Faculty of Electrical Engineering once again hosted the Ljubljana Chess Festival

The traditional Ljubljana Chess Festival once again took place at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of Ljubljana between 24 April and 3 May, attracting numerous chess players and enthusiasts of the royal game from Slovenia and abroad.

In the opening days of the festival, the 5th Nusret Sivčević Memorial, the 10th Zlatko Bašagič Memorial and the children’s 5th Dragon Tournament were held. The festival was organized under the direction of Darja Kapš, while the competitive part was overseen by chief arbiter Ana Srebrnič.

Opening of the main tournament

The main standard chess tournament began on Monday, 27 April. Participants were welcomed by the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Assoc. Prof. Dr David Nedeljković, who officially opened the tournament with the symbolic first move on the top board.

This year, the main tournament hosted 107 chess players from 22 countries, including three grandmasters. The top seed of the tournament was the youngest Slovenian grandmaster, Jan Šubelj (rating 2543). Among the prominent Slovenian representatives were also International Master Laura Unuk and the current national champion, WIM Teja Vidic.

Final tournament standings

After nine rounds, Grandmaster Jan Šubelj claimed overall victory with eight points. Jaka Brilej finished in second place, followed by Jan Maren in third. The top ten also included Matej Šebenik, Vojko Mencinger, Noe Python, Ilija Stanojević, Nadiia Shpanko, Marko Tratar and Laura Unuk.

The festival concluded with the 2nd Janko Sarađen Memorial tournament. In addition to the competitive programme, visitors were also offered the opportunity to play against an AI robotic chess opponent, view an exhibition display dedicated to the great Slovenian chess player Dr Milan Vidmar, and visit a unique chess shop.