −2     2
27 Boomer Park                  4    0   2   2     6.5  9.5   −3     2
   Crenstan                     4    1   0   3     6.5  9.5   −3     2
   Esthe                        4    0   2   2     6.5  9.5   −3     2
30 Magnecia                     4    1   0   3     6    10    −4     2
31 StrayaRoos                   4    0   1   3     5    11    −6     1
32 Norrhem                      4    0   0   4     6    10    −4     0

Match 5 Pairings – Saturday, 11:00

Insulamia - Bollonich
Alezian Union - Eshialand
TJUN-ia - Natanians and Nosts
Kriegiersien - Græntfjall
Raspotochje - Sarzonia
Kyzhurkistan - Srednjaci
Apatosaurus - Assymetrica
South Newlandia - Morover
Tekatus - Tjorl
Nlarhyalo - Octapolis
Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom - The 14 Stars
Zug um Zug - KiwiRoos
Sannyamathland - Qasden
Crenstan - Boomer Park
Magnecia - Esthe
Norrhem - StrayaRoos

by **Kriegiersien** » Sat Mar 05, 2022 4:36 am

“And on the 10.000 ton tank a Mooncanon? And some hundred Gatling guns? And how does it move? I am not sure that this is a good idea. Sir, I would not advice to build such a behemoth....”

Marin Collins listened to the words from his president at the phone with a pale face.

“Yes. If you have already ordered a Prototype there is not much to do. I agree. But I would still not advice to send troops to Hofvinger, I don’t think that this would help in any way to de-escalate the situation. You should at least inform Graintfjall that you want to help them against…”

He listened in silence.

“Yes, talks would be a good idea...the tournament...yes, I know, but this is only a short setback..”
His last words were mumbled, he listened to the rage. He took a deep breath.
“Really, there are 0 problems. The first games are pretty boring and of no consequences anyway, preliminary rounds, you know...the final round are the only important ones. You can ignore the first mock battles. You should concentrate on the diplomacy and the art gallery in Scorpion City you wanted to attend, I heard so many good things about it… yes… Good night.”

He hang up and sighed. And suddenly turned around because of a noise.
Hubertus Schimmel was slurping a mocha at a table near to him.
“News from the homefront?”

Collins grimaced.
“These are Top Secret talks, that don’t have to concern you. We should now really get a strategy together against Græntfjall. A loss there could be.. painful.”

The Moon
True news for the people

Kriegiersien navy send to Hofvinger? Is it war?

According to reliable reports the Kriegiersien president was so angry about the loss against Bollonich in the Chess Elephant Championship, that he declared to help Graentfjall against Bollonich in the conflict for Hofvinger.

Ships close to Hofvinger, a trawler, a galleon and a steamboat with privateers were send in the general direction.
Allegedly the trawler stopped midway to fish, the galleon ist still searching for wind and the steamboat for something to sink and plunder.
If more ships are under way is unclear.

The Kriegiersien president denied that this had anything to do with recent results in sport.
“Nonsense. Else we would have to declare many wars. That has of course nothing to do with the embarrassing, unfair defeat against this mean cheaters from Bollonich, we just want to help the people of Hofvinger to be safe. The ambassador of Græntfjall said he is ok with us helping, if we keep it light-headed.”

by **Graintfjall** » Sat Mar 05, 2022 5:02 am

Gústaf Kristensson enjoyed chess. He had a little travel chess set, given to him by his mother, which he was examining, cross-legged in his bunk. He had downloaded the PGN from Reynir Ýrarsson’s game against Mihai Ion Antonescu. Græntfjall had lost the match to the Natanians, with three draws and Ýrarsson taking the only defeat. Gústaf was impressed with how Antonescu had made a good game following the bold gambit of opening with e5 in response to d4. With Ýrarsson’s pieces clumped in the bottom corner, though, he couldn’t work out why the Græntfjaller had moved his white bishop out in front of his queen, instead of advancing his pawn to open up a rank for his rook.

The warning siren jolted Gústaf; fortunately, the travel chess set was magnetic, so the pieces didn’t scatter. The seaman scrambled up from his bunk and snatched his beret off the pillow. Out in the corridor outside their quarters, a red warning light was flashing. Over his head came the hammering of boots on the deck above, followed by more boots, and more. All hands were hurrying to battle stations. Gústaf turned around in a circle twice on the spot, then was slammed to the deck as someone ran into him.

“Crewman, get up off the deck and get to your post!” barked an NCO, hurrying past. She paused at the top of the ladder down to Engineering. “Now, Crewman!” Then she disappeared downwards. Gústaf dazedly picked himself up and took a few paces towards the aft of the ship. Then remembered the aft was the other way, and turned around. Nope, wrong again…

Guðjón watched Kaija as she moved her piece. Wide eyes, upturned nose: no matter how she aged, she always retained an innocent look. Which, he’d seen her political life, was very beguiling. Dangerous, even. People constantly misjudged her. Just the other day in the Thing, on the tax bill, the opposition almost taking pity on her, and wham she’d suddenly slammed on a rider they couldn’t vote against…

Was she doing the same thing now? Oh please help me, I’m just a poor defenseless maiden. Exposing my pawn, I certainly hope no one would take it. But the more he looked, the more he couldn’t see whatever gambit she was trying being covered. Cautiously, he took the pawn with his. She hissed through her teeth at losing her first piece.

“Can you remind me how I do the thing?”

“The thing?”

“Yes, with my castle.”

“Ah. Castling.”

“That’s what I said.”

He tapped the vacant squares between Kaija’s rook and king. She certainly seemed to have recovered from the devastating loss of her prawn rather quickly.

5. d4 exd4
6. O–O Be7
7. e5

The Bollonischian plane came in for another run, harrying the Hvíturriddari aggressively with its close fly-by. Gústaf winced as grit and dust was blown up off the deck; he twisted his head to the side to avoid getting an eyeful. Amid the blare of sirens and the roar of the jets overhead, th e crashing of the waves as the ship made another hasty turn and scream of the engines being put through their paces, he could hardly hear the orders being yelled at him from two feet away. He was part of the gunnery crew, and they were within range of firing now. Gústaf kept thinking back to the game he’d been examining. White’s blunder, advancing the bishop in place of better developing his stronger pieces.

They were about to fire when another plane came in, on a hard strafing run. The ship jerked suddenly, and for a disoriented crewman, his mind in a game of chess being played half a world away, on a slippery deck, it only took a moment. In that moment, his hand missed the railing. The anti-air gun swung around fast. Maybe Ýrarsson had been trying to bait Antonescu into prematurely advancing his knight? But he hadn’t taken the bait, and had moved up a pawn. Gústaf saw it now. What he didn’t see was the flash as the plane elegantly dodged the gun firing at it and loosed a missile in response. The explosion threw Gústaf off the deck, backflipping over the railing.

Fortunately, his neck was broken long before he hit the water.

WIRE REPORT: First casualty reported in skirmish in Komodo Channel…

by **Zug um Zug** » Sat Mar 05, 2022 8:18 am

(OOC: Content note: contains satirical discussion of ongoing world events. May be doomscrolling/fatalistic for some readers. May be useful escapism for others! Caveat lector.)

ZENIT ZEITUNG
Solidarity, limited aid flows to black team

The modern board game coalition has been meeting to discuss potential aid to the black team after the white team's unprovoked and unjust attack on their territory. "It's important to realize that the black team did nothing to start this war," said coalition spokesbeing Green Train from Ticket to Ride. "Those of us in the 'modern world' extend solidarity to these brave resistance fighters. However, the type of useful aid we can give without being drawn into a PvP conflict with the white team is limited."

Sources close to the black king say he is "frustrated" at the way that individual cards dominate much of the modern economy. "What the hell am I going to do with Water Import from Europa?" he groused, referring to the high-value Terraforming Mars card. "I don't care if it's worth twenty-five megacredits, my pawns can't drink off a card."

However, there are other games that have more robust components. "The pieces from Quarto are very good at infiltrating the chessboard," explained Green Train. "We don't want the white ones to go undercover, but some of the black ones have joined the foreign legion." The Ticket to Ride trains have formed supply routes to bring humanitarian aid to the black team and evacuate civilians. "We're trying to get the little boats from Manila to help, too, but it's pretty tricky to fold those guys and get them to stay upright."

The coalition explains that it cannot send lethal weapons to the black team. "I understand it might look intimidating to send one of those minis from Star Wars: Rebellion over. Truth be told, the Death Star scares even me," said Green Train. "But once we do that, the white team will see that as a declaration of war, and then where does it end? Knights pillaging the settlements in Kingdom Builder? Pawns spreading the Pandemic? We can't allow the war to escalate."

At press time, the World Assembly had been called in to make sure nobody was committing war crimes during a dangerous en passant maneuver.

by **Raspotochje** » Sat Mar 05, 2022 4:29 pm

RASPOTOCHJEAN CHESS FEDERATION WEB SITE

DEFEAT TO TJUN-ia

Raspotochje 1–3 TJUN-ia

Yevgeny Solovyanenko 0-1 Ivan Habijanić
Edita Vukorapac 0-1 Tshering Gyeltshen
Tshering Gyeltshen 1-0 Tomislav Grnelić
Pero Vdović 0-1 Margarita Altamiranda

Ivan Habijanić was the only one up to his task in the match against TJUN-ia.
Our grandmaster was better than Yevgeny Solovyanenko on the first board. The two greats measured their strength and, as expected, it was a long and exhausting match for both players.
In a real chess game of nerves, our grandmaster managed to regain his queen before the opponent and thus created an irreversible advantage.

" This was a tough match. I really appreciate my opponent and considering his quality, I consider this victory very important. This is one of the biggest in my long career. "said Ivan Habijanić

Edita Vukorepac was shockingly defeated by 18-year-old TJUN-ian star Tshering Gyeltshen. This is also the first defeat for Vukorepac in this tournament.
Edita played very well and calmly, however her younger opponent studied her game very well and remembered all the pitfalls she could set for him and he successfully avoided them.
In the end, the young Tshering Gyeltshen managed to beat a much more experienced opponent and confirm his high quality.

TOMISLAV GRNELIĆ and PERO VDOVIĆ were defeated in their matches by Anne Christian-Warren and Margarita Altamiranda. Tomislav and Anne played a very even match while on the other hand Margarita was very convincing against Pero Vdović.
This is the first defeat of our team in this competition.

AFTER DEFEAT COMES CONVINCING WIN

Raspotochje 3½–½ Sannyamathland
Talgat Smaiylov 0-1 Ivan Habijanić
Edita Vukorepac 1-0 Alexander Zerev
Alexei Karjakin ½-½Tomislav Grnelić
Pero Vdović 1-0 Anna Gerashimova

IVAN HABIJANIĆ played a weavingly another great match against another grandmaster. Although he is only 21 years old, the young Talgat Smaiylov has already gained a great reputation as a grandmaster. however, the experience of playing such big matches is on the side of our grandmaster who made several brilliant moves in this match that completely destabilized the young talented Smaiylov. Smaiylov tried to attack the knight and reach the queen at an early stage but Habijanić saw through the game and set up a defense with the bishops across the white field so that if Saiylov moved his knights, the bishop would then take his queen. The young player had to pull the move more, which Habijanić used to his advantage and built an advantage on the board.
In the end, the young player realized that there was no way out and that match was over.

EDITA VUKOREPAC was not happy with the game in the previous match. She didn't even stay too long at the press conference. The defeat by the eighteen-year-old player did not sit well with her.
However, she has now come out reborn and very focused on the game. She was very focused on just one thing, winning. Edita is known for not liking to lose and lately her motto has been to win every match.
Alexander Zerev felt her anger on his skin and had to congratulate his opponents on the victory after 34 moves.

TOMISLAV GRNELIĆ won half a point in the match against Alexei Karjakin. Alexei Karjakin was more dominant in this match, he pressed our player in almost the whole match but in his desire to finish the match as soon as possible he made a mistake that cost him the victory and our player managed to reach those half points, big half points for him. With these half points, our team managed to achieve an overall victory in today's match even before the match of the last pair of this match ended.

PERO VDOVIĆ finally achieved a convincing victory. Vdovic played a really great match against Anna Gerashimov. To Pero, this victory is very important for gaining the self-confidence .
The defeat of TJUN-ia set us back a lot, but with this victory we are on the right track again.This victory came at a crucial moment for our player. Although he is the lowest ranked player in our team, he is fourth in our championship, Pero is a very good player and he is finally showing that.

Raspotochje has its own league for young elementary school students who follow this great competition. Children in the school league learn to simulate the matches of our players and other grandmasters in the tournament under the watchful eye of the professor.

Elephant Chess Cup 3 - Everything Thread

Check!: A Strong Start!

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