After carefully considering the numerous applications received, the special panel appointed by the FIDE Council decided that these will be the ten chess players, coaches, and promoters to benefit from the second instalment of FIDE's support to chess veterans in 2023:
Nikola Padevsky (BUL)
Goran Cabrilo (SRB)
Yuri Meshkov (RUS)
Vassilis Aristotelous (CYP)
Mario Galeano (PAR)
Jens Kristiansen (DEN)
Živko Janevski (MKD)
Ulrich Jahr (POL)
Lubov Zsiltsova-Lisenko (UKR)
Dang Tat Thang (VIE)
A total of €25,000 will be distributed among them, each receiving €2,500. As we did on previous occasions, we would pay tribute to these illustrious veterans with a few words about each one of them, summarizing their careers and achievements.
Nikola Padevsky (BUL)
Photo: Anefo - Dutch National Archives
Born in 1933 in Bulgaria's second-largest city Plovdiv, Nikola Padevsky quickly came to the forefront of national chess.
He became the Bulgarian National Champion in 1954 and repeated this success in 1955, 1962 and 1964. In 1957, Nikola became IM and was awarded the GM title seven years later.
Padevsky took part in World Student Team Championship six times (from 1954 through 1959). Nikola's performance in his last championship (Hungary, 1959) was remarkable as playing first board, he helped Bulgaria to pull ahead of team USSR and win gold.
A real fixture in the national team, he represented Bulgaria in eleven Chess Olympiads (every Olympiad from 1956 to 1978 except for 1976), playing first board in 1956, 1962 and 1964.
His solid tournament record includes the victory in the inaugural Rubinstein Memorial (Polanica Zdrój) in 1963 and shared first place in Varna (1960), Varna (1975), Athens (Acropolis International, 1983) and Kragujevac (1984).
From 1981-1989 Nikola Padevsky served as the coach of the Bulgarian national team.
Nikola Padevsky is one of the oldest living grandmasters.
Goran Cabrilo (SRB)
Photo: alo.rs/
Born in 1958 in Yugoslavia, Goran Cabrilo made seven appearances in the national championship. Although Goran never won a medal, he finished fifth in 1989 and 1990.
Goran Čabrilo delivered a good performance in the Zonal Tournament (Nea Makri, 1989) and qualified for the Interzonal Tournament (Manila 1990) where he shared 40-47th place.
Goran served as the coach of the Serbian national team at the Chess Olympiad in Elista (1998). He also worked with both junior national teams in 2000.
Over his long career as a player, he took part in numerous tournaments sharing first place in Trnava (1981), Subotica (1992), Vršac (2006) and Belgrad (2008).
Goran Cabrilo still participates in chess competitions, but due to health problems, only those not far from his home.
Yuri Meshkov (RUS)
Photo: papinchess
Born in Smolensk in 1950, IM Yuri Meshkov became visually impaired at seven and was introduced to chess five years later. Inspired by Mikhail Botvinnik's three-volume book (a gift from his father) and the positional style of the fifth World Champion, Yuri progressed rapidly and soon became a CM. His real breakthrough came in 1980 when Meshkov qualified for the final stage of the RSFSR Championship and was awarded the master title.
Graduated from the Smolensk Pedagogical Institute, Yuri Meshkov, for many years worked as a chess coach and instructor. Over his long career, he helped GMs Nikolai Chadayev, Vadim Malakhatko, Alexander Kovchan, David Navara, IM Alexei Potapov, FIDE masters Artyom Benza and Ekaterina Prudnikova.
In 1991, together with Vladimir Krayushkin, he organized a chess school under the guidance of grandmasters Alexander Belyavsky and Adrian Mikhalchishin. After the collapse of the Union, the school existed under the patronage of Anatoly Karpov. Most of the training sessions took place in his home Smolensk region.
Since 2007, Yuri Meshkov has been participating in chess competitions among the visually impaired. In 2010 and 2013, he became the IBCA World Champion. He is the winner of the IBCA World Chess Olympiad (2008, 2012), the World Team Championship among chess players with disabilities (2013, 2015, 2017, 2018), European vice-champion, five-time champion of Russia in individual competitions or as a member of the national team among visually impaired chess players (2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2015). From 2010-2018 Yuri participated in five Chess Olympiads playing for a team of visually impaired players.
A talented organizer, Yuri Meshkov held multiple competitions in his home Smolensk region.
Vassilis Aristotelous (CYP)
Photo: Vassilis Aristotelous’ Facebook
Born in 1956, FIDE Instructor, FIDE Arbiter, and AIM Vassilis Aristotelous enormously contributed to chess in his home Cyprus. The 2008 national champion, he represented Cyprus at six Chess Olympiads and multiple international competitions.
For many years Vassilis made bulletins for the Cyprus Chess Championship, providing coverage for each round, including all the games of each round, photos, and updates.
Throughout his career, Vassilis Aristotelous has been giving chess lectures and simultaneous exhibitions at schools, popularizing chess and attracting new talents.
A gifted author Vassilis has been writing articles for one of the leading Cyprus newspapers and penned four chess books.
Over the years, he also served as a Public Relations Officer on the Cyprus Chess Federation's managing board.
Mario Galeano (PAR)
Photo: Mario Galeano’s Facebook
Born in 1947 in Colonia General Aquino, Paraguay, Mario Galeano Vergara became an iconic figure in his home country. Mario made a name for himself as an efficient organizer of numerous chess competitions across Paraguay, including Copa Pte. de la República (1983, 1985, 1986), Memorial Don Julio Domínguez (1988), Memorial Arturo Barchini (1988), Panam. Juvenil con la FEPARAJ (1988, 1990) Memorial Dr. Raúl Sosa Ugarte (1992), Coop. San Cristobal (2002), ITT Copa Gobernación del Amambay (2006), Memorial Ronald Cantero (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010), Copa Roggio (2009), Copa ITAIPU (2011) and many others.
Jens Kristiansen (DEN)
Born in 1952 in Copenhagen, Jens Kristiansen won his first Danish championship in 1979 and became IM in the same year. A three-time national champion, he represented Denmark at Chess Olympiads four times between 1978 and 1990. He also delivered the best result playing second board in the 1983 European Team Championship.
Jens can be called a late bloomer as he earned the title of GM aged 60 after winning the 2012 World Senior Championship. A year later, he shared first place with Anatoly Vaisser at the same event but had to settle for silver due to an inferior tiebreak.
Kristiansen was very close to another World Senior Championship title (65+) in 2022 but lost an opposite-colour bishop endgame (in which he had a draw) and tied for second place.
Živko Janevski (MKD)
Born in 1953 in North Macedonia, FIDE Grandmaster for Chess Composition (1996), Živko Janevski is one of the most prominent chess problemists of our era. Živko Janevski stands third on the list of the FIDE Album points 1914-2021 behind Petko Petkov (Bulgaria) and Mikhail Marandyuk (Ukraine).
He was a double World champion in composing helpmates (1989-91 & 1998- 2000) and the Olympic champion in the same genre in 1990. However, his composing results and the huge work of around 4.000 published problems were only a small part of the enormous contribution to chess composition. Being an International Judge (1979), he officiated and commented on over 100 tourneys in chess composition, including Olympic Tourney, FIDE World Cup and World Championship in Composing for Individuals (WCCI). During the World Chess Composing Tournament (WCCT) 2003-04, he performed the most challenging role of the WCCT director.
To perform his arbiter duties in the best possible way, he created his own computer database, entering tens of thousands of chess compositions with the help of his sons for the benefit of the community, always ready to help others in their check of originality. Živko Janevski worked as an engineer and computer expert, devoting the rest of his time to chess composition. A big part of it was devoted to publishing expert articles, magazines and books, and one of the themes in chess composition holds his name.
He was the General Editor of the famous Orbit, a unique magazine (in English) devoted to helpmates and selfmates that went out for 16 years (1999-2014). Živko also penned, edited and printed a series of books on chess composition: Anthology of Macedonian Problem Chess (1987), The Closed Circle (1993), Vukota Nikoletić: Selected Problems (2002), ASP – The Caught of My Imagination (2004), The cycles and strategy in selfmates (2009), Živko Janevski - Selected Helpmates (2009), Chris J. Feather - Selected Helpmates, by Chris J. Feather & Živko Janevski (2010).
Ulrich Jahr (POL)
Photo: Krzysztof Szeląg
Born in 1939, Ulrich Jahr has played chess since he was fourteen. As a junior, in 1956, he won the title of vice-champion of Bydgoszcz and was awarded the 1st chess category for this result. In 1970 he was elected to the Board of the Regional Chess Association in Bydgoszcz, acting as secretary, and in the years 1976-1980, he was the president of this association.
In the 1970s and 1980s, he co-organized and officiated many national events, including the Rapid and Blitz Polish Championships and the final of the Polish Championship (Bydgoszcz, 1976), the Team Polish Championships and Women's Zonal Tournament (Bydgoszcz, 1981). In 1969 he obtained the 1st arbiter class and five years later got the highest national category in 1978 became the fifteenth Pole in history to receive the title of FIDE international arbiter.
Since 1976 he has been active in the Polish Chess Association, serving as a member of the Arbiters' Committee. From 1980 to 1992 (for three terms), Ulrich was the chairman of this committee, and from 1992-1995 held the position of PZSzach Vice-President. In 1986 he was the chief of the Polish delegation at the Chess Olympiad in Dubai.
From 1999–2003 Ulrih was the first president of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Chess Association, and until 2006 - also the chairman of the Committee of Arbiters of the KPZSzach. In 2008, he was re-elected to the Management Board of KPZSzach (assuming the position of vice-president for organizational matters) and to the composition of the Arbiters' Council of the Polish Chess Federation.
Since 2018, he has been a member of the Ethics Committee of PZSzach. In recognition of his merits and achievements, Ulrich Jagr was awarded the Silver Cross (1983) and the Golden Cross of Merit (1997). Since 1997 he has been an Honorary Member of the Polish Chess Federation. Ulrich Jagr is the winner of "Hetman 2018" in the Lifetime Achievement category.
Lubov Zsiltsova-Lisenko (UKR)
Born in 1956, Lubov Zsiltzova-Lisenko is one of the leading female chess players in the International Braille Chess Association (IBCA). Lubov stamped herself as a very strong player after winning the Ukrainian Women's Chess Championship (1978).
Visually impaired, she is a six-time IBCA World Women's Chess Champion winning this event in 1989, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2022. Lubov Zsiltzova-Lisenko participated in IBCA World Open Chess Championships, where she won the bronze medal (2006). In 1996 Lubov was awarded the title of Woman International Master.
From 1994 to 2018, she played first board for the IBCA team in nine Women's Chess Olympiads, winning individual gold in 1994 (Moscow) and Turin (2006).
Zsiltzova-Lisenko played for Ukraine in six Chess Olympiads for blind people (1992-2008, 2017) and helped her team to take three silver (1996, 2008, 2017) and three bronze (1992, 2000, 2004) medals. For her individual performance, she won gold (2008), silver (2017) and bronze (2000).
Dang Tat Thang (VIE)
Born in 1953, Dang Tat Thang learned to play chess in the USSR when he was a student there and tied his life to the game. For many years he has been serving as Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Vietnam's Chess Federation and FIDE Executive Board member for Asia.
International Organizer since 2011 и International Arbiter since 2000, Dang Tat Thang officiated many important events, the latest of which are the 2021 Vietnam Open and Women's Championships.
