Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2012

Round 5 Report

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:23:12 +0100

They are off and running But wait a moment; is not the event halfway over? Well, that is perfectly true, but Challengers B and Amateur B started today. There are 83 players in Challengers B, 3 less than the first half and 38 in Amateur B which is 8 more. Several players had entered for two morning events and the Masters, but withdrew from the B tournament. They found 20 games in 11 days too much.

Historic Clash

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:18:45 +0100

There will be an historic clash at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Masters in Round 7 today at the Caleta Hotel starting 3.00pm today, Gibraltar time (GMT+1).

Women's World Champion Yifan Hou (China) rated 2605 will play white against Judit Polgar (Hungary) 2710, the highest-ever rated woman player in the history of the game.

Saturday's Master Classes

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:16:13 +0100

There were two fascinating Masterclasses with Michael Adams and Emil Sutovsky at 21.00hrs in the commentary room.

Chief Minister visits the Tradewise Chess Festival

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:13:22 +0100

Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo accompanied by his wife Justine visited the 2012 Tradewise Chess Festival on day six of the competition. Saturday was the first time ever a Chief Minister of Gibraltar made an official visit in the history of the festival. Speaking live on the tournament's website Mr Picardo commented the festival was impressive on many different levels.

Round 4 Report

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:10:34 +0100

One of the glories of the congress is the ambience at the Caleta Hotel of an evening. Grandmasters and patzers (that means a weak player in chess) mingle together socially at the bar. Where else can you expect to hear some people discussing the latest wrinkles in opening theory while elsewhere Maria Yarur is accompanying herself singing on the ukulele? She and I even danced a little. The applause was… err, polite for me. Moreover this evening Judit Polgar, the strongest female player in history, gave a well-attended master class. She showed her R2 game v Vyacheslav Ikonnikov, and then chatted for at least another half hour on various aspects of her career. She provided entertainment and education for players of all strengths and took questions from the audience.

Masterclass

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:09:29 +0100

The strongest female chess player of all time by far, Judit Polgar rated 2710, gave a Masterclass on Friday night at 21.00hrs.

Masterclass

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:07:52 +0100

Nigel Short analyzes his win over Mamedyarov | Runtime: 20 mins

Round 3 Report

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:06:31 +0100

Participation of female players in this congress is very important to the whole ethos of this congress. Our webmaster, Steve Connor, reminded me I intended to comment on the passing of Elaine Pritchard, who died very recently and whose career spanned a major period in women’s chess. In a way, it is fortuitous that the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival can be regarded as a memorial to her.

Press Release 2

Wed, 4 Jan 2012 09:04:39 +0000

RECORD NUMBERS FOR 2012 TRADEWISE GIBRALTAR CHESS FESTIVAL

10 days of Chess 24th January to 2nd February, 2012

It is now official! Every chess player in the world wants to play in Gibraltar this year to celebrate 10 years of chess. The popularity and over subscription of the 2012 Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival Masters tournament has meant that organisers have had to close the Masters tournament to any further entries. The record number of entries and its overall success is a reaffirmation that the tournament in its tenth edition will be the most important open tournament in the world. It boasts the participation of 57 Grand Masters, 11 of which are rated 2700 or over, attracting some of major names in both the men’s and the women’s game with a total of 240 players competing in the 2012 Gibraltar Masters. This is a record on both counts for Gibraltar.

Press Release 1

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 09:02:37 +0000

10 YEARS OF INTERNATIONAL CHESS IN GIBRALTAR

The Tradewise International Chess Festival will be the best yet!

2012 is a special year for chess as the Rock's biggest and most popular international event celebrates its tenth birthday. The Tradewise Chess Festival will be held over 10 days from 24th January to 2nd February, 2012. As well as Judit Polgar, the world's top woman player, Mickey Adams, Nigel Short and Peter Svidler have all accepted invitations to play.

Masters closed to new entries

Tue, 3 Jan 2012 16:11:11 +0000

Due to over-subscription the Masters tournament is now officially closed. If you are planning to play and have not yet formally entered, please contact both Festival Director Stuart Conquest at sconquest@hotmail.com AND Cathy Popham at conf.banq@caletahotel.gi URGENTLY. Note that the Morning events remain open, with entries in all four Morning events still being accepted.

New entries added

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 11:06:13 +0000

A further update has been made to the entry lists in the Masters and Challengers 1 & 2. Names and bios are being added daily as well.

Latest

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:24:20 +0000

We now have 53 GM's playing in the Masters.

Entry lists updated

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:13:05 +0000

The entry lists for all sections have been updated. We now have 52 GM's playing in the Masters, 10 of which are rated over 2700. Full details here. Names are being added regularly. The 2012 tournament promises to be stronger than ever before and will be enjoyed by a huge internet audience, thanks to Gibtelecom's innovative technology and the unique, built-for-purpose webcasting suite installed at the Caleta Hotel.

More players for the Masters

Thu, 1 Dec 2011 07:11:31 +0000

GM Varuzhan Akobian 2612 (USA); IM Lela Javakhishvili 2475 (GEO); GM Natalia Zhukova 2427 (UKR); IM Salome Melia 2392 (GEO) Jovana Vojinovic WGM 2346 (MNE).

More GM entries

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 07:10:24 +0000

Five more GM's have entered the Masters; Viktor Erdos, (HUN) 2623, Kaido Kulaots (EST) 2577, Richard Rapport, (HUN) 2534, Milos Pavlovic, (SRB) 2531 and Meelis Kanep, (EST) 2512.

Entry lists updated

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:08:37 +0000

Another update for the Masters and Challengers 1 & 2 has been posted. New entries are being received all the time so regular updates will be made. In the Masters we now have 39 GM's, 13 IM's, 7 FM's amongst others in a total of 108. Currently nine of the top ten players are rated over 2700.

Leading confirmed entries for the 2012 Tradewise Gibraltar Masters (on 20th July 2011):

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 22:50:16 +0100

Leading confirmed entries for the 2012 Tradewise Gibraltar Masters @ 20th July.

ALMASI, Zoltan, 2726g, (HUN); VACHIER-LAGRAVE, Maxime , 2722g, (FRA); ADAMS, Michael, 2715g, (ENG); SHIROV, Alexei, 2714g, (ESP); POLGAR, Judith, 2699g, (HUN); SHORT, Nigel, 2687g, (ENG); BOLOGAN, Victor, 2678g, (MDA); ONISCHUK, Alexander, 2675g, (USA); FRIDMAN, Daniel, 2659g, (GER); EDOUARD, Romain, 2587g, (FRA); YIFAN, Hou, 2575g, (CHN); KOSINTSEVA, Nadezhda, 2560g, (RUS); ROBSON, Ray, 2560g, (USA); KOSINTSEVA, Tatiana, 2557g, (RUS); KORCHNOI, Viktor, 2553g, (SUI); MUZYCHUK, Anna, 2538m, (SLO); DZAGNIDZE, Nana, 2537g, (GEO); STEFANOVA, Antoaneta, 2524g, (BUL); ZATONSKIH, Anna, 2522m, (USA); KRUSH, Irina, 2486m, (USA); CHEN, Zhu, 2485g, (QAT); CRAMLING, Pia, 2472g, (SWE); MUZYCHUK, Mariya, 2469m, (UKR); BELLON LOPEZ, Juan Manuel, 2420g, (ESP); HOUSKA, Jovanka, 2418m, (ENG);

(25 players)

Note: Ratings are those from FIDE July 1st 2011.

Additions, further details and profiles about these and more players will be posted soon.

Tradewise Gibraltar 2012 Website LIVE

Sat, 9 Jul 2011 11:12:39 +0100

The new website for this prestigious event is now live. Additional improvements to the layout and design are being made in the coming weeks.

A new 2012 brochure and entry form details will follow soon together with details of the accommodation packages.