Vaujany is a village located in the French Alps and is mainly known for its winter sports thanks to its cable cars which connect it to important ski areas. The place is just as pleasant in summer and since 2010 has hosted the Vaujany chess festival, which we have attended four times.
Used to the Vaujany chess festival, we decided to go back for this 2022 edition (July 14 to 22). We did not regret our choice because at an altitude of 1200 meters we experienced the heat wave in a much more pleasant way than most Europeans.
Playing conditions
The chess festival takes place in the Vaujany leisure area, a building that also houses a swimming pool and sports hall. The location is pleasant and close to accommodation and restaurants. The video below gives you a quick overview of our journey from our accommodation to the playing room.
Tournaments
The Vaujany festival consists of three opens: the main tournament (fide ranking > 1800), the “accession” tournament (fide ranking < 1900) and the “petits zelos” tournament (fide ranking < 1500). The rounds are played in the afternoon except for the last round.
The French grandmaster Christian Bauer won the 2022 main tournament with 7.5 points out of 9, the podium was completed by Isik Can (Turkey) and Glenn Flear (England). The tournament deserves the name of international tournament with 11 nationalities represented (and important announcements made in English).
The last two years, the maximum capacity of registered players has been reached, so if you are interested in this tournament we advise you to register early as many regulars come back every year.
Finally, one of the characteristics of the Vaujany Chess Festival is that you will usually come across one or more “chess holiday camps”. So expect to come across groups of youngsters accompanied by one or more coaches who will be highly motivated and prepared to play against you if you meet them in the tournament!
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Our results
Zoe
“accession” tournament: 5 points/9 – 24°/69
I was hoping for a better result in this tournament even if I am far from the disaster of last year when I lost 80 points. Lately I’m having a hard time getting my head in the tournament and I usually perform poorly in the first 2-3 rounds.
Clément
Main tournament: 4 points / 9 – 54°/95
Disastrous tournament on my side. Despite a good draw in round 2 against the GM Jozsef Horvath, I lost several games on deep preparations from my opponents. My defeats of the last two rounds close terribly this tournament and make me go below 2200 …
Conclusion
Even if our results are often disappointing in Vaujany, it remains a tournament that we enjoy very much and we will gladly return. We wish chess camps had existed 15-20 years ago so that we could have enjoyed them rather than suffering on the chessboard today!
Summary
- Tournament type: 3 opens divided by Fide ranking
- Time control: 100 min for 40 moves, then 40 min, with 30 s. per move.
- Playing schedule: 1 round per day for 9 days
- Number of players: 220
- Number of titled players: 24
- Situation: Vaujany, France
- Side events: Chess book sellers
- Dates 2022: july 14 to 22
- Dates 2023: ?
- Tournament website
- Results 2022
Tournament anecdote
Among the French tournaments, Vaujany is our favourite, even if in four editions we have lost 137 Elo points between the two of us, if you see them around, please return them.
What we liked
- The location is superb in the heart of the Alps with a view of the "Fare" waterfall. Even after 4 years, you can't get enough of it!
- It is very easy to find accommodation at a good price (rates negotiated by the organiser). In addition, as the vast majority of the accommodation are flats, it is possible to cook for yourself, which also saves money on this point. Even if there are many excellent restaurants on site !
- There are walks for all levels and of varying duration (to recover from a defeat for example)
- Many activities are possible outside the tournament (swimming pool, archery, mountain biking ...)
- The playing conditions are pleasant (lots of space between the boards)
- The efficiency of the organising team (reactivity, possibility to pay for your registration online...)
- A good point for the gender mix with 15% of female players, much more than our previous tournaments
What we liked less
- As we tested in 2017, attending the tournament without a car is quite complicated. Access to the village is possible by public transportation from Grenoble but it is quite long. Moreover, you have to be organized for the shopping because once on the spot there is just a small grocery store (but plenty of restaurants).
- Our poor performance đ
Tourism
Vaujany is a village perched at an altitude of 1250 m in the department of IsĂšre, close to Savoie. Its etymology is “Via-janus”: gateway (the gateway from DauphinĂ© to Savoie). Nestled in the heart of the Alps the village faces the “Grandes Rousses” massif, offering a superb panorama of the Fare waterfall.
The village was previously dedicated to agriculture and mountain breeding but experienced a significant demographic decline throughout the 20th century. Several important transformations took place at the end of the 20th century with the construction of the Grand’Maison dam (work completed in 1985). Over the last thirty years, the village has been transformed into a resort, with numerous chalets and tourist residences mainly oriented towards winter sports, with links to the Alpes d’Huez area. Summer activities are not left out, hiking, trails, via-ferrata, mountain biking or road cycling, the resort even has a chess tournament since 2010!
We really enjoyed walking in the morning before each game, doing loops of less than 5km, but “real” hikers have the possibility to go on trails of different lengths with more or less difference in altitude, cool passages in the forest by streams or waterfalls and offering superb panoramas!
This concludes our review of the Vaujany Chess Festival, a tournament we particularly enjoy and will be playing again in the years to come. We will stay in France for our next tournament which will take place in Albi in mid August.
