This tournament has been organised already for ten years by the Chess club "Draga". As the director of the tournament and the president of the Chess Union of the Primorje Gorski Kotar County Ivan Mandekić said during the opening ceremony, the competition had been initiated with the aim of giving a chance to young promising female chess players, and also providing to female chess players worthy competition conditions, whose games and results were often lost in the multitude of men's tournaments. This year exceptionally, due to the holding of the European Individual Chess Championship, tournament traditionally organised on Women's Day, has been postponed for July, but it did not influence the activity of the competition that on the map of Europe distinguishes Rijeka and Croatia as centres that support the women's rights and promote female sports in general.

Mandekić expressed his thanks to the president of the Republic of Croatia, the City of Rijeka and the Primorje Gorski Kotar County for their sponsorship offered for many years. This year, the tournament has been also supported by the Croatian Chess Union.

The team of four grandmasters is made up of the actual title-holder and the champion of the chess world-power Ukraine, grandmaster Eugenia Doluhanova, Olympic Romanian national team chess player Mihaela Sandu, last year's winner and participants in all the tournaments held so far Mirjana Medić, and a special attraction, presently holding a Croatian passport, junior world champion and Olympic national team chess player Valentina Golubenko. Rijeka mayor handed over silver coins of the City of Rijeka to regular participants in the tournament Mirjana Medić e Valentina Golubenko. The following chess players will also take part in the tournament: Rajna Šargač, Lora Kukić and Ivona Purgar from Croatia, Julia Gromova from Russia, Tereza Olsarova from the Czech Republic and Elena Cherednichenko from Ukraine.

The tournament can be watched live on the website of the Chess Club Draga.
(S.R.)