24 March 2023

Teams of Kalmykia Ascend the "Ascension" Tournament Podium

The event is completed in Sochi.

 
The seventh All-Russian competition "Ascension" among teams from orphanages and boarding schools finished at the recreation facility Sochi Park Hotel. The tournament listed forty-seven teams out of 32 regions of Russia.  
 
All prize-winning places went to chess players of Kalmykia. Having grabbed the early lead, children from the Republican Centre of the Adaptive Physical Culture and Sports (Elista, Republic of Kalmykia) eventually ended up winning the competition. The team has scored 25.5 points.
 
Second place went to representatives of the Tsagan Aman Sanitary Boarding School (vil. Tsagan Aman, Republic of Kalmykia) – 22.5 points. Half a point behind finished the team of the Cossack Cadet Corps after Oka Gorodovikov" (Elista, Republic of Kalmykia). 
 
The "Ascension" tournament is more than just chess battles, but is also a very extensive and well-elaborated additional programme. Besides involving children in various athletic activities, football among them, the competitions were also aimed at determining the strongest in intellectual games and creative competitions. Lectures on career guidance and basics of refereeing, blitz and bughouse chess, doing chess puzzles and analysing the games played was also part of the programme.  
 
A mass simul on 182 boards took place on the weekend of March 18th. Arbiters and coaches were those to play the children. Some of the simul participants managed to win and draw their games. Following the simul, everyone wished to visit the Planetarium, and the evening program followed up with a bughouse tournament.
 
Preparation for the closing ceremony, in which the children performed some creative items, started as early as the tournament crossed the midline. The awarding ceremony was delivered by Alexander Tkachev, Executive Director of the Chess Federation of Russia. He thanked sponsors and partners of the event. At the end of the ceremony, the children watched a competition-dedicated movie.
 
Overall management of the competition is undertaken by the Chess Federation of Russia with the support of the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation and the Timchenko Foundation. General partner of the CFR is PJSC PhosAgro. Partners of the competition are Aeroflot Russian Airlines, the federal territory Sirius, and the Sochi Park Hotel recreation facility.

Tournament page


Photos by Anna Zakharova, Irina Chibikova, and Nina Bodenchuk