The 18th International Chess Festival Mikhail Chigorin Memorial will take place on 12-22nd October at the “Azimut Hotel” in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Festival consists of two tournaments:
A. Rapid chess tournament, October 12-13, starts at 17:00.
Time control 15 minutes per game + 5 seconds increment for each move, 9 round Swiss.
Entry fee: 1000 roubles (juniors under 16, seniors and women – 800 roubles).
Total prize fund (granted by St. Petersburg Chess Federation) – 400.000 roubles (approx 9.600 EUR)
B. Classical chess tournament, stage of Cup Russia, October 14–22
Time control: 90 minutes for 40 moves, 30 minutes for the rest of the game with 30 seconds increment per move, starting from move 1.
According to the Cup Russia regulations, players may agree to a draw after move 40 only.
Total prize fund (granted by St. Petersburg Chess Federation and Russian Chess Federation) – 1.500.000 roubles (approx 36.000 EUR).
Full regulations here. The preliminary list of (top seeds) participants is posted bellow.
Title / Name / Rating / FED / B-year:
g Areshchenko Alexander 2672 UKR 1986
g Mamedov Rauf 2660 AZE 1988
g Kurnosov Igor 2648 RUS 1985 – winner of the recent Politiken Cup 2011
g Khairullin Ildar 2642 RUS 1990
g Khismatullin Denis 2635 RUS 1984 – winner of the recent “100 Years of Mikhail Botvinnik” Open in St. Petersburg
g Matlakov Maxim 2630 RUS 1991
g Sjugirov Sanan 2627 RUS 1993
g Kuzubov Yuri 2623 UKR 1990
g Kokarev Dmitry 2619 RUS 1982
g Aleksandrov Aleksej 2618 BLR 1973
g Popov Ivan 2616 RUS 1990
g Andriasian Zaven 2615 ARM 1989
g Volkov Sergey 2614 RUS 1974
g Dvoirys Semen 2598 RUS 1958 – winner of the recent Lev Polugaevsky Memorial
g Rakhmanov Aleksandr 2592 RUS 1989
g Jumabayev Rinat 2589 KAZ 1989
g Burmakin Vladimir 2588 RUS 1967
g Papin Vasily 2583 RUS 1988
g Bocharov Dmitry 2582 RUS 1982
g Vorobiov Evgeny E. 2581 RUS 1976
g Smirnov Pavel 2580 RUS 1982
g Maletin Pavel2579 RUS 1986
m Kovalenko Igor 2578 UKR 1988
g Shomoev Anton 2577 RUS 1981
m Demchenko Anton 2574 RUS 1987
g Zontakh Andrey 2569 UKR 1970
g Kovchan Alexander 2569 UKR 1983
m Geller Jakov 2563 RUS 1986
g Maiorov Nikita 2558 BLR 1985
g Vysochin Spartak 2558 UKR 1975
g Rychagov Andrey 2556 RUS 1979
g Shaposhnikov Evgeny 2551 RUS 1981
g Yakovich Yuri 2549 RUS 1962
g Mastrovasilis Athanastasios 2549 GRE 1979
g Kotanjian Tigran 2546 ARM 1981
g Popov Valerij 2545 RUS 1974
g Epishin Vladimir 2544 RUS 1965
g Malakhatko Vadim 2543 BEL 1977
g Kuzmin Alexey 2539 RUS 1963
g Gabrielian Artur 2531 RUS 1982
g Prokopchuk Evgeny 2523 RUS 1978
g Al-Sayed Mohammed 2519 QAT 1981
g Neverov Valeriy 2508 UKR 1964
Why Svidler, Grischuk, and Kosteniuk not playing?