III GORZYCE WIELKIE CHESS FESTIVAL
10.02.2017 - 12.02.2017

 

On Friday 10^nd February, the II Gorzyce Wielkie Chess Festival in Gorzyce Wielkie took off.

The I stage was the Chess Trivia Contest. The contestants were given a series of 8 theoretical questions and 6 photographs of world’s leading chess players to identify. The total number of points to gain in the contest was 14.

17 players participated in the contest. Three of the contestants gained 13 points -  Piotr Dudziński, Paweł Dudziński i Bartosz Matuszczak. A score lower by only one point (12) was obtained by Kinga Dudzińska. The best three contestants were awarded extra-time and the game was won by Bartosz Matuszczak who received a statue and a Black Out Escape Room voucher.

 

One of the organisers Krystian Ofierzyński on the left; the winner of the contest Bartosz Matuszczak on the right.

 

Exemplary questions from the chess trivia competition:

Who won the Women’s Classic Chess Competition in 2015?
a) Iweta Rajlich
b) Monika Soćko
c) Jolanta Zawadzka
d) Klaudia Kulon

Which men’s team won gold in the 2016 Baku Chess Olympiad?
a) Ukraine
b) China
c) Poland
d) the USA

The medal won by the Polish women’s team in the 2016 Baku Chess Olympiad was:     
a) gold
b) silver
c) bronze
d) they did not win any medals

 

 

The winner of the contest and all the awarded in the Chess Trivia Contest

 

The following stage of the contest was solving chess problems  to contestants without an official ELO ranks over 1999. 18 participants received a set of 8 problems with the objective to indicate the best possible move for the white. The total time for solving all chess problems was 20 minutes.

All chess problems were solved correctly by Robert Adamek, Arkadiusz Wronka, Karol Grzesiek, Maciej Chmielarz and Bartosz Matuszczak.
Awards for 7 correct answers were presented to Samuel Kątny, Szymon Skurniak, Szymon Pieczewski and Andrzej Ziółkowski.

The extra-time was won in a blink of an eye with correct answers by Maciej Chmielarz and won the contest, just like in the previous year.  The award presented in the contest included a statue and a voucher for a game at the Black Out Escape Room in Ostrów Wielkopolski.

 

The winner of the contest Maciej Chmielarz

 

The winner of the contest and all the awarded in the solving chess problem

 

The chess problems required indicating the best move for the white. We invite courageous readers to leave their answers in the comment section below the coverage :)

 

 

Participans

 

The subsequent stage of the Festival was the blitz chess tournament, which had 32 players, played 11 rounds with a 5-minute time control per each contestant.

FM Paweł Dudziński (OTSz Ostrów Wielkopolski), FM Piotr Dudziński (OTSz Ostrów Wielkopolski) and Maciej Chmielarz (OTSz Ostrów Wielkopolski) gained 10 points on one game, overtaking other rivals by at least 3 points! The tournament was won by FM Paweł Dudziński. The best score among women was obtained by Magdalena Judek (KSz Wieża Śmigiel). The tournament was supervised by arbiter Marcin Orzechowski.

 

The winner of blitz chess tournament Pawel Dudziński

The Women’s Tournament Champion Magdalena Judek

 

from left to right: Magdalena Judek, Paweł Dudziński, Krystian Ofierzyński, Łukasz Magdziak, Piotr Dudziński and Maciej Chmielarz

 

On the following day, Young Talent tournament was conducted, this time divided into two groups: middle school students and elementary school students/pre-schoolers. The tournament was attended by as many as 100 children ! 

The best player among the elementary school students was Szymon Skurniak (KTS Kalisz) who overtook Krzysztof Matela (UKS Skoczek Milicz) and Zofia Łaźniewska (AZS Poznań)  , one of the youngest contestants (born 2008) from among 86 players! The fourth place was taken by the current Polish champion in blitz chess for players 10 years and younger - Jan Klimkowski (Smecz Konin).

The classification for the best elementary school student from Gorzyce Wielkie was won by Bartosz Iwanek.

The best player among the middle school students was Kacper Goliński (KSz ORŁY Pleszew) followed by Paweł Piekielny (KTS Kalisz) and Julia Waligóra (UKS Smecz Konin).

Among the pre-schoolers, the top contestant was Norbert Szymczak from Ostrów Wielkopolski. The second place was taken by Igor Malcher. Both pre-schoolers participated in the festival as members of a group that involved elementary school students and achieved excellent results!

The top players in all the groups were presented with material prizes, while the winners received cups. All children who took part in the tournament received  commemorative medals from the Headmistress of the School Complex in Gorzyce Wielkie Lucyna Piaskowska.

The tournament was supervised by arbiter FA Magdalena Judek and Szymon Pieczewski. 

 

 

Igor Malcher and Norbert Szymczak

 

from left:  Łukasz Magdziak, Kacper Goliński, Szymon Skurniak, Lucyna Piaskowska, Krystian Ofierzyński

 

A view on the playing hall

 

Arbiters: Szymon Pieczewski and  FA Magdalena Judek

 

Krystian Ofierzyński, Magdalena Judek, Łukasz Magdziak

 

   The hall with every last table taken. :)

 

On Sunday, the time came to hold the main tournament - rating for rapid ELO FIDE. The turnout was high with 89 contestants, including many leading chess players from outside Greater Poland.

This time, the rivals proved equal with at least several contestants competing for the main prize until the last round. In the end, the tournament was won by FM Paweł Dudziński (OTSz Ostrów Wielkopolski), The second place was taken by the representative of Latvia IM Toms Kantans, the third by FM Dawid Niekraś (UKS Tęcza Kościan), the fourth by k Kamil Szadkowski (Smecz Konin) whereas the fifth by Patryk Ziąbek (KTS Kalisz).

 

From left: Roman Pacholczyk, Patryk Ziąbek, Kamil Szadkowski, Dawid Niekraś, Toms Kantans, Paweł Dudziński, Krystian Ofierzyński and Łukasz Magdziak.

 

The winner in the women’s classification was WIM Anna Kantane (Polonia Wrocław Chess Club) – one of the best players in Poland who takes the lead in the ranks in National Chess Championships time after time. The second place was taken by Zuzanna Szeląg (LKS Chrobry Gniezno) and the third by Olga Smoleńska (TS-R Hetman Konin).

Olga Smoleńska, Zuzanna Szeląg and Anna Kantane

 

In the classifications of players 50 and older the winner was Witold Walaszczyk (Hetman Konin), followed by FM Jerzy Kot (Wejherowo) and Eugeniusz Murawski (UKS Skoczek Milicz).

Eugeniusz Murawski, Witold Walaszczyk, Jerzy Kot

 

Subsequently, awards were presented to contestants without an official ELO ranks over 1999. Patryk Ziąbek (KTS Kalisz) overtook Krzysztof Raczyński (LKS Chrobry Gniezno) and Karol Grzesiek (OTSz Ostrów Wielkopolski).

Karol Grzesiek, Krzysztof Raczyński, Patryk Ziąbek

 

In the juniors classifications the winner was  k Krzysztof Raczyński (LKS Chrobry Gniezno), followed by Karol Grzesiek (OTSz Ostrów Wielkopolski) and Adam Niezgódka (OTSz Ostrów Wielkopolski).

Adam Niezgódka, Karol Grzesiek, Krzysztof Raczyński

 

The classification of players 70 and older was dominated by... Players named Jerzy :) 
The winner was FM Jerzy Kot (Wejherowo). The second place was taken by Jerzy Olszewski (GKS Gorzyce Wielkie), the third by Jerzy Kątny (GKS Gorzyce Wielkie).
In 2016 the winner was... Jerzy Mirski :) .

 

Jerzy Olszewski, Jerzy Kątny, Jerzy Kot

 

Our tournament is also open to those who have no other chess category or ELO ranks and who do not participate in chess tournaments or leagues on regular basis but still wish to prove their high chess skills. We welcome such players to join the amateurs classification. In this classification, the winner was Błażej Szajrych (GKS Gorzyce Wielkie), who overtook Wiktoria Galbierska (GKS Gorzyce Wielkie) and Rafał Sikora (Ostrów Wielkopolski).

Rafał Sikora, Wiktoria Galbierska, Błażej Szajrych

 

The winner in the foreigners classification was international champion Toms Kantans  from Latvia, who is at the very same time the first contestant with over 2500 ELO rank in history to play at our Festival. 

 

Toms Kantans

 

The best player among the host team GKS Gorzyce Wielkie was Arkadiusz Wronka!

Arkadiusz Wronka

 

The best score in the team classification was obtained by the previous year winner OTSz Ostrów Wielkopolski with Gabriela Pieczewska, Mikołaj Bugaj, FM Oskar Włodarczyk and FM Paweł Dudziński.

 

The second place was taken by LKS Chrobry Gniezno with k Krzysztof Raczyński, Jacek Miętkiewicz, Zuzanna Szeląg and Mirosław Sobczak.

 

The third place was taken by Hetman Konin with FM Witold Walaszczyk, Sławomir Smagalski, Jarosław Smagalski and Olga Smoleńska.

 

The fourth place was taken by UKS ZSO Włoszakowice with Jarosław Mierzyński, Miłosz Walkowski, Romulad Olejniczak and Karolina Janiszewska.

 

The fifth place was taken by GKS Gorzyce Wielkie with Arkadiusz Wronka, Wojciech Biela, Wiktoria Galbierska and Jerzy Olszewski.

 

The tournament ended with a lottery of 3 double invitations for kayaking on the Prosna.
Szymon Pieczewsk, Mateusz Wleklik and Agata Apoliniarska.

 

The winners were presented with prizes by The Vice-Staroste of Ostrów Wielkopolski District Roman Pacholczyk and organizers Krystian Ofierzyński and Łukasz Magdziak.
The head arbiter was FA Magdalena Judek and deputy Marcin Orzechowski.

We offer our sincere thanks to all players who took part in the III Gorzyce Wielkie Chess Festival, which was attended by nearly 200 people!
The atmosphere throughout the entire Festival was very pleasant and peaceful!

We would like to extend our gratitude to our sponsors...

 

and media patrons...

 

Ryszard Zielazny - EkoEnergia

 

Szymon Marchewka - BrukMar

 

 

We would like to offer sincere thanks for help in organising the Festival to the members of our Honorary Committee: Headmistress of the School Complex in Gorzyce Wielkie Lucyna Piaskowska, The  Vice-Staroste of Ostrów Wielkopolski District Roman Pacholczyk, Director of Gorzyce Wielkie Communal Public Library and Ostrów Wielkopolski District Authority Dariusz Pryczak.

We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the organisation of this Festival in any way.

See you next year!

 

Winners gallery by FB - here