Ion Bălănel (born 7 June 1926) is a Romanian

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

player, an

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

(IM) (1954), and a four-times Romanian Chess Championship winner (1950, 1953, 1955, 1958).

Biography

In the 1950s Ion Bălănel was one of the strongest Romanian chess players. In Romanian Chess Championships, he won six medals: four gold (1950, 1953, 1955, 1958) and two bronze (1951, 1954). Ion Bălănel was two-times participant in World Chess Championship Zonal tournaments: in 1951 in

Mariánské Lázně Mariánské Lázně (; ) is a spa town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. Most of the town's buildings come from its Golden Era in the second half of the 19th century, when many c ...

he ranked 13th place, but in 1954 in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

he ranked 8th place. Ion Bălănel won International Chess tournament in

Międzyzdroje Międzyzdroje (; ), historically known as Misdroy in English, is a city and a seaside resort in northwestern Poland on the island of Wolin on the Baltic coast. The city is located in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, and is a seat of the Kamień C ...

(1952, shared 1st-2nd place with Zdravko Milev) and

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Ble ...

(1957). In 1955, in Bucharest he played in the national team match with France and on the second board defeating Chantal Chaudé de Silans with 2:0. In 1954, he was awarded the FIDE International Master (IM) title. Ion Bălănel played for Romania in the

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in FIDE Onli ...

: * In 1956, at first board in the

12th Chess Olympiad The 12th Chess Olympiad (, ''12-ya Shakhmatnaya olimpiada''), organized by the FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. team tournament, as well as se ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

(+2, =5, -5). Ion Bălănel played for Romania in the

European Team Chess Championship The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...

preliminaries: * In 1957, at second board in the 1st European Team Chess Championship preliminaries (+2, =0, -2). In 1958 he was virtually excommunicated from his club ''Dinamo'' and put in a lunatic asylum by the communist regime.

References

External links

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Ion Bălănel
chess games at 365chess.com 1926 births Possibly living people Chess players from Bucharest Chess International Masters Chess Olympiad competitors Romanian chess players {{Romania-chess-bio-stub