Oliver Gonzalez Memorial

Oliver Gonzalez Memorial

Football, Karaoke and 15.000 Euros: Welcome to our chess festival!
Sep 7, 2011

The Oliver Gonzalez Memorial will be a unique chess open held from 8 to 16 October 2011 in the capital of Spain. Let’s have a look what makes this event so special:

• 5000 euros to the winner: One of the highest first prize ever seen at a Spanish open tournament.

• Side events organised for each day: Football, ping-pong, soccer, gastronomy night, karaoke, fiestas on the streets of Madrid, magic show, museums, theatre, rowing a boat at the Retiro, ‘Madrid from the air’ with a cable car, visiting the Real Madrid stadium and so on.

• Special playing system: Participants can decide to play with a normal playing schedule (one round each day from 8 to 16 October) or to play the first six rounds with double rounds (8, 9 and 12 October) and gain free days on this way. The two groups will be united for the last three rounds (14, 15 and 16 October). Players can ask for up to three bye-s (earning half a point with each bye), but this is only an option for the first six rounds.

• Madrid in October: While the summer can be too hot and the winter quite cold, the spring and the autumn are ideal seasons to visit the Spanish capital.

The main sponsor of the tournament, the Vázquez & Torres Ingeniería S.L, provides in total 54 prizes with almost 15.000 euros as a prize fund. The building of VTI at the Technologic Park of Leganés will serve as the playing venue, and will be equipped with DGT boards, standard boards, ping-pong and soccer tables.

Anna Rudolf, the organiser of the socio-cultural events, explains:

“We wanted to create a tournament that goes beyond chess. A tournament that celebrates chess as a community of people and gives players the chance to enjoy being part of this community outside of the chessboard, too.

I like tournaments because of the game but also because of the people I meet. The problem is that usually you are only able to exchange a few words with the other participants during or after the game. The rest of the day you spend in your hotel alone or with a group of friends, and you don’t see the other players until the next game.

This is what we wanted to change. We want our participants to play football together, to sing karaoke together, to visit the Bernabeu stadium together, to taste local food together… And most importantly: we would like them to get to know each other better and have an unforgettable stay in Madrid.

The soccer and ping-pong tables we need for setting up a battle field at the playing hall – when people finish their games they can compete with each other in these sports, too. On 11 October we will rearrange the building of VTI to watch the Spanish football team in action, but we will also organise our own football tournament, too, of course.

The rest of the details let me keep as a secret, but three things I can promise: a strong tournament, a friendly atmosphere and a lot of fun!”

Contact the organisers: MemorialOGS@gmail.com

Website: http://memorialolivergonzalez.com/