Without particular surprises the 1st round of the 34th NATO Chess Championship ended with the favorites, for the most part, prevailing and the only “upheavals” having to do with draws – 8 in total.
All the results of the matches can be found by clicking here -> Chess – Results R1
Its games are streamed through the Lichess.org platform and you can watch the 1st round by clicking here -> Lichess Online Games – R1
The prizes of this Championship are of two categories: individual (1st, 2nd, 3rd places) and team (1st, 2nd, 3rd place). The representative team of each country consists of a maximum of 6 athletes. The total score of the top 3 in the final standings is calculated to determine the team score.
Here it should be noted that players of the same team cannot compete against each other. Beyond the country groups there are 3 mixed NATO as well as 3 retired (LTM = Life Time Members) groups. The goal of each team is to win 1st place and return to their base with the statue of King Canute!
For history, Canute was the only great king to unite England and Denmark into one crown with a common language, manners and customs, claimed the crown of Norway and conquered the Swedish city of Sigtuna where he minted coins but there is no historical record of possession of Sweden by Canute.
Since 2003, when Danish sculptor Joseph Salomon created the statue of the King, the winning team “takes” it home and returns it to the following year’s event for the next winner to receive.
The statue remained in 2022 in Greece, while in 2023 it passed into the possession of Germany and has now returned to find its next owner.
We will hope that the best will receive it.
The 34th NATO Chess Championship is organized by the secretariat of the ASAED (Supreme Council for Sports of the Armed Forces) and the International Military Chess Committee of NATO (IMCC) with co-organizers the Chess Club of Rhodes “IPPOTIS”, the South Aegean Region, the Municipality of Rhodes and the Hellenic Chess Federation (ESO).
Special thanks for their continuous support to the South Aegean Region, the Regional Governor Mr. HATZIMARKOS GIORGOS & the Deputy Regional Governor for Sports Mr. DELAPORTAS AKIS, the RODOS PALACE Hotel 5* and Mr. KAMPOURAKIS ANTONIS, XENAKIS mobility, Dodecanese Beekeeping, J@D Rent a Car, At Holidays, the Accounting Office “Papadimitriou & Associates”, Elektrodomi S.A.