Texas Tech to host top-tier international chess tournament

Tech to host top-tier international chess tournament
Posted: October 28, 2010 – 12:27am
By Matthew McGowan
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Several titans of the chess world will converge on Lubbock during the next few weeks, competing in a tournament that organizers at Texas Tech are calling one of history’s most epic chess showdowns.

Tech’s Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence, or SPICE, is hosting its fourth annual SPICE CUP on the university’s campus from Thursday to Nov. 7 in the Student Union Building on campus.

Lubbock Mayor Tom Martin and institute director Susan Polgar will kick off the event during a 1:30 p.m. ceremony in the SUB.

Round-robin game play is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. in the SUB Matador Room.

The 11-day tournament will host some the game’s biggest names, including grandmasters such as Hungarian Zoltan Almasi, American Alexander Onischuk and Filipino Wesley So — all rated as their respective countries’ best players.

SPICE spokesman Paul Truong said the World Chess Federation-rated tournament’s list of competitors qualifies it as “the highest-rated international invitational round-robin chess tournament in U.S. history.”

The roster of competitors also includes several of Texas Tech’s own Knight Raiders. Tech graduate students Davorin Kuljasevic of Croatia and Gergely Antal of Hungary, both grandmasters, will compete.

The tournament also includes an open team and individual scholastic tournament for U.S. Chess Federation-registered students from kindergarten through 12th grade.

The chess-playing public is also invited to register for a Nov. 5-7 individual single-section tournament. Fifty spots are available to those with a U.S. Chess Federation rating of at least 1600 or to those with any World Chess Federation rating.

For those who’d like to come catch a glimpse of the games and try to meet some of the game’s superstars, admission is free and open to the public.

For a complete schedule, log on to www.depts.ttu.edu/spice/events/spicecup.php or call SPICE at 742-7742.

Want to play? Here’s how:

Oct. 30
Spice cup 2010 Scholastic Chess Championship (students K-12)
•Four-round Swiss system USCF-rated individual and team tournament
•Event Site: Tech Student Union Building
•Contact Info: 806-742-7742 or e-mail SPICE@ttu.edu
•USCF membership required.
•Games are played in four sections: primary (grades K-2), elementary (grades 3-5), middle school (grades 6-8), and high school (grades 9-12).
n $25 on-site registration. All players must check in by 10:15 a.m.

Nov. 5-7
2010 SPICE Cup FIDE-Rated Open
•Six-round Swiss system USCF- and FIDE-rated individual single-section tournament
•Event Site: Tech Student Union Building
•Contact Info: 806-742-7742 or e-mail SPICE@ttu.edu

Description of tournament:
•USCF membership required: Participants must be rated 1600 USCF or any FIDE rating; limited to first 50 entries. (Bring chess set and clock if possible).
•On-site registration: All players must check in by 10:30 a.m. Nov. 5.
•Round schedule: Nov. 5 — 11 a.m. round one; 4 p.m. round two
Nov. 6 — 10 a.m. round three; 3 p.m. round four
Nov. 7 — 9 a.m. round five: 2 p.m. round six
•Entry fees: U.S. players with FIDE Rating $50, without FIDE rating, $75 by Nov. 2 plus $25 more on site. Titled players and foreign FIDE rated players free, but $50 deducted from prize if won.
•Prizes: First place, $1,000; second, $500; third, $250; fourth, $150; fifth, $100.