At the kind invitation of the Lviv Chess Federation, the ECU Secretary General Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou visited the city of Lviv on Tuesday, June 20.
Lviv is one of the most active and productive chess cities in World. More than 40 grandmasters were born in Lviv or lived there for several years. Among them Chess legends like Vasily Ivanchuk, Alexander Beliavsky, Adrian Mikhalchishin, women’s world champions and top players like GMs Mariya and Anna Muzychuk.
After his arrival in Lviv, Mr. Tsorbatzoglou first visited the youth tournament “Adrian Mikhalchisin Cup” with 120 participants.
The ECU Secretary General presented all trophies, medals, gifts and certificates to the winners and participants. In his short greeting he underlined”.
“I am very honored to be here with you today. It is one of the most important tournaments I have participated in my chess life. It is truly inspiring to see you all playing chess and enjoying it with your friends and families. Yesterday in Krakow, the European Chess Union presented chess as a future Olympic game. It was a historic moment that I personally witnessed. But today is also a great day for all of us in the European Chess Union to be with you. I understand that we are the first international or European sports federation to visit Lviv after the start of the war. Many thanks to the Lviv Chess Federation, congratulations to all of you here”.
At the end of the tournament, Mr. Tsorbatzoglou, accompanied by the Vice-President of the Lviv Chess Federation, Mr. Yaroslav Mandruk, and the Advisor to the President of ECU, Mr. Adrian Michalchishin, visited the Lviv Region Administration and met with the Deputy Governor, Mr. Andriy Godyk.
Mr. Godyk thanked Mr. Tsorbatzoglou for his visit and informed about the current situation in L’viv and Ukraine.
“We see every visit of our international partners during the war as a sign of support and recognition that we are on the right path. Despite the difficult situation in our country and the challenges that every citizen has to face, the society has to develop, the economy has to function and the athletes have to win new awards. We are trying hard to maintain sports activities in our country”.
Mr. Tsorbatzoglou expressed his sadness over the early morning drone attack in the center of Lviv, adding that it is a relief that there were no human victims:
“We express our solidarity with the people of Ukraine. We will continue to stand by your side and help restore normal life in Ukraine and we hope you will have soon the long-awaited peace. We help Ukrainian chess players and coaches at the international level as much as we can, we understand your feelings, and immediately after the end of hostilities we will hold a European Championship in the Lviv region”.
The day concluded with a dinner given by the president of Lviv Chess Federarion, Mr. Taras Kernytski, in the presence of Vice-presidents Yaroslav Mandruk and the Executive Director Mr. Nazar Firman and GM Adrian MIchalchishin. Main discussion about how ECU can support the restoration of chess and organise a major European chess event, if conditions would allow it. The first goal will be to organise a match between the European Chess Legends and the Lviv Chess Legends.
As the President of the Olympic Committee Thomas Bach and the President of the European Olympic Committee Spyros Kapralos stated at the opening of the 2023 European Games in Krakow, the Olympic Movement stands by Ukraine and Ukrainian athletes. The European Chess Union is a part of the Olympic family showing full respect to Olympic values.