During his recent trip to Georgia, Mikhail Korenman, the FIDE project leader for Chess for Freedom program, visited to Head office of Special Penitentiary Service, Ministry of Justice of Georgia. He discussed the project development in Georgia with Inga Sarjveladze, Director of Resocialization rehabilitation department and Nana Koridze, Deputy Director of Resocialization Rehabilitation Department, and Vasil Liparteliani, Chess for Freedom project coordinator for Georgia.
The Chess for Freedom program is part of the large scale social and rehabilitation activities at the women’s prison directed by Nestan Verulashvili. The special guests of the event at the women’s prison were Minister of Justice of Georgia Paata Salia, Member of Parliament of Georgia Nino Tsilosani, and the First Lady of Georgia Tamar Bagrationi.
The director of the men’s prison #16, Zaza Jamatashvili, presented all resocialization and rehabilitation programs. Mikhail Korenman also met the members of the Georgian male chess team.
The first online tournament bringing together men, women, and youth teams playing in one mixed group was organized on March 5 on the chess.com platform and directed by the IA Nebojsa Baralic. Eight teams from Georgia, England, and Latvia participated in this first-of-its-kind event, combining all three Chess for Freedom program categories – Men, Women, and Youth – in a single pool.
The Georgia Men’s team claimed the title, winning all four matches (total 8 points). England Men, England Youth, and Latvian teams tied for second place with 5 match points each. A strong finish by the Georgia Women team (top Female team) and England Youth team (top Youth team) validated the initial concept that all three participant groups can compete in this mixed format.
The event also featured an additional session where all teams competed in a draughts tournament organized by the US NDF and directed by the IA Andriy Shetbatyuk. The Latvian team won all three rounds with came out on top with a perfect score, Georgian Women and Youth teams shared second place with four points.
In the combined results of the event, the Latvian male team from Jelgava prison, led by the coach IM Sergejs Klimakovs, secured the overall first place with a total score of 11 points. The Georgia men’s team finished second (total 10 points), while the Georgia women’s team completed the podium with 7 points.