Top stars for chess tourney
A STAFF REPORTER

Calcutta: The 4th Calcutta Open Grandmaster Chess tournament will get underway from Tuesday at Gorky Sadan. Grandmasters Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), Nigel Short (England) and Ni Hua (China) are some of the top names to be seen in action during the 10-day meet.

Announcing this at a news conference, on Friday, Kumar Shankar Bagchi, president of the Alekhine Chess Club, said that for the first time in Asia, three players with Elo ratings above 2700 are participating in an Open tournament.

“We could not find any instance of the same in world chess also. It could not just be a first in Asia, but in world too,” he said.

Altogether 124 participants, including 35 Grandmasters and 30 International Masters, will vie for the top slot.

The total prize money is $20,000 with the winner taking home $6,000. The runner-up will get $ 4,000 and third placed $ 2,500.

The tournament is organised by Alekhine Chess Club and co-sponsored by Peerless Smart Financial Solutions and School of Management Education and Research.

Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com

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