• Українська
  • Русский
  • English
Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

UKRAINE LOSES EUROPEAN TROPHY

13 November, 2012 - 00:00

This year’s European Women’s Club Chess Team Championships took place at Wuppertal, Germany, and Temisoara, Romania, drawing large audiences.

Germans, Poles, Ukrainians, and Yugoslavs vied for the main trophy and an honorary prize worth DM 6,000. There were no Russian players (due to complicated visa procedures) and their absence added an atmosphere of suspense. This time Ukraine’s Derzhkomsport (State Sports Committee) team came closer to the cup than ever before, except for international grand master Natalia Zhukova. An excellent trainee of Kherson’s Checkers-Chess Center, she showed an excellent score on the first chessboard – except that she played on the Romanian side...

Patriotism is good, especially when the government appreciates it and issues adequate rewards. But if it does not and if topnotch chess players are neglected in their own country, so much they cannot even travel to vie for the national colors abroad, these players eventually agree to lucrative offers from overseas. It was thus Natalia Zhukova found herself on the AEM team from the Hungarian city of Temisoara.

Before the Ukrainian team found itself in second place, the girls had to get to Germany the cheapest way – by bus, meaning long exhausting, monotonous, and bumpy hours, with the usual “post-Soviet” amenities provided en route (i.e., none). With Grand Master Zhukova everything was different. “I boarded a flight to Germany and found myself in the media limelight almost as soon as I got off the plane. The Romanian side provided everything I needed in terms of training and living before the finals. Really, I don’t know how AEM found out my whereabouts. I got a fax message from them. They wished me the best of success. This is something we lack so much in our own country.”

Eduard Budovych, director of Kherson’s Checkers-Chess Center says, “I am certain that if we could raise Hr 10,000 we would have the Cup, because Kyiv has quite a reputation in the chess world. Among our residents are three international-caliber grand masters: Inna Haponenko, Anzhela Borsuk, and of course Natalia Zhukova. Even now we are having talks with several foreign chess clubs.

I have received attractive offers from Yugoslavia, Romania, and other countries,” says Ms. Zhukova. “They are all prepared to receive our players and provide them with the best of working and living conditions. Of course, time is money, so if I don’t agree other chess players will.”

There is reason to say that Ukraine will not have the European Champions Cup, at least not in the foreseeable future. And not only this. Mr. Budovych thinks back to the good old socialist times when Anatoly Karpov was so jealously cultivated, because he embodied the pride and glory of the Soviet state.

 

Rubric: