Took a quick trip to THASSOS Island from Kavala. A paradise island 20 mins by boat not far from the coast of Kavala.

We met up with our friends from Vancouver who are visiting their family who live in THASSOS. A paradise island in the Aegean Sea. They own the restaurant named ATHOS in the photos.

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Meeting Stavroula World Youth Chess Champion U14 Girls 2013 was a lot of fun. She is a really good chess player and fun too. Other friends there were Maria and her friend who just arrived from Italy, and our friend IM To Minh also just arrived from Budapest.

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A really fun time! ♥ The adult chess players were around 2000 + elo.
(thanks John for introducing your chess friends to me., and Maria for taking me out afterwards)

  Παντελής Τσίρλης,  Theodora Hatzipanteli and Savvas Manelidis

 Maria Manelidou and Thanasis Emmanouilidis 

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I am having an awesome time in Kavala. I met many people who are very helpful to me. One person is Aris who is in these photos. Aris and I meet and go over my games and learn some chess togther. We are in the Kavala Chess Club.

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Thank you to our chess friend Ioannis (John), and club Kyokushin Karate Kavala  for inviting me to your class. John is a chess player and also a black belt Karate coach. It was an awesome workout.

I try hard to keep fit and especially when I am about to play chess in a tournament. Sitting for many hours to play chess takes a lot out of the body and mind! My next tournament is the International Open Kavala Aug 2-9.

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The chess tournament organiser Ioannis (John) invited me to attend the Kyokushin Karate Club in Kavala. John is a chess coach and also a black belt Karate coach. It was a great time and Jacob and I had a good work out. We are going to try to go regularly whilst we are here in Kavala. Staying fit is part of my routine for preparing for a chess tournament.

More photos: SELF DEFENCE for GOOD CHESS PLAYERS!! lol (Joke)

I think this training is going to help me be a more aggressive chess player and more confident with my moves!

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We had a great day at the beach! Thanks for the fun time John and your family!

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We were very happy to arrive in Kavala after only a further 2 hrs on a bus. The bus ride had break taking views along the way as it was close by the ocean most of the way from Thessaloniki.

When we arrived our chess friends were waiting for us and we went straight to the apt we will stay in. It is just a few minutes walk down to the waterfront and the city is all around with plenty to see and do. I really like the city life so it was a perfect combination of city and ocean close by.

We have been lucky to know the chess organisers and their family who have met up with us a few times to show us around.

Food prices are comparable to Vancouver, except Gelato ice cream is only 1 Euro!!

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The bus journey from Budapest was appro 19 hrs long after the boarder stops. I’m surprised it was  quite a pleasant bus journey travelling through Serbia Yugoslavia into Greece. Talking with many people helped the time pass also.

Another bus ride 2 hrs from Thesssaloniki took us to Kavala. The most beautiful bus ride beside the ocean most of the way. I just couldn’t sleep and had to keep looking.

Thessaloniki is a beautiful old city by the water.

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I’m in Kecskemet, Hungary about 1 hr from Budapest, playing chess in a strong tournament. I drew 3 games with opponents over 1843, and drew one game with someone 2131. I have learnt a lot from this tournament. Having faith and confidence in my ability is the biggest lesson learnt, after asking for a draw in a winning game to me. Many people asked why I did this and my answer is that I felt my opponent had to be more experienced in the endgame and I didn’t want to take the chance. But taking chances, like in life, I had to do it to find out. It turned out I had the better chances of a win. So next time for sure!

So playing on and staying focused in the face of being possibly defeated by a stronger player, and believing I always have a chance to win is the way to go.

My facebook friends kept me strong with great advice on how to keep on playing to the end!

Kecskemet – A beautiful town.

What a surprise to find out that it is the birth place of Kodaly Zolton. I studied Kodaly music training when I was about 5 years old until graduation, at the Vancouver Academy of Music in my hometown Vancouver, Canada.

Zoltán Kodály

Here is a video of me singing in a Kodaly recital when I was 8 years old. A fun memory for me!