Bulgaria will take part in the women's European Team Chess Championship with its five leading players, the Bulgarian Sports Chess Federation (BSCF) said on Wednesday. The event will take place on November 10-21 in Budva (Montenegro) and will mark the first participation of a Bulgarian national team in a tournament under the auspices of the European Chess Union (ECU) in 10 years.
"The return of the Bulgarian team after a 10-year absence from international championships and a 7-year ECU penalty is a fact that every Bulgarian can be proud of. I believe that our national athletes will achieve remarkable successes," BSCF Chair Milen Vasilev stated.
Selector Petar Arnaudov announced that former world and European champion Antoaneta Stefanova will be captain of the team. The line-up will also include the junior world champion and silver medalist of the 2023 World Cup Nurgyul Salimova, three-time national champion Viktoria Radeva, the bronze medalist of the U20 World Championships (2023) Beloslava Krasteva and the winner of a number of prestigious international tournaments Gergana Peycheva.
After a long period of power struggle in Bulgarian chess during which five organizations were claiming the position of controlling body of the game in the country, BSCF was recognized by ECU and the International Chess Federation (FIDE) as the legitimate representative of Bulgarian chess with the right to nominate Bulgarian national teams to participate in the world, European and Olympic championships under their auspices.
/NZ/
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