The 2013 Commonwealth Open Chess Championship will run concurrently with the South African Open Chess Championship, the Nelson Mandela Bay Open Chess Championship and the South African Open Blitz chess Championship.
These Championships will be held at The Boardwalk Hotel, Convention Centre and Spa in the city of Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa from 5th July 2013 to 14th July 2013.
The list of participants includes a lot of strong GMs. First seeds are Sergey Fedorchuk (Ukraine), Vladislav Tkachiev (France), Sergei Tiviakov (Netherlands) and Abhijeet Gupta (India).
The Commonwealth and South African Open Chess Championships 2013 and the South African Open Blitz Chess Championships 2013 are open to all chess players.
The Commonwealth and South African Open Chess Championships 2013 B-section is restricted to players who have a FIDE or national chess rating in their home country of less than 1800 (or equivalent). However, if a player younger than 12 years of age has a rating in excess of 1800, this player may still compete in the B-section in order to be eligible for the Commonwealth medal within the respective age group category.
Any player that is eligible to play in the B-section may still elect to play in the Championship section should such player wish to do so.
No titled players may play in the B-section of the tournaments. A player with a FIDE title, irrespective of age or rating may not participate in the B-section as it is compulsory for all titled players to play in the Open Championship section of the tournament.
The main event will be 11-round Swiss tournament. The total prize fund for all events is R250 000 (approx 20,000 EUR).
Last year Commonwealth Chess Championship was held in Chennai, India.
Side events include Grandmaster simuls and lectures, FIDE Arbiters Seminar, FIDE Trainers Seminar, Shamwari Safari and a party for players.
Lots of useful information for the players on the tournament website
Participants (top seeds):
1 GM Fedorchuk Sergey A. UKR 2665
2 GM Tkachiev Vladislav FRA 2649
3 GM Tiviakov Sergei NED 2644
4 GM Gupta Abhijeet IND 2600
5 GM Musunuri Rohit Lalith IND 2571
6 IM Roychowdhury Saptarshi IND 2500
7 GM Conquest Stuart C ENG 2492
8 GM Grover Sahaj IND 2478
9 GM Barua Dibyendu IND 2431
10 IM Solomon Kenny RSA 2414
How much money?