Our partners from the Romanian Chess Federation are participating with the national men’s and women’s teams at the 2022 Chess Olympiad held in Chennai, India.

The competition takes place over 11 rounds, the last round being on Tuesday, 09/08/2022.

The men’s national team includes Bogdan Deac, Constantin Lupulescu, Mircea Parligras, David Gavrilescu and Vlad-Cristian Jianu. The women’s team is made up of Irina Bulmaga, Romania’s most successful chess player today, Mihaela Sandu, Alessia Ciolacu, Luminița Cosma and Miruna-Daria Lehaci.

This year’s Olympics is the most anticipated competition of the year, and the performance of Romania’s representatives so far is remarkable.

Round 1

The first round of the competition was a success for both teams. The boys’ team prevailed against the Botswana representative with 4 easy wins. After the first obstacle, David Gavrilescu confessed to us “I had no emotions. Being the first round, it was important to get into the game. Today I won without emotions, the hard work starts tomorrow.”

Although the boys’ detached attitude was felt in their game, the 4-0 victory against Botswana represented a big step for the Romanian national team and for our evolution at this Olympics.

The women’s representative also made their debut in this competition with a win against Kenya. The girls tried to reproduce the men’s performance, but the final score was 3-1 in favor of Romania after a moment of inattention by Alessia Ciolacu.

Round 2

The second round again brought us two victories for both representatives. In the men’s category, the boys won against Ecuador with a final score of 3.5-0.5, Romania being one of the 45 countries with two victories in two rounds. The women’s team achieved 4 clear victories against Portugal, entering the top 40 teams with 2 wins from 2 matches.

Round 3

Round 3 was difficult for both teams. The boys managed to complete the stage played against Indonesia with 2 wins, a draw and a loss. A positive result that the girls’ team also enjoyed in the match with Kirghisztan, scoring a trio of victories in the first 3 stages.

Round 4

Regardless, the 4th round was the closest for the Romanian men’s team. Our boys faced the Polish national team, finishing the round tied with 2 wins and 2 losses. The girls did not have an easy match either. The stage played against Germany gave the Romanian chess players a hard time, but the balance tilted in favor of Romania after a narrow victory of 2.5-1.5.

Round 5

The boys’ team had one of the most difficult opponents in the 5th round of the competition. The match with the first Indian team was difficult for the Romanian chess players. Unfortunately for us, the Indian team prevailed with Erigaisi Arjun’s victory against Mircea Pârligras after 3 tied results.

The girls’ team consisting of Irina Bulmaga, Alessia Ciolacu, Luminița Cosma and Mihaela Sandu prevailed against the representative of Poland with a final score of 2.5 – 1.5. It was a big win for the women’s national team, marking their 5th consecutive win at this Olympics.

 Round 6

The 6th round ended with a draw for the Romanian men’s national team. The team consisting of Bogdan Deac, Constantin Lupulescu, Mircea Pârligras and Vlad Jianu finished the round with a draw (2-2) against the representative of Canada, one of the most strong participating teams.

The surprise of the round came from the Romanian representative. Our compatriots kept their heads up until the last move and managed to get a draw against the representative of Ukraine, the number 2 favorite for gold in this competition.

The 7th round will be played on Friday, 08/05/2022, the stage in which the Romanian men’s team will play against the representative of Paraguay, and the girls will face the representative of Georgia.

The first half of the Olympics in Chennai, India, was a spectacle for chess enthusiasts. We keep our fingers crossed for both teams and hope that the 44th edition of the Olympics will be lucky for Romania.