6th Mediterranean Chess Championship Started

round 1 photos and report

The 6th Mediterranean Men and Women Chess Championships will be held in Antalya, Turkey from Saturday 10th January 2009 (arrival) to Sunday 18th January 2009 (departure). The field is going to be consist of 42 players from 18 countries with 7 GMs and 10 IMs. The top seed is GM Mikhail Gurevich from Turkey while GMs from non-Mediterranean countries were also invited for the first time (GM Tamaz Gelashvili, GM Mircea Parligras, GM Levon Aroshidze, GM Handzsar Odeev). The defending champions IM Darko Doric and WIM Ljilja Drljevic will be seeking to defend their titles in Antalya.

The opening ceremony of the sixth edition of the Mediterranean Championship was held in the Kemer Anatolia Beach Hotel in presence of nearly all of the players, arbiters, and a group of local journalists. The Mayor of Çavuşköy Dr.Yalçın Akkulak, member of the council of GATAB, the municipalities union that sponsor the championship, Geoffrey Borg as the General Secretary of the Mediterranean Chess Association and Vice President of the Turkish Chess Federation Kuvay Sanlı.

The first round of the 6th Mediterranean Championship started at 10:00 local time. Among the top boards GMs Gurevich, Parligras, Aroshidze and Mohr won their games. GM Gelashvili was held to a draw by Mijovic as Köse and GM El Gindy shared the full point, too. The defending champion IM Darko Doric was also held to a draw by local plyer Erşahin.

Last year's Mediterranean Championship

Official website

The defending champions IM Darko Doric and WIM Ljilja Drljevic of Croatia and Montenegro respectively

Chief Arbiter of the championship Delal Aydın (far left) in the technical meeting with Kuvay Sanlı, Dr.Yalçın Akkulak, Geoffrey Borg and Özgür Solakoğlu.

Report and photos: Ozgur Akman