The 2010 SPICE Cup will take place on Thursday, October 28 – Sunday, November 7 at the beautiful campus of Texas Tech University. This prestigious event is growing bigger every year. It is expected to be the highest rated international invitational tournament in U.S. history to date.
To make the tournament a lot more exciting, the SPICE Cup committee has unanimously voted to adapt the following new rules for the A group:
– No draw offer allowed prior to move 30
– A win = 3 points, a draw = 1 point, and loss = 0 point
Confirmed players:
GM Zoltan Almasi (HUN) 2717 (#2 in Hungary)
GM Alexander Onischuk (USA) 2701 (#3 in the U.S., former U.S. Champion)
GM Wesley So (Philippines) 2674 (#1 in the Philippines)
GM Georg Meier (Germany) 2648 (#2 in Germany)
GM Ray Robson (USA) 2562 (Youngest American GM in history)
GM Eugene Perelshteyn (USA) 2523 (winner of 2007 SPICE Cup)
The format of the A group will once again be a 6-player DRR (category 16) event. GM Almasi of Hungary is the final player confirmed. The average FIDE rating of the A group is 2637.5.
More than 30 GMs inquired about an invitation for the final spot in the A group. I wish I have enough space to invite everyone. Unfortunately, it is not possible. But I am working on getting more sponsors to expand the event in future years.
The B group will be a 10-player (category 10-11) RR event. The players confirmed for B group so far is GM Kuljasevic (2551), GM Finegold (2530), IM Krush (2476), IM Ippolito (2458), IM Rensch (2404), FM Yang (2396), and 3 more have been tentatively confirmed.
We are planning to add a C group for 2010 in addition to an Open Tournament.
This is impressive. Congrats!
Seriously considering driving to texas for this
if only BUT TIME TDs viewed chess as you do many of our youth would be headed in the right direction BRAVO BRAVO susan continue the great work
It would be nice if the B group could be a GM norm tournament
Jorg, why do you think Susan has 3 GMs and the rest IMs and FM? So they can get IM and GM norms.
Which way did he go Jorg?
Which way did he go Jorg?
Perelshteyn should be in the B group, even if he won in 2007. He’s not exactly like Robson who’s still young and improving. This is a much stronger A group now, and he would just be a whipping boy. Of course, Susan may have committed before the 30 other GMs inquired.