A chess weekend in Katowice

by ChessBase
4/12/2019 – This weekend, the Polish-Hungarian friendship tournament will be played in Katowice. Together with the Polish individual and team lightning championships, 1000 chess friends are expected. Anne Kantane invites you for a preview. | Photo: M. Walusza

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Press release by Anne Kantane

Chess in Katowice

Many interesting chess events are taking place these days, but perhaps the biggest one will take place this weekend in Katowice, Poland! Already for the 7th time, the Polish-Hungarian Friendship Chess Tournament will be organized with players from many countries and 20 grandmasters participating. This year there is a record of over 900 participants registered! 

WojtaszekTogether with the tournament there will be held Polish Individual and Team Championship in blitz. This means that the overall number of chess-players this weekend in Katowice might exceed 1000!

The top seed of the tournament is polish super-star, Radosław Wojtaszek [Photo: Macauley Peterson], well-known for his wins in 2017 Dortmund and 2018 chess.com Isle of Man International. Radek won the 3rd edition of the tournament in 2015.

Behind Wojtaszek on the list there are also other top polish grandmasters, like Wojciech Moranda, Michał Krasenkow, Bartosz Soćko or Mateusz Bartel and grandmasters from abroad like Vojtech Plat from Czech, Toms Kantans from Latvia or Kirill Shevchenko from Ukraine. Top seed among women is Karina Szczepkowska from Poland.

In one of the previous editions, even Judit Polgar, the best female player in the history of chess, was one of the guests!

Polgar

Judit Polgar is a true champion who inspires new generations | Photo: M. Walusza

"[The] Polish-Hungarian Friendship Chess Tournament is a result of a long relationship between Katowice and the Hungarian city Miskolc. A few years ago, the idea occurred to organize a tournament to celebrate it. Today we are looking with pride, how the event is growing bigger and bigger with every year", says the tournament director and vice President of FIDE, Łukasz Turlej.

Both cities, Katowice and Miskolc, are official partners of the tournament.

Łukasz Turlej

Łukasz Turlej is a director of a tournament since the first edition. | Photo: Karol Bartnik

What makes this event so unique is that it truly is a tournament for everyone. There will be six groups, one open and five different groups for junior players. It’s a great opportunity for kids to have fun… 

kids having fun

Would you say it’s a chess tournament? | Photo:M. Walusza

Playing chess with their peers…

kids

Kids turn into all kinds of creatures ones in Katowice! | Photo:M. Walusza

Getting some autographs...

autograph session

GM Monika Soćko, top polish female player, giving autographs to young fans | Photo: Karol Bartnik

Or just look how the top players play…

Girl with face paint

That's one intense kitty look! | Photo: M. Walusza

This is a wonderful boost of motivation for young talents. No wonder Poland has so many talented junior players!

The total prize fund during a weekend will be over EUR €16,000 and all the kids in two youngest groups will receive medals. As you see, in Katowice there is a treat for everyone!

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