Ion Bălănel


Ion Bălănel, is a Romanian chess player, International Master , four-times Romanian Chess Championship winner.

Biography

In the 1950s Ion Bălănel was one of the strongest Romanian chess players. In Romanian Chess Championships, he won six medals: four gold and two bronze. Ion Bălănel was two-times participant in World Chess Championship Zonal tournaments: in 1951 in Mariánské Lázně he ranked 13th place, but in 1954 in Prague he ranked 8th place. Ion Bălănel won International Chess tournament in Międzyzdroje and Ploiești. In 1955, in Bucharest he played in the national team match with France and on the second board defeating Chantal Chaudé de Silans with 2:0. In 1954, he was awarded the FIDE International Master title.
Ion Bălănel played for Romania in the Chess Olympiad:
Ion Bălănel played for Romania in the European Team Chess Championship preliminaries:
In 1958 he was virtually excommunicated from his club Dinamo and put in a lunatic asylum by the communist regime.