Bat Yam Team of Israel Finishes 7th at 2011 Europe Cup Event in Liverpool. Gruenfeld Excels in England!
Yehuda Gruenfeld, a resident of the city Mevasseret Zion, proved that he is still the world’s Number One player among the deaf.
Gruenfeld not only led the Bat Yam Team of Israel to its respectable 7th place finish at the just-ended 20th Europe Deaf Clubs Chess Cup held in Liverpool. Gruenfeld, by playing in the first board, won 6 matches out of 7. His other game against the 2010 World Blitz Champion, Sergey Salov from Germany, ended in a tie. Thus, by collecting an aggregate of 6 1/2 points, Gruenfeld was the winner of the First Board.
Another best performer for Bat Yam Team in Liverpool was Alexander Margulis, who , by collecting a total of 4 1/2 points out of 7, finished third in his Third Board category.
19 teams competed in the two different Team Divisions – Elite and Open.
By participating in the Elite Division, the Bat Yam Team beat Vilnuis, Lithuania ( 3-1 ), Baku, Azerbaijan ( 2 1/2 -1 1/2 ), tied 2-2 to teams fromTrieste, Italy and London, England, each, and lost to Zagreb, Croatia ( 1-3 ), Kiev,Ukraine and Hamburg, Germany, each with a score of 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 and overall placed 7th in the tournament.
The top three finishers at the Cup were as follows:
1. Zagreb, Croatia – 2011 Europe Champion
2.Kiev, Ukraine
3. Hamburg, Germany.
Besides GRUENFELD and MARGULIS, other 4 members of Team of Israel at the 2011 Europe Cup event were:
Heorhiy MALYI, Mikhail CHERNYAK,
Gedaliah MILNER and Alexander PINHASOV.
All above-mentioned players of the Team Israel are members of I.C.F. ( the Israel Chess Federation ).
Interestingly, all six members of the Israeli Team are deaf chess players born in the diaspora countries such as Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Lithiania.
It was the first time ever in the 62-year-old history of the I.C.S.C. ( International Chess Committee for the Deaf ) for Team Israel to take part in this prestigous Europe Cup event.
Source: Rafael Pinchas
