August 8, the 22nd NATO Chess Championship which has attracted representatives of 14 countries, Belgium, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States of America, Canada, Poland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, France, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary and Germany, was officially opened at the Vytautas the Great War Museum in Kaunas.
Leonardas Bakaitis, Chancellor of the Ministry of National Defence, Vytautas Landsbergis, Chair of the Reconstituent Seimas of Lithuania, Euro-parliamentarian and Honorary Chairman of the Lithuanian Chess Federation, Maj Gen Jonas Vytautas Žukas, acting Chief of Defence of Lithuania, Commander of the Lithuanian Land Force, Brigadier General H. Steffers (reserve), Chairman of the International Chess Committee, and other guests welcomed the participants and wished them success in the tournaments.
In the venue of Kaunas Garrison Officers' Club the Championship will be held under the arbitrament of three: international chief arbiter from Belgium Luc Cornet, and deputy arbiters - national arbiter Algirdas Rauduvė and chess grandmaster Šarūnas Šulskis.
In the NATO Chess Championship for the fist time hosted by Lithuania national defence system's team is represented by international chess master Vytautas Vaznonis (FIDE ELO 2395), Capt Kostas Mačiokas, Pte(R) Artūras Voroblievas, Pte Diana Pažėrienė, Pte Donatas Mankauskas and Pte Vladas Lukjanovas.
Each team of not more than six members will play seven games during the week's duration of the Championship.
On the last day of the event representatives of the venue city, civilian chess fans of Kaunas, will be invited to join the military in a Blitz chess competition.
Simultaneous display of chess is planned with grandmaster Algimantas Butnorius, world famous and titled chess master and a multifold Lithuania's chess champion, and World Senior Chess Champion 2007 (class of over the age of 60).
Favourite teams of the Championship are brought by Germany, Turkey and Poland. According to the Lithuanian organisers, the teams earn their fame: Germany is represented by the highest-rating player in the Championship international chess master Drabke Lorenz Maximilian (FIDE ELO 2472). According to the Lithuanian organising team, grandmaster of Turkey Haznedaroglu Kivanc (FIDE ELO 2444) is the first player of such level in NATO championships since seven years ago when Lithuania joined the event. Chess is extremely popular in Poland, therefore members of the national team are usually of an approximately equal level. Poland's teams often win team prizes.
Non-official NATO tournaments have been held in Denmark annually since 1978. The event was upgraded to an official NATO Chess Championship since the 1989 tournament in Hamburg.
The first tournaments would include only four to five teams, later the number of participants grew together with NATO enlargement.
This year Lithuania takes part in the event for the seventh time. Lithuanian team debuted the NATO Chess Championship in 2005 in Poland. In the event held in Turkey in 2005 Pte V. Vaznonis won the main tournament and the additional blitz tournament.
Pictures by A. Pliadis (MoND)
