The Chess Club "SACH" in collaboration with the Municipality of Thessaloniki and the Chess Clubs Union of Thessaloniki - Halkidiki, successfully organized one of the largest international chess tournaments in Greece, the 8th International Chess Tournament "Vardaris" (www.vardaris.com). The tournament began on Thursday, February 27, 2025, and concluded on Monday, March 3 (Clean Monday), setting a record participation of 330 players from 16 countries.

The tournament was dedicated to the twinning of our club with the chess team Zeybek from Aydın, Turkey, with the participation of three Turkish players.

The games were broadcast live online via the world's two largest chess platforms, lichess.org and chess.com, as well as on YouTube.

Thus, our tournament traveled worldwide and was followed by the global chess communityIn a very strong tournament, the first place was ultimately claimed by the Greek IM (International Master) Alexandros Papasimakopoulos from the Kallithea Chess Club, who won on tie-break criteria against IM Dimitris Alexakis from the Piraeus Chess Club, while third place was taken by another IM, Evangelos Patrelakis from Panathinaikos.

The President of the Chess Club "SACH" and Tournament Director, George Vlassis, exchanging banners with the head of the Turkish delegation, Serkan Tunel.

A brief review of the tournament!

1st Round – Thursday, 27.02.2025

Opening Ceremony

During the opening ceremony, our club was officially twinned with the Zeybek Chess Club from Turkey. These relationships, built through the "Vardaris" tournaments, serve as a channel of communication between chess players, people, clubs, and countries, which can be utilized in various ways.

We also had the special honor of welcoming Ms. Kyriaki (Koula) Giannakidou, Deputy Mayor of Sports, Youth, and Volunteerism of Thessaloniki, and Mr. Christos Mittas, Deputy Regional Governor of Thessaloniki for Culture and Sports, who both addressed the event.

Ms. Giannakidou also performed the traditional first move on the first board, signaling the start of the games!

Deputy Mayor Ms. Giannakidou and Deputy Regional Governor Mr. Mittas.

2nd Round – Friday, 28.02.2025

The second day coincided with the second anniversary of the Tempi train crush. A brief account of the tragic event was presented in English to inform the foreign players and accompanying guests, followed by a minute of silence in memory of the victims.

A moment of silence for the victims of Tempi.

3rd Round – Saturday Morning, 1.03.2025

Before the start of the third round, two players were honored with memento medals:

• Young athlete Ioanna Kalyva from the Chess Club of Katerini, who was the first to register electronically for our tournament on October 28, 2024, exactly four months before the start of the event!

• German player Meyer Juergen, the first foreign player to finalize his participation.

Ioanna Kalyva and Meyer Juergen.

4th Round – Saturday Afternoon, 1.03.2025

Before the fourth round, memento medals were awarded to the presidents of our twinned clubs:

• Yordanov Nikolay and WIM Svetla Yordanova from ETAR (Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria).

• Sava Christiansen, president of the Hannibal Chess Club (Bucharest, Romania).

A memorandum of cooperation was also agreed for the organization of a team championship among the four clubs (Chess Club "SACH" - Greece, ETAR - Bulgaria, Hannibal - Romania, and Zeybek - Turkey), scheduled for next summer.

Svetla Yordanova, Nikolay Yordanov, and Sava Christiansen.

5th Round – Sunday Morning, 2.03.2025

Before the start of the fifth round, chess players Maria Tragelli, President of the Halandri Chess Club, and last year’s Greek Women’s Champion, Marianna Stefanidi, were honored for their support of our tournament.

Marianna Stefanidi and Maria Tragelli.

6th Round – Sunday Afternoon, 2.03.2025

On Sunday afternoon, coach and representative of CSKA Sofia, Stefan Stoynov, was honored for his team’s participation in the "Vardaris" tournament.

CSKA Sofia representative, Stefan Stoynov.

7th Round – Clean Monday Morning, 3.03.2025

Before the seventh and final round, memento medals were awarded to:

• Andreas Alla (a visually impaired athlete) and French player Jean-Pierre Mantey for their exceptional fairplay. Mantey lost on time due to a clock malfunction, and Alla proposed a fairer result— a draw, which was gladly accepted!

  Andreas Alla and Jean-Pierre Mantey.

• Panagiotis Sklavounos, representing the twinned club Piraikos Chess Club, for their unwavering support of our tournament over the years.

  Panagiotis Sklavounos

Tournament Winners – Awards Ceremony

Our special guest was actor and Stand-Up Comedian Konstantinos Ravniotopoulos, a chess player and talented member of our club, who enthusiastically conducted the awards ceremony! Before starting, he himself received the memento"Vardaris" medal.

The top three winners, as well as the 1st female player, received their prizes along with personal sketches created by the renowned artist and Chess Club "SACH" member, Christos Alaveras. His presence was once again a great honor for us!

Konstantinos Ravniotopoulos.

Tournament Results

Group A:

• 1st: IM Alexandros Papasimakopoulos

• 2nd: IM Dimitris Alexakis

• 3rd: IM Evangelos Patrelakis

• 1st Female Player: WIM Katerina Pavlidou

Dimitris Alexakis, Alexandros Papasimakopoulos, Evangelos Patrelakis, Katerina Pavlidou.

Group B:

• 1st: Charalampos Parastatidis

• 2nd: Konstantinos Georgiou

• 3rd: Konstantinos Misios

• 1st Female Player: Asimenia Chatzipanagiotou

• 1st Veteran: Ioannis Gioras

Asimenia Chatzipanagiotou, Ioannis Gioras, Konstantinos Georgiou, Charalampos Parastatidis, Konstantinos Misios.

Group C (Under 12):

• 1st: Erik Stoychev (Bulgaria)

• 2nd: Jan Wolak (Poland)

• 3rd: Kyriakos Skouroupathis (Cyprus)

Jan Wolak, Erik Stoychev, Kyriakos Skouroupathis.

See you again on February 18, 2026, for the 9th Vardaris!

Α Group

Final standings

1st Papasimakopoulos Alexandros
2nd Alexakis Dimitris ​
3rd Patrelakis Evaggelos

1st Woman Pavlidou Ekaterini
1st Veteran S50 Zakic Srdjan

Special categories:

U16
1st Kazantzoglou Stefanos

2nd Papachristopoulos Georgios

3rd Karakasidis Michail

1st GIRL Nenova Andzhelika

U14
1st Anagnostopoulos Panagiotis

2nd Bougas Georgios

3rd Merkouropoulos Dionysios

1st GIRL Siskou Evangelia

 

U12
1st Yildiz Ali Aras

2nd Mihaylov Bozhidar

3rd Ioannidis Konstantinos I

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Β Group

Final Standings

1st Parastatidis Charalampos
2nd Georgiou Konstantinos
3rd Misios Konstantinos

1st Woman Chatzipanagiotou Asimenia

1st Vetaran S50 Gioras Ioannis

Special categories:

U16
1st Kanchev Martin

2nd Mitsopoulos Ioannis

3rd Olteanu Adrian

1st GIRL Maniati Konstantina

 

U14
1st Marinidis Stavros

2nd Keramaros Vasileios

3rd Xouplidis Filippos

1st GIRL Christodoulou Katerina

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C Group

Final standings

1st Stoychev Erik
2nd ​Wolak Jan
3rd Skouroupathis Kyriakos

Special categories:

U12
1st Karantoniou Stylianos

2nd Arampatzis Christos

3rd Kaparashev Ivaylo

1st GIRL Tsvetkova Kalina

 

U10
1st Alexandrakis Vasileios Sp

2nd Stefanis Stefanos G

3rd Yuksel Umay Defne

1st GIRL Ritinioti Sofia

 

U8
1st Paraskevopoulou Aikaterini

2nd Alexandrakis Alexios

3rd Melegkos Konstantinos

1st GIRL Kakaletsi Nikolina

 

The organizing committee of the 8th International Chess Tournament "Vardaris 2025" wishes to provide every possible service for its participants. For this reason, we have achieved for yet another year, to offer 10% discount, exclusively for all the participants and their companions, at the legendary grill "Vardaris", located in 2nd Monastiriou Str., very close to the playing venue.

We would really like to thank Mr. Isaak Papadopoulos for his kind and generous offer, as well as for the uninterrupted cooperation during all these years.

Award winners of 7th International Chess Tournament "Vardaris" 2024

The 7th Vardaris International Tournament returned after a 4-year absence due to the "Covid" pandemic

It was held at the City Hall of Thessaloniki in the Manolis Anagnostakis Hall during the period 14-18 March 2024.

The tournament was the twinning of the Chess Club SAX Thessaloniki with the team of the Chess Club of West Lesvos "Aristotle".

The tournament was part of the European program Thessaloniki European City of Sport and the opening ceremony was attended by the Deputy Mayor of Sports, Youth and Volunteerism Mrs. Kyriaki Giannakidou.

The winners were the following:

Α' Group

Final standings

1st Tsaknakis Zisis

2nd Dogias Christos

3rd Rahmanidis Petros

4th Krallis Christos

5th Markidis Konstantinos

6th Loukopoulos Panagiotis Athanasios

1st Female

Gkoutzouki Aikaterini Argyro

Veteran S50

1st Madebrink Lars

U1800

1st Balafoutis Ilias

U2000

1st Kalogridis Themistoklis

Boys U16

1st Boutikos Eleftherios

Girls U16

1st Nenova Andzhelika

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Β΄ Group

Final standings

1st Petridis Dimitrios Panagiotis

2nd Keramaros Vasileios

3rd Balafoutas Alexandros

1st Female 

Maniati Konstantina

Veteran S50

1st Avgitidis Isaak

Boys U16

1st Mitsopoulos Ioannis

Girls U16

1st Giakoustidou Evgenia

Boys U14

1st Papakyriakou Petros

Girls U14

1st Pehlivanova Aleksandra

Boys U12

1st Xouplidis Filippos

Girls U12

1st Marinova Mihaela

Boys U10

1st Skodras Dionysios Eleftherios

Girls U10

1st Kalyva Ioanna