15th Saint-Affrique International Open, France
By Meri Grigoryan
Saint Affrique is a town of rivers, mountains, bridges, pétanque,
chess, cheese and wine. It is situated in south of Aveyron area, where Roquefort
cheese is made, in the Midi-Pyrénées region. Saint Affrique grew
up in the 6th Century around the tomb of the bishop St. Africain and in the
12th Century a fortress was built on the neighbouring rock of Caylus.
The town has five bridges over the river Sorgues, which cuts through seven
hills: des Anglais, de la Quille, de la Fous, de la Serre, des Cazes, de Nougayrolle
et du Rocher de Caylus. The land area is 110 km² and there are 8300 inhabitants.
It’s the birthplace of the musician and inventor Pierre-Augustine
Sarrus (1813-1876) and the mathematician and politician Émile
Borel (1871-1956).

Le Pont Vieux (the Old Bridge) was built in 1270 and is classified as a
Historical Monument

“A Room With A View”: this is what I see from my window

A metallic creation of Gavroche, a fictional character from the novel Les
Misérables by Victor Hugo.

Place de la Liberté, with another metallic creation
When I was told that there is an international tournament in Saint Affrique
every summer I was surprised. I had never heard about it before. And as I like
to write about things people have never written about I decided to visit the
town for a holiday, explore the Aveyron area and practice my French –
with no intention of playing chess!
I travelled via Montpellier and before getting to my final destination I had
time to enjoy the city’s impressive Antigone district architecture created
by the Catalan architect Ricardo
Bofill (born December 5, 1939).

Antigone district: cross to the arcade and shopping centre Polygone and
all your money will soon be gone...

Antigone district: a scene overlooking the Polygone arcade

Antigone district: Insulae
Place de la Comédie: Opera House
Finally I arrived in Saint Affrique! The general welcoming atmosphere made
me feel like home and I decided to play but with one condition: if I felt tired
I would not continue the tournament. My request was granted, and so I played
four games. After all, this trip was meant to be my holiday...
The tournament was run smoothly and many activities were organised. 201 players,
even from India, took part in the 15th St. Affrique International. The winner
was Moroccan GM Hichem Hamdouchi and the lady’s prize went to Indian WGM
Nisha Mohota. I scored 2.5/4, lost my second game against Glenn C. Flear.
Final standings
# |
Name |
Country |
Title |
Elo |
Points |
1 |
Hamdouchi, Hichem |
MAR |
GM |
2576 |
8 |
2 |
Degraeve, Jean-Marc |
FRA |
GM |
2520 |
7.5 |
3 |
Flear, Glenn C. |
ENG |
GM |
2479 |
7.5 |
4 |
Boudre, Jean-Pierre |
FRA |
IM |
2329 |
7 |
5 |
Dselrme, Axel |
FRA |
FM |
2317 |
7 |
6 |
Mohota, Nisha |
IND |
WGM |
2332 |
7 |
7 |
LeJarre, Ludovic |
FRA |
FM |
2359 |
6.5 |
8 |
David, Vincent |
FRA |
FM |
2390 |
6.5 |
9 |
Petrossian, Armen |
FRA |
|
2392 |
6.5 |
10 |
Prie, Eric |
FRA |
GM |
2518 |
6.5 |
11 |
Hamdouchi, Adina-Maria |
ROM |
WGM |
2287 |
6.5 |
12 |
Collas, Silvia |
FRA |
IM |
2393 |
6.5 |
13 |
van Elst, Andreas |
FRA |
FM |
2294 |
6.5 |
14 |
Janev, Evgeni |
BUL |
IM |
2488 |
6.5 |
15 |
Collas, Didier |
FRA |
IM |
2458 |
6.5 |
Winners from previous years:
Year |
Name |
Country |
Title |
Elo |
2006 |
Jean-Marc Degraeve |
FRA |
GM |
2540 |
2005 |
Anthony Kosten |
ENG |
GM |
2522 |
2004 |
Viesturs Meiters |
LAT |
|
2487 |
2003 |
Jean-Marc Degraeve |
FRA |
GM |
2541 |
2002 |
Alexander Delchev |
BUL |
GM |
2557 |
1992 |
Didier Collas |
FRA |
IM |
|

Playing hall: la Salle des fêtes

The Mohota sisters, Swati and Nisha, in front of the Salle des fêtes.
One of the sisters will marry soon and if I keep my long hair until then, I
will most likely attend the Indian wedding.
Aarthie Ramaswamy plays against the tournament winner Hichem Hamdouchi, who,
by the way, came third in the Montpellier Open this year.

Adina-Maria Hamdouchi vs. Jean-Marc Degraeve

Mohota sisters: Swati and Nisha in full concentration

WGM Silvia Collas of France

GM Glenn C. Flear vs. WFM Meri Grigoryan

Clockwise from left: Armen Petorsyan, Nisha Mohota, Eric Prie, Aarthie Ramaswamy,
Lejarre Ludovic, Meera Sai Ravi

Chief arbiter Stephen Boyd

Myself and arbiter Maya Todorova

Couscous
night out in the city

Third from right is the organiser Allain Herrero, myself, Nariné
and her husband Armen Petrosyan
After a nice dinner follows the traditional pétanque!

The annual summer fête: a brass band entertaining visitors

Video clip: the band playing “Emmenez-moi”
by beloved Armenian Charles Aznavour

Can you imagine a fête without crêpes?

... or without roast potatoes?

Gateau
a la broche, Aveyron’s speciality

Roquefort: visiting the cheese caves with friends
Roquefort (pronounced "rock-for") is sheep milk cheese produced in
the south of France, which has distinctive veins of blue mold. This mold (Penicillium
roqueforti) is found in the soil of the local caves. Traditionally the cheesemakers
extracted it by leaving bread in the caves for six to eight weeks until it was
consumed by the mold. The interior of the bread was then dried to produce a
powder. Nowadays the mold is produced in laboratories, allowing for greater
consistency. The mold may either be added to the curd, or introduced as an aerosol,
through holes poked in the rind.

A boat trip on the river Tarn
I enjoyed myself enormously and I am looking forward to my next Saint Affrique
trip! Incidentally, you can actually play in Montpellier International Open
and then go to Saint Affrique, so you have five days to explore the surroundings
and witness the annual summer fête. You get there via Montpellier or Nîmes
and then by bus or via Saint Rome by train and then by bus.

A watercolour painting of Banyoles by Meri Grigoryan (with the painter reflected
in the picture)
About
the author
Born on 02.09.77 in Yerevan, Armenia, Meri Grigoryan was taught
chess by her father and only coach. She became:
- Woman Champion of Yerevan at the age of 12½ years
- Yerevan boys under 21 champion at the age of 15
- Armenian girls champion in all age groups
- Girls U18 Olympiad of the USSR, 6th place (Spartakiada Narodov SSSR, Leningrad,
1990)
- Left Armenia in the mid 90s and moved to London
- UK British Grand Prixette 2002-2003
- British Ladies Blitz Champion in 2004
- Education: BA in Russian and Scandinavian Studies, Diploma in Translation.
Spoken languages: Armenian, Russian, English, Danish, Czech, Polish, French.
- Work: Chess teacher and interpreter.
- Hobbies: Painting, photography (with a Panasonic DMC-FZ8), opera, taking
guitar lessons, travelling, and above all writing.