The London Chess Classic in December
TWIC
The dates for the London Chess Classic at the end of the year are now confirmed with the tournament taking place 7th-16th December 2009. The field is being finalised but it can be announced that Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik, Nigel Short, Ni Hua and Luke McShane will be competing.There will be 8 players in a 7 round all-play-all.
| 1st London Chess Classic (ENG), 8-16 xii 2009. Cat IXX (2704) Players list | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Name | Ti | NAT | April Elo | DoB |
| 1 | Carlsen, Magnus | g | NOR | 2770 | 1990 |
| 2 | Kramnik, Vladimir | g | RUS | 2759 | 1975 |
| 3 | Ni, Hua | g | CHN | 2724 | 1983 |
| 4 | Adams, Michael | g | ENG | 2703 | 1971 |
| 5 | Short, Nigel D | g | ENG | 2674 | 1965 |
| 6 | McShane, Luke J | g | ENG | 2596 | 1984 |
Source: http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html#london09
London Chess Centre is proud to announce a world-class chess tournament to be held in London in December, 2009. The event will be an elite eight-player all-play-all in the most prestigious tournament in the capital since former world champion Anatoly Karpov won the Phillips and Drew Masters in 1984.
Since then, despite London hosting three world title contests, there has not been a tournament in which England’s leading players could lock horns with the world’s best on home soil. The December 09 tournament will be the first in a series of events designed to reinvigorate UK chess and promote the game and its undoubted educational benefits in schools and communities.
The tournament will be FIDE Category 19 with an average FIDE rating of 2700 and a minimum prize fund of €100,000. The eight players will comprise of three English and five world-class Grandmasters from abroad. Included in the prize fund will be a €10,000 Brilliant Game award along with separate prizes for each victory with the White and Black pieces. Matches will be covered live online where fans will be able to vote for Game of the Day.
The tournament has applied for membership of the prestigious annual Grand Slam of Chess which culminates in Bilbao and boasts a €400,000 prize fund.
The games will be under Classical Chess time control; 40 moves in two hours, 20 in the subsequent hour then an additional 15 minutes plus an increment of 30 seconds a move until the end of the game. The tournament will further benefit from the use of Sofia Rules which disallow early draws. Players will receive three points for a win and one for a draw.
Malcolm Pein (IM) Director London Chess Centre
This will be exciting. Go Magnus!