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International Friendly Chess Online Match between youth teams of Togliatti (Russia) And Luoyang (China)

16 December 2022

On December 15, an international friendly chess tournament between teams of young chess players from the twin cities of Togliatti and Luoyang (China) was held at the site of the Zhiguli Valley Technopark.

The online tournament was attended by teams consisting of 10 young Togliatti chess players of the sports school No. 4 "Chess" and 10 chess players of the Luoyang Chess Association aged from 9 to 18 years.

Mrs. Natalia Khrist, Head of the International and Interregional Relations Department of the Togliatti City Administration, said in her welcoming speech that the friendly chess match is being held as part of the twin cities cooperation plans, the Year of Sports Exchanges between Russia and China, and the 25th Anniversary of Friendship and Cooperation between the Samara Region and Henan Province. Natalia Khrist expressed confidence that this is not the last meeting of young athletes from our cities:

I hope this tournament will create a tradition of friendly matches between chess players of our cities. We will be glad to meet you in Togliatti and meet you personally.

Mr. Bai Zhibin, Deputy Head of the Department of Foreign Affiars Office of the Luoyang People's Government, said that our cities have a rich history of cultural, sports and economic relations. "We sincerely hope that after the end of all the pandemic restrictions, we will be able to organize a friendly tournament in person".

Mr. Jia Zhen, President of the Luoyang Chess Association, recalled that Russia is known as a great chess power, which has given the world many world champions and famous grandmasters. This is very important for young players from Luoyang: they will gain important experience that will help them improve their chess skills.

In accordance with the regulations, young masters played two online matches between each other: each player played both white and black pieces. The main referee of the tournament was Mr. Andranik Soghoyan.

According to the results of 20 games played, Toglatti chess players won with 13.5 points, while Chinese chess players scored 6.5 points.

One of the MVP of the tournament, who won both games, was 10-year-old Maria Kalugina. In her age category, she is the champion of Togliatti and the Samara region, the owner of high rankings of the Volga Federal District and Russia.

I recently participated in an online tournament with Armenia, and today I played with China. Such matches are very interesting, because you don't know the opponent, you don't know his style of play. Today I wasn't worried, I pretended it was just a training session, and that helped me win.

The youngest member of our team is Timofey Konovalov. He is only 8 years old, but he is already a notable figure: he was the regional champion three times in the age category up to 9 years, took 1st place in the Volga Federal District, won silver at the Russian Championship, 8th place at the World Championship in Batumi, and recently at the final of the Russian Cup in Yaroslavl became a bronze medalist. When asked what helps him win, he answered briefly:"I just really like playing chess!".

The tournament was supported by the Togliatti City Chess Federation, the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Samara Region Governor's Administration, the Togliatti City Administration, the Luoyang Chess Association, and the Foreign Affiars Office of the Luoyang People's Government.