NATO CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP..
Held Aug. 8-12 in Kaunas, Lithuania -with teams from around the world competing.
U.S. “SPECIAL FORCES”…….[Chess Team Six]
Petty Officer 3rd Class Mario Vinoya Jr., Naval Medical Center San Diego
Petty Officer 1st Class Albertryan Hernandez, USS Denver, Sasebo, Japan
Master Sgt. Robert Bucholz, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Master Sgt. Nate Ola, Buckley Air Force Base, Aurora, Colo.
Master Gunnery Sgt. James Adkins, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Staff Sgt. Daniel Fissel, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C.
SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — Petty Officer 1st Class Albertryan Hernandez finished second in a military-wide chess tournament in June, earning a conveted seat on the six-person U.S. military team that will compete at a NATO tournament next month – quite an accomplishment considering he hadn’t played seriously in 11 years….
http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/japan/sasebo-sailor-headed-to-nato-chess-championship-1.149320
Unofficial NATO Chess Tournaments had been held in Denmark every year since 1978.
In 1989, they were upgraded to an official NATO Championship, for countries and individuals, when the tournament was held in Hammelburg, Germany.
http://www.natochess.com/index.php?page=history
Official Site http://www.natochess.com/