The main prizes of the international youth chess festival “Rudaga-Kaissa 2022” – gold bars remain in Latvia

July 19, 2022

The international youth chess festival “Rudaga-Kaissa 2022” has ended in Jurmala, where the winner of the two strongest groups in classical timed tournaments was presented with a 2.5-gram gold bar for the first time – these prizes were won by young players from Latvia.

“We are pleased that more than 200 children and young people from Latvia, as well as five foreign countries, participated in eight tournaments of the most diverse level for six days. It is not for nothing that we emphasize that we speak all languages – that is the essence of chess! We appreciate the work invested by these talented children, their parents, coaches, because by regularly holding the annual tournament “Rudaga Kaissa”, we clearly see the significant growth of the participants not only in the game of chess, but also in the ability to be independent, to fight for up to four hours in one game, to cope with both with positive emotions, even if everything doesn’t work out as planned. The trust of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) is very important and we hope that our tournament will be included in the FIDE calendar next year as well, which also means additional interest from foreign young players,” said Inese TesteĽac, director of the International Youth Chess Festival “Rudaga-Kaissa 2022”.

At the end of the festival, chess grandmasters Aleksejs Shirovs (Spain) and Nikita Meškovs (Latvia) led a simultaneous game for young people. The two strong chess players not only gave the tournament participants the opportunity to test their strength in the game of chess, but also the motivation for further training work, the desire to achieve as much as possible in their sports career! At the final event of the tournament, Aleksei Shirov not only congratulated the winners, but wanted everyone to evaluate the games played, the mistakes made – to learn from them and become stronger players. While welcoming the participants, Jānis Lediņš, the Deputy Chairman of the Jūrmala State City, also expressed his satisfaction with the great response of the participants, expressing his hope to see everyone in Jūrmala next year as well.

The organizers had made sure that children and young people could learn something new during their free time, participate in master workshops, meet teddy bear and the characters of the book “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, the Queen, take a photo against a specially created background, etc. Mini Miss – Astrid Spiridonova and Mini Mister – Leonard Bodak, who have not yet reached the age of 5, but are already participants in the chess tournament, were also chosen in the tournament!

On July 9 and 10, 2022, a rapid chess or RADPID tournament was held, in which children from preschool age could participate. On July 10, the BLITZ chess tournament was also held. From 11.-14. In July, the classical chess tournament took place. Daniels Milovs, Alina Vashczynska won the Tavex prizes in the rapid chess tournaments, while Nikolajs Platonov, Emili Lele, Kristaps Ozoliņš, Emīlija Apine won gold in the classical timed chess tournaments.

The international youth chess festival “Rudaga-Kaissa 2022” was held at the Semarah hotel in Lielupe, Jurmala. The international youth chess festival “Rudaga-Kaissa 2022” was organized and supported by the international organization “Rudaga plus”, the International Chess Federation (FIDE), the Jūrmala City Administration, the Sports Service of the Jūrmala City Administration, the Latvian Chess Federation, the Rudaga KAISSA Educational Institution for Children and Youth (Riga , Latvia) and Semarah hotel Lielupe.

The 2.5 gram gold bars given by Tavex were an elegant gift for the chess players who won the classic tournament ECO to 1800. Adventure park “Tarzan” also prepared exciting gifts. The OH WOW agency, SkyHunters.lv, Kidland.lv, Redcat.lv, Unikulma Latvija, Fiellmann Latvia, Kekavas source and Līvu akvaparks also took care of the prizes. Many children were also awarded certificates from the online chess platform Chesskid.com to improve their game in the future. On the other hand, the children’s parents greeted everyone with fireworks after the end of the tournament in gratitude for the work they had put in. The participants at the opening and closing events were entertained by the dance group “Carousel” led by Tamara Eiferova, the soloist of the Roman Testeļcs vocal school Marats Tauriņš, and Alise Lebedeva also performed.

The team of organizers of the International Youth Chess Festival “Rudaga-Kaissa 2022” included experienced Latvian chess players, judges and organizers of chess life – chief judge International Judge Toms Kalniņš, judges Diāna Matisone and Agapi Ter-Avetisjana, tournament director Inese Testeļec, administrators Jeļena Naumoviča, Marija Povolyaeva-Minina.

It should be noted that the International Youth Chess Festival “Rudaga-Kaissa” was held for the 14th time, and the tournament was supported by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) for the second time, the main tournaments were held with the FIDE rating.

Children and young people up to the age of 21 participated in the international youth chess festival “Rudaga-Kaissa 2021”.