Jaroslav Svoboda, the owner of Czech Inn Hotels and operator of the Hotel Don Giovanni, the venue of the Prague Chess Festival, is a passionate chess fan. In a short interview he reveals that he learnt to play chess rather late in life, talks about his friendship to Vlastimil Hort and explains why Bobby Fischer is not an ideal role model. | Photo: The Hotel Don Giovanni
An exciting final round of the European Club Cup in Durrës saw Offerspill and Superchess grabbing gold medals in the open and women’s sections, respectively. In the open, the Norwegian team, led by Magnus Carlsen, beat Asnieres with wins by Pranav Venkatesh and Aryan Tari, while in the women’s tournament, Superchess beat Garuda Ajka in a close match, thanks to victories by Dinara Wagner and Marsel Efroimski. | Photo: Niki Riga
The round-6 clash of co-leaders between Superchess and Offerspill ended in a draw, with wins for Bogdan-Daniel Deac (Superchess) and Pranav V (Offerspill). This allowed six teams to close the gap with the co-leaders to 1 match point going into Saturday’s final round. Meanwhile, in the women’s tournament, Superchess and Garuda Ajka obtained crucial victories to climb to shared first place, and are set to face each other in round 7. The final round stars one hour earlier than usual. | Photo: Niki Riga
Magnus Carlsen’s Offerspill and Vishy Anand’s Superchess are sharing the lead in the open section of the European Club Cup. Both teams have a perfect 10/10 score after beating Novy Bor and Asnieres in closely contested matches. Meanwhile, SP Gaz Ukraine grabbed the lead in the women’s tournament after beating former sole leaders TAJFUN SK Ljubljana. | Photo: Niki Riga
The favourites keep on winning in the open section of the European Club Cup, as the four top seeds share the lead with 8/8 match points going into the fifth round. On Thursday, Vishy Anand’s Superchess is set to face MVL’s Asnieres, while Magnus Carlsen’s Offerspill will play against Vincent Keymer’s Novy Bor. In the women’s section, TAJFUN SK Ljubljana lead the standings as the only team with a perfect score. | Photo: Niki Riga