BRATISLAVA. The best players have the reputation of being slightly distracted geniuses who live in their own world. Chess is a royal game. It also has many enthusiasts in Slovakia.
“These are special championships of Slovakia. They take place in the year when we celebrate the centenary of the Slovak Chess Association (SŠZ), said tournament director and president of the Slovak Chess Association Milan Roman.
“These are special championships of Slovakia. They take place in the year when we celebrate the centenary of the Slovak Chess Union (SŠZ), he says. On Saturday (August 10), the 46th Slovak Blitz Chess Championship will take place at the Svätá Ľudmila hotel in Skalica. It will be played as part of the Skalické Chess Festival. l tournament director and president of the SŠZ Milan Roman.
“We have the highest prize pool in the history of this tournament. In addition, the new Slovakian Masters in this discipline will have all the costs of participating in the next European Championship reimbursed,” boasted Roman.
Blitz chess has always been a very popular chess discipline. It is attractive due to its dynamics and dramatic situations arising on the chessboard. Many players like it, others find it too fast.
The record holder is Maník
This official Slovak championship tournament is one of the oldest tournaments. From 1971 until 1990, it was played only as a closed tournament, to which players could only enter through the qualifying regional championships or as medalists from the previous year.
The strongest tournament in the entire history took place in Nové Zámky in 2006, where the average elo of the top ten climbed to 2455 and as many as 4 grandmasters met in the tournament. The tournament in 2009 in Banská Štiavnica recorded the highest participation, where 121 players played a lightning game.
GM Mikuláš Maník holds the undisputed record holder in the number of Slovakian champion titles – he won 11 of them. In 2023, IM Samir Sahidi won his first title of Slovakian champion in blitz chess.
The tournament will be played using the Swiss system for 11 rounds at a pace of 3 min. per party with a bonus of 2 sec. per move with credit to the FIDE list.
How much does the winner take?
The Slovak Chess Federation will provide a financial prize fund for Slovak players in the amount of EUR 1,500 for the Slovakian Championships, which consists of 10 main prizes and additional prizes for categories, the first prize is EUR 250.
In addition to this main prize pool, players will also fight for prizes in the Chess Slovak Open blitz in the amount of EUR 400 (1st prize EUR 150), which will be provided by the Skalica Chess Club. In total, Slovak players will therefore play for prizes in the amount of EUR 1,900.
The basic entry fee is EUR 25, participants of the Chess Slovak Open and Schaeffler Cup have a reduced entry fee of EUR 15, GM title holders have zero entry fee.
The champion and the champion of Slovakia will have the right to participate in the EC in blitz chess. The Slovak Chess Federation will reimburse the costs related to the participation and representation of Slovakia at this event. You can register for the tournament by sending an email to info@milanroman.sk.