School chess as the entry point
Damir Levacic founded Cannes Echecs in 1985 from the chess section of MJC Cannes. The club offers in-person learning and competition, while a 2014 federation profile described its structure in three terms: education, sport and events.
The club says it has worked in schools across Cannes and nearby communities for more than thirty years. The same federation profile described this work as a bridge from school chess into competition, not as a separate outreach program detached from club life.
Ten titles across time
Cannes Echecs won its tenth Top Jeunes title in 2022. Top Jeunes is the highest division of France's youth club team competition, so ten titles make this a pattern of repeated team success rather than the story of one exceptional season.
A club presence inside the Festival des Jeux
Cannes Echecs runs the Open International de Cannes as part of the Festival International des Jeux. In 2026, an Open A was held at the Palais des Festivals within the 39th Festival, placing club chess inside a public event devoted to games.
An exchange with Madras
The twinning with Chess Gurukul in Madras became tangible in 2015, when Romuald De Labaca invited an Indian delegation to the Festival des Jeux. A Cannes delegation travelled to India in 2016, making the exchange reciprocal.
The club's Indian connection also developed beyond the twinning. Gukesh, who was not a Chess Gurukul member, played the Cannes summer open at eleven.
In 2019, he and Praggnanandhaa played for Cannes in the Top 12, then the highest division of the French club championship.
Sources
- 1.Cannes Echecs, fiche club I06014, Fédération Française des Échecs
- 2.Présentation du Club, Association Cannes Echecs
- 3.Association Cannes Échecs - ACE, Ville de Cannes
- 4.TOP JEUNES : 10e titre pour Cannes !, Fédération Française des Échecs
- 5.Cahier FFE no 10 : Cannes fait son festival, Fédération Française des Échecs
Show 7 more sources
- 6.Qui est Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, prodige indien des échecs surnommé pragg ?, Europe Échecs
- 7.Open International d'échecs de Cannes 2024 - Bharath Subramaniyam, 16 ans, remporte l'Open International de Cannes, Europe Échecs
- 8.39ème Festival International des Jeux de Cannes - Open A (+2100), Fédération Française des Échecs
- 9.Championnat de France Interclubs Jeunes, règlement 2022-2023, Fédération Française des Échecs
- 10.Le Top 12 à Haguenau, du 30 mai au 9 juin, Fédération Française des Échecs
- 11.Zoom sur les étoiles montantes indiennes du Top 12 d'échecs à Brest, Fédération Française des Échecs
- 12.CANNES ECHECS, Festival International des Jeux de Cannes
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