Odesa Hosts Simultaneous Chess Match with Grandmaster, 5 Draws Recorded

A simultaneous chess session involving 40 children took place in Odesa on March 8, and five participants drew with grandmaster Natalia Zhukova.

The game, which was attended by an Int'l correspondent, took place in the reading room of the Odesa National Scientific Library as part of the partnership project "Move with a Knight" and was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of international grandmaster, chess theorist, analyst, and coach Yukhym Heller.

Initially, it was expected that another grandmaster, Masha Klinova, would play simultaneously with Natalia Zhukova, but she fell ill.

"A sea of flowers, smiles and chess combinations! All this was happening at a simultaneous game session on 40 boards. The day before, my colleague Masha Klinova fell ill, so I played alone. Five girls drew," Natalia Zhukova commented on the results of the game.

This was not the first chess tournament held in Odesa during the war. A Halloween-style chess tournament was held in Odesa on November 2, 2024, with 73 participants - children, teenagers and adult amateurs. The tournament participants were divided into three groups: under 8 years old, 9 to 13 years old, and teenagers and adults.

Everyone wore masks and costumes, received sweets, and the winners were awarded medals and cups. The youngest participant was 6 years old, and the oldest was 41. In general, the Odesa City Chess Federation holds small tournaments every week.

On July 16, 2023, a chess tournament was held in Odesa with 100 children participating. The tournament was dedicated to the International Chess Day. This day is celebrated all over the world and in Ukraine on July 20. The children played on the field of the Chornomorets stadium. When announcing the registration of 100 children, the organizers were worried whether they would be able to recruit so many children who wanted to play, but they closed the list of participants in three days.

Кирило Бойко