RRI Sports Club

Chess

Steliu Lambru, 07.09.2022, 13:45

The Hungarian chess player Richard Rapport will represent Romania at international competitions, the Romanian chess federation announced on Sunday. Rapport won the Rapid Chess World Championship in 2013 and in 2017 and he beat world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway. Grand Master Richard Rapport was born in 1996 in Szombathely, western Hungary, at the border with Austria and ranks 13th in the FIDE classification. He is the 5th highest rated player in the world as of May 2022. A chess prodigy, he earned his grandmaster title at the age of 13 years, 11 months and 6 days, making him Hungary’s youngest ever grandmaster and the 5th youngest in the history of chess. He was Hungarys chess champion in 2017.

Romania is hosting the World Youth Chess Championships U14, U16, and U18 that started on September 6th in the city of Constanta. More than 630 young players from 72 countries are attending and also 80 of the best Romanians. The event is financed by the Constanta City Hall though its Department of Culture, Education, Sports and Tourism and is organised by the Club Sportiv Juniorul Constanta Association, under the umbrella of the International Chess Federation and the Romanian Chess Federation.

Romania has 58 boys and 25 girls in the competition, including Miruna Lehaci and Alessia Ciolacu, in the U18 category. The two are members of Romanias national chess team and have recently taken part in the Olympiad in Chennai, India. The U14 category also includes the Romanian chess prodigy Andrei Negrean, aged 10, a world champion in the blitz category, a world vice champion in rapid chess and a European champion in the same category. (EE)