18 GMs for Chennai Open chess
D Ram Raj. Chennai
Eighteen Grandmasters, 27 International Masters, 3 Women Grandmasters and 4 international Women Masters will feature among the 378 players from Russia, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Malaysia, Nepal, France, Italy, Luxembourg, and India in the Chennai Open 2010 International Grandmaster Chess Tournament at the Indoor Stadium from January 24 to February 3.
“Russian Grandmaster Maxim Torov (Elo rating of 2584) will be the top seed. The tournament will be played on a 11-round Swiss basis carrying a total prize money of Rs 10,14,500. The winner will earn a purse of Rs 200,000. A minimum of top 25 board games will be webcast live on the internet. The games can be viewed on www.indianchessfed.org and www.tamilchess.com,” All India Chess Federation secretary D V Sundar told reporters on Friday.
Source: http://sports.indiainfo.com
Impressive
Chennai Open from today
Chennai: Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran will be the top seed in the Chennai Open International Grandmaster chess tournament which will be inaugurated at the Nehru Indoor Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
In a press conference here on Friday, D.V. Sundar, Honorary Secretary of the AICF, said 386 entries were received till date and by the time the first move is made on Monday the number could cross 400.
“Chennai has joined the elite club of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata in organising international open tournaments and we hope to do it each year,” said Sundar.
Six of the 19 GMs in the fray are from India. Iran’s top-rated player Maghami is coming after the success at the Parsvnath tournament in New Delhi. The second seed is GM Maxim Turov of Russia.
Indian challenge
Leading the Indian challenge will be GMs S. Arun Prasad and Sundararajan Kidambi of Chennai. The prize fund of Rs. 10.14 lakh has a first prize cap of Rs. 2 lakh. The tournament is being organised by the Sports Promotion Foundation and the Tamil Nadu State Chess Association.
The sponsors are Government of Tamil Nadu, Life Insurance Corporation of India and ONGC. “The Tamil Nadu Government has come forward to support this event,” said S. Ganesan, Chairman, Organising Committee.
A total of 14 nations from Asia and Europe will be represented here. The 386 entrants include 19 GMs, 27 IMs, three WGMs and three WIMs.
Source:- http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/24/stories/2010012460571600.htm