The VIII regional open rapid chess tournament at VSU gathered a record number of participants
According to Mikhail Leshchinsky, one of the tournament organizers and deputy chairman of the regional council of veterans, this year's competition was timed to coincide with the 190th anniversary of the feat of the brig "Mercury" crew and the 180th anniversary of the opening of the monument to Alexander Kazarsky in Sevastopol. A traveling exhibition provided by the regional museum of Hero of the Soviet Union M. Shmyrev told about the hero's feat.
"VV" Reference. Alexander Kazarsky (1797-1833) was born in Dubrovno into the family of Prince Lubomirsky's estate manager. He became famous for the fact that the 18-gun brig "Mercury" under his command won a victory over two Turkish line ships, which had a tenfold superiority in armament.
110 participants from Vitebsk, Orsha, Polotsk, Novopolotsk, Dubrovno, Glubokoye, Ushachi, Beshenkovichi, Shumilino, Lepel, Minsk, Zhodino, and the Russian cities of St. Petersburg, Smolensk, Nevel, and Pochinok competed for victory in the library of PSU named after P. Masherov.
In eight categories – men, women, veterans, amateurs, rural regions, and three children's categories – the first places were won by international grandmasters Vitaly Teterov (Novopolotsk) and Raisa Eydelson (Vitebsk), Alexander Kameko (Vitebsk), Vadim Romanov (Orsha), Matvey Ragun (Glubokoye), Mikhail Spizharny (Orsha), Ivan Emelchenkov (Smolensk), and Victoria Varankina (Vitebsk), respectively.
One of the organizers was the holding company "Belarusian Leather and Footwear Company "Marko". Its General Director Nikolai Martynov was awarded the title of "Especially Respected Friend of the Belarusian Chess Federation" for his many years of support for the ancient game.