Pace back from EU Championship

Chess champion Colin Pace is back from Arvier, Valle D'Aosta, Italy, where he represented Malta in the third EU Championship. The invitation for this competition was extended during the Mediterranean Championship in Cannes earlier this year.

Pace, seeded 44th, scored six points out of ten, finishing joint 21st out of a field of 112 players. Thanks to his fine showing he was classified fourth in the 2,000-2,250-rated category.

The competition was won by Grandmaster Nikola Sedlak, of Serbia.

Meanwhile, the second phase of the 2007 Chess Championship in Malta, the Farsons Candidates, is underway with a strong field of players taking part.

The top four will qualify and join Pace and Andrew Borg for the 72nd National Finals due in October.

Candidates (round one): A. Ibrahim vs J. Gauci 0-1; D. Vella vs S. Sacco 1-0; O. Said vs H. Camilleri 0-1; P. Sammut Briffa vs F. Ellul 1-0; R. Sammut vs J. Richards 1-0; P. Zerafa vs N. Grima 1-0; G. Caruana vs R. Zerafa 0-1. Farrugia Chris - bye.