Topalov, Mamedyarov, Shirov, and Ponomariov at Villarrobledo

`Topalov, Mamedyarov, Shirov, and Ponomariov top seeds at the Villarrobledo chess festival
30 players 2500+ to take part at the chess competition

GM Veselin Topalov, GM Shakhryiar Mamedyarov, GM Alexei Shirov, and GM Ruslan Ponomariov (winner of 2007) will be the top seeded players at the XXIII edition of the Villarrobledo chess festival. Besides them a total of 45+ titled players will participate among which GM Vadim Milov, GM Vladimir Malakhov, GM Predrag Nikolic, GM Ivan Sokolov, GM Loek Van Wely, GM Ilia Smirin, GM Arizmendi, GM Ljubomir Ljubojevic, GM Agrest, IM Elizabeth Paehtz, etc.

The tornament will take place 2-3 August, 2008, in the Spanish city of Villarrobledo. It is a traditional event famous for giving interesting prizes. In the past, the top players were awarded their wieght in wine or cheese. The organizers have not revealed what will be the surprising prize this year, but have confirmed that the money part of the prize is 3000 eur for 1st place.

The tournament will be a Swiss event with rate of play 20 minutes + 3 sec.

The festival will start with several simuls on July 31 and will continue with a rapid team chess event and conferences. Expect detailed daily reports on Chessdom.com