The Icelandic Chess Federation, in co-operation with the Reykjavik Chess Academy, welcomes you to the Reykjavik Chess Festival on March 6 to March 13 2012.

* Total prizes of €15000

* World-class playing conditions

* Extraordinary depth and width of chess talent

* Many side events: sightseeing, Fischer-Spassky exhibit, soccer and pub quiz

An Even Better Playing Venue for the 27th Edition

The Reykjavik Open 2012 will be held for the 27th time from March 6 to March 13, 2012 in a spectacular new venue in Reykjavik, which will be announced in September. The 2012 tournament is expected to be very strong. In 2011, 166 players from 30 countries participated, including 27 grandmasters, 11 of which with a ELO rating of 2600 and higher. Total prizes in 2012 will be €15000, including many special prizes for various age and rating categories, in addition to the traditional top women prize.

The 2011 Reykjavik Open saw six joint winners, Yuriy Kuzubov (2627), Vladimir Baklan (2602) and Illya Nyzhnyk (2563), all of Ukraine, Kamil Miton (2600) of Poland, Jon Ludwig Hammer (2606) of Norway and tournament regular Ivan Sokolov (2643) of Bosnia.

Join the Legends and Be Part of Chess History

The City of Reykjavík has sponsored the tournament since its inception in 1964, when Mikhail Tal won it with a record 12½ points out of 13. The tournament was initially held every two years, but has since 2008 taken place every year. It was closed in its early years, but has been an open event since the 1980s.

Throughout its history the Reykjavik Open has featured many of the strongest chess players in the world at the time, including Mikhail Tal, Nona Gaprindashvili, David Bronstein, Vassily Smyslov, Bent Larsen, Friðrik Ólafsson, Mark Taimanov, Lev Polugaevsky, Ulf Andersson, Jan Timman, Victor Korchnoi, Samuel Reshevsky, Anthony Miles, Nigel Short, Magnus Carlsen and Alexander Grischuk.

Much More than a Chess Tournament

As in earlier years, several chess-related events will take place at the same time as the tournament, including the now famous the Reykjavík Open Chess Pub Quiz and the Golden Circle sightseeing tour that includes stops at Geysir and Bobby Fischer’s final resting place in the southern part of Iceland. And given the favorable exchange rate of the Icelandic króna, Iceland is one of the most attractive places in the world to visit and play in chess tournaments.

Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Fischer-Spassky “Match of the Century”

During the Reykjavik Open in 2012, there will be an exhibition in the National Museum of Iceland commemorating the 40th anniversary of “The Match of the Century” between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. The museum is within a 5-minute walking distance from the playing venue. The exhibition will feature, among others, the board and chess sets from the match, and of course much more.

Still Thinking About Your Next Move? This is What Last Year’s Participants Said

Ivan Sokolov (The Netherlands):

Reykjavik City Hall as an Open tournament venue, is probably one of the best venues of any Open tournament in the World. It has its advantages that go beyond regular good playing conditions.

During the game, players can relax watching over frozen small lake, swans and ducks swimming in the hot spots, adults and kids skating on the ice.

After the game, stepping out of the playing hall, either being happy with your win or annoyed/distressed with your blunder, you are in the middle of the renowned Reykjavik night life to be enjoyed.

This year organizer is moving from the City Hall, but is promising at least equaly good venue (and is still candid about it).

Reykjavik Open has also in recent years become more like a festival, with organizers taking care to invite young, old, boys, girls, different countries, strong GMs, keeping the mix tournament is already recognized for and creating a unique atmosphere.

Reykjavik Open is definitely an experience for itself, an event worth visiting and returning!

GM Luke McShane (England):

“Thanks again for a very enjoyable tournament in Reykjavik. Personally, I’m really glad I got another opportunity to visit Iceland after so many years, and it’s great to see the tournament getting tougher every year!”

IM Leon Piasetski (Canada):

“I just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed the tournament. Your group did a great job ! I liked the playing hall, the top board display and the site overlooking the pond.”

Alan Byron (England):

“I just wanted to thank you for an excellent event. I really enjoyed it and will definitely enter again next year.”

Website: www.chess.is

On behalf of Reykjavik Open 2012 tournament committee

Gunnar Bjornsson,

President of the Icelandic Chess Federation

Nagpur (16 Aug 11): Former Commonwealth Champion Grandmaster R R Laxman of Indian Railways will starts as top seed and favourite in the 4th edition of the prestigious Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee Memorial All India Open International FIDE Rated Chess Tournament organized by Headquarters Maintenance Command, Indian Air Force that starts at Naivedhyam Celebration Centre here on Wednesday.

This prestigious event will be inaugruated by Air Marshal PV Athawale PVSM AVSM VSM ADC, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Maintenance Command, IAF at 1100 hrs on 17 Aug 11 in presence of Shri. Praveen Darade IAS, Chairman, Nagpur Improvement Trust.

Defending champion International Master K Rathnakaran of Railways, second seed International Master Anwesh Upadhyaya from Orissa, International Master S Satyapragyan of Air India, Maharashtra based Railwayman International Master Vikramaditya Kulkarni and Amravati youngster International Master Swapnil Dhopade are other prominent players in the fray and will give tough fight to Laxman’s title hopes along with other eleven International Masters and fancied players from across the country.

Grandmaster R R Laxman

Along with Dhopade, International Master Akshayraj Kore will spear head the Maharashtra hopes while Wing Commander Rajesh Upadhayay and JRD Tata Chess Tournament winner Senior Non-Commissioned Officer K Srikanth will lead the Air Force Challenge.

The women challenge in the field will be led by Women Grandmaster Kiran Manisha Mohanty of Orissa. While playing at home state, Asian Youth Championship Gold medal winner Rucha Pujari of Kolhapur, World Youth Bronze Medallist Abhimanyu Puranik and Nagpur based International Master Anup Deskhmukh of LIC will try to bring cheers to the local chess buffs in this one week long Rs. 4 lacs prize money event sponsored and supported by Nagpur Municipal Corporation, Nagpur Improvement Trust Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum, State Bank of India, Life Insurance Corporation, SMS Infrastructure Ltd, Solar Explosives Ltd, Tirupati Cooperative Bank, Jindal Steels and Vilas HardeTechops Associates.

The winner will pocket a cash prize of Rs. 81,000/- along with coveted Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee Memorial trophy while top twenty players will receive cash prizes.

There will be cash prizes at stake in various categories which will prompt a lot of tiny tots to bring out their best. While the major action will go on, on the top boards, the likes of IM norm holder Ankit R Rajpara of Gujarat, World Junior player CRG Krishna of Andhra Pradesh and Fide Master M B Muralidharan of Kerala have it in them to cause major upsets.

Top players:

GM Laxman R R 2455

IM Anwesh Upadhyaya 2429

IM Himanshu Sharma 2428

IM Kulkarni Vikramaditya 2427

IM Satyapragyan Swayangsu 2425

IM Swapnil S Dhopade 2414

IM Rathnakaran K 2410

IM Karthikeyan P 2382

IM Akshayraj Kore 2374

IM Murali Krishnan B T 2371

Navin Kanna T U 2355

Tiwari Arjun 2354

Ankit R Rajpara 2341

IM Singh D P 2340

Krishna C R G 2330

FM Sauravh Khherdekar 2328

Thakur Akash 2327

IM Praveen Kumar C 2325

Kulkarni Chinmay 2308

Ram S Krishnan 2305

IM Deshmukh Anup 2298

Kunal M 2298

IM Ramnathan Balasubramaniam 2283

Jaiswal Puneet 2273

IM Gokhale Chandrashekhar 2268

IM Shetty Rahul 2252

FM Soman Satchidanand 2232

FM Muralidharan M B 2218

Deepak Katiyar 2218

WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty 2214

CM Prince Bajaj 2146

WFM Pujari Rucha 2139

Negi V S 2111

Swaraj Palit 2105

News by MS Gopakumar

The 2011 Youth Chess Tournament for Peace is organized by the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism in collaboration with Chess’n Math and MonRoi at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, 1001 Place Jean Paul Riopelle, on September 7, from 11am to 1pm.

The event will coincide with the visit of His Holiness the Dalia Lama to the 2nd Global Conference on World’s Religions After 9/11, a combined initiative of McGill University and the University of Montréal.

The event is endorsed by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). In a letter to organizers the President says that FIDE is proud to be associated with the 2011 Youth Chess Tournament for Peace, which promotes harmony amongst the people of the world. FIDE, which is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as an Intentional Sports Federation, with 170 member federations, has several on-going projects with the Peace and Sports organization.

“Ten years following the events of September 11th, 2001 the need for renewal of the world’s commitment to a culture of peace is self-evident. The values enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, have always been part and parcel of the fundamental teachings of all of the world’s great religions, and must be at the forefront of all of our actions. The further expansion and strengthening of our spiritual consciousness in the years to come will be a major driving force to the evolution of society. Technology is playing a major role in bringing people together and we are proud to contribute, through our webcast of the event. Each of the 2011 Youth Chess Tournament for Peace participants will come out as a winner,” said the founder of MonRoi Inc, Brana Giancristofaro.

The Chess’n Math Association was founded in 1985 and now has three offices, 20 full-time staff and over 100 qualified chess instructors, who teach chess as an extra-curricular activity to over 10,000 youngsters every week.

The 26th Festival Internacional de Ajedrez Cidade de Ferrol, organized by Juan Vicente Rodriguez Rey, is set to take place from 15th to 21st August in the coastal city of Ferrol, Galicia, Spain. The tournament is part of the Gallego Chess Circuit.

65 participants are currently signed for the main 9-round Swiss tournament. Grandmasters Aleksa Strikovic and Dragan Paunovic from the nearby La Coruna, Dragan Barlov from Tenerife and a strong contingent from Cuba are among the top seeded players.

The prize fund is 9700€ in total, distributed over 20 regular and 20 rating prizes. First place is 1000€ worth.

Ferrol or El Ferrol is a city in the province of A Coruña in Galicia, located on the Atlantic coast in north-western Spain. As of 2007, it has an urban population of 77,859 and a metropolitan area population of over 241,528.

Ferrol

The city has been a major naval shipbuilding centre for most of its history, being the capital of the Spanish Navy’s Maritime Department of the North since the time of the early Bourbons. Before that, in the 17th century, Ferrol was the most important arsenal in Europe. Today, the city is also known as the home of the shipbuilding yards of Navantia.

Tournament website

Starting list:

1 GM Strikovic Aleksa SRB 2573

2 IM Ortiz Suarez Isan Reynaldo CUB 2556

3 IM Gomez Garrido Camilo CUB 2524

4 GM Paunovic Dragan SRB 2503

5 FM Gonzalez Perez Arian CUB 2490

6 GM Abreu Delgado Aryam CUB 2479

7 GM Barlov Dragan SRB 2475

8 IM Pozo Vera Sandro CUB 2471

9 IM Huerga Leache Mikel ESP 2453

10 GM Lazarev Vladimir FRA 2445

11 GM Genov Petar BUL 2428

12 IM Gomez Ledo Roberto Carlos CUB 2428

13 IM Ivanov Jordan BUL 2398

14 IM Milchev Nikolay BUL 2388

15 FM Sande Edreira Jose Antonio ESP 2348

16 FM Ferreira Jorge Viterbo POR 2327

17 FM Pazos Porta Antonio ESP 2318

18 FM Fernandez Borrego Pablo ESP 2302

19 Viela Andre Filipe Folha POR 2241

20 WGM Safranska Anda FRA 2230

21 Montes Gutierrez Ignacio ESP 2221

22 Abella Vazquez Carlos M. ESP 2162

23 Marcos Pinto Luis ESP 2110

24 Rodriguez Guillen Jorge ESP 2084

25 Sanchez Vergara Alberto ESP 2082

26 Graña Lois Jorge ESP 2077

27 Mazaira Alba Javier I. ESP 2072

28 Sahelices Casado Roberto ESP 2069

29 Martins David Pires Tavares POR 2063

30 Gil Capape Marco Antonio ESP 2054

31 Silva Luis Neves Da POR 2023

32 Millan Soto Miguel ESP 1997

33 Alvarez Gonzalo Miguel Angel ESP 1973

34 Gomez Dieguez David ESP 1968

35 Galvez Perez Jose Luis ESP 1954

36 Marchena Hurtado Ander ESP 1951

37 Cinza Lopez Javier ESP 1950

38 Martins Manuel POR 1933

39 De Paz Vazquez Luis Javier ESP 1921

40 Vazquez Del Valle Ruben ESP 1920

41 Martinez Rodriguez Rolando ESP 1920

42 Cano Cabanillas Javier ESP 1917

43 Andias Joao Pedro Menezes POR 1891

44 Guijarro Arca Basilio ESP 1887

45 Fernandez Gonzalez Sergio ESP 1844

46 Moreno Antonio Mario ESP 1840

47 Perez Lopez Marcos ESP 1834

48 Moro Murciego Alejandro ESP 1830

49 Lopez Graña Carmen ESP 1830

50 Rey Malde Henrique ESP 1798

51 Jimenez Gonzalez Jose Luis ESP 1793

52 Blanco Dans Manuel GAL 1732

53 Regueiro Garcia Isaac Rafael ESP 1726

54 Prado Acebo Ines ESP 1694

55 Dominguez Carnero Javier ESP 1672

56 Martins Guilherme Pires Tavare POR 1646

57 De La Peña Llerandi Adolfo ESP 1591

58 Santome Rodriguez-Salas Luis M ESP 1556

59 Rodriguez Sigler Alexandre ESP 1526

60 Martinez Insua Adrian ESP 1517

61 Grana Gomez Diego ESP 1477

62 Tenreiro Calvo Jose Manuel ESP 1475

63 Costeira Fernandez Ramon ESP 0

64 Lopez Gonzalez Alfonso ESP 0

65 Segura Rio Alejandro ESP 0

The World Chess Championship 2012 between the defending World Champion Viswanathan Anand and the challenger from the Candidates Matches Boris Gelfand will take place in May 2012 in Moscow, Russia.

In an official press release distributed by FIDE on August 8th we read: “The Federation Internationale des Echecs is pleased to announce that following the evaluation of the bids for the World Chess Championship Match 2012 and the recommendations by the World Championship and Olympiad Commission, it has awarded the organization of the match to the Russian Chess Federation. The match will be held in May 2012 in Moscow, Russia and offers the World Champion Vishwanthanan Anand from India, and the Challenger Boris Gelfand from Israel, a prize fund of 2,550,000 US dollars.” (see below full press release August 8th)

The news about the possibility the World Chess Championship 2012 to be in Moscow first broke on the pages of Chessdom in the end of June. It was accompanied by a possible interest by India and Israel. The interest of India materialized as half a month later India made a strong bid to host the event, while Israel remained only as rumor. However, India’s bid quickly lost pace after the deadline announced by FIDE, and after evaluation of the bids Russia and Moscow remained as the chosen venue for the WCC 2012.

As confirmed by FIDE, the prize fund of both bids was above the required 1 million. Thus, the driving force behind choosing Russia and Moscow to host Anand – Gelfand has been the further organization details proposed by the bidders for the WCC.

The news for the winning bid of Moscow coincides with the start of the Russian Super Final in the city. The last world championships organized in Moscow were the 1985 match between Kasparov and Karpov, and the 2002 knockout World Championship won by Ponomariov.

August 9th announcement, press conference, and details

After publishing the initial press release, FIDE informed Chessdom.com that there will be changes in the upcoming hours. Our sources confirmed that the discussion and changes made in the press release could be regarding the option given to India to host the WCC 2013 (the host city Moscow and the general details were not questioned).

The August 9th press conference started at 12:00 in Moscow. Aruna Anand, wife and managed of Viswanathan Anand, has informed that they agree the match to take place in Moscow. Aruna and Anand are happy with the prize fund and the venue chosen. This information was confirmed by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov for Sport Express journalist Y. Vassilev. The FIDE President also confirmed that he has the agreement of the challenger Boris Gelfand as well, and with that there are no more obstacles for the match to take place in Moscow, as announced in the first press release from yesterday.

The prize fund of 2 550 000 USD has also been confirmed, as well as the information about the Yifan Hou – Koneru match published the day before.

Update: the new press release contains details from the press conferece, announcing Skolkovo as the playing hall, and praising the efforts of the government. India is given the option of WCC 2013, that was also confirmed at the press conference. See full details and press release below.

World Chess Championship 2012 (press release 08.08.2011)

Full original press release on the decision of FIDE for the Anand – Gelfand World Chess Championship match. Here is the version from August 8th.

World Chess Championship 2012 (press release 09.08.2011)

In a press release update, FIDE has announced the venue of the World Chess Championship 2012 to be Skolkovo, the new modern technological center in Moscow. The special thanks in the press release is also updated, praising the efforts of the local government.

The 2011 Summer Universiade is scheduled to take place from 13th to 22nd August in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. The southern Chinese city, located directly north of Hong Kong, is a busy port and one of the fastest growing cities in the world.

22 sports will be contested with a total of 306 events. For the first time in the history of the FISU, Universiade is including chess as a sport. Three events – men’s and women’s individual and mixed team competitions will be held on 15-21st August at the Meihua Hall of the Shenzhen Conference and Exhibition Center.

Serbia, the host of the 2009 Summer Universiade, immediately embraced the innovation and delegated three chess players among 40 sportsmen. WGM Andjelija Stojanovic, WIM Ljilja Drljevic and IM Nikola Nestorovic will compete in Shenzhen.

The 2013 Summer Universiade will be held in Kazan, Russia. The city hosted the Candidate Matches for the FIDE World Championship earlier this year and used the event to promote the Universiade. This connection makes it natural to have chess becoming a regular sport with the FISU.

The Chess Federation of Rostov, in collaboration with FIDE and Global Chess, is organising the first event for the Women’s Grand Prix series 2011 – 2012. The tournament will be held in the Don-Plaza Hotel (Rostov-on-Don, Russia) beginning on the 1st of August 2011.

The sponsor of the event is Rostov Chess Federation and Rostov Region Government.

Daily live games with computer analysis here

The Rostov Chess Federation is one of the most active regional Federations and has already organised 64th Russian Championships – Higher League in 2011, Taganrog (near Rostov) and many other chess events.

The first tournament of FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Rostov will be one of the strongest women tournaments of all times. The participants of the event include current Women World Champion Hou Yifan, two former Women World champions: Alexandra Kosteniuk and Antoaneta Stefanova as well as challenger in the World Championship Match Humpy Koneru who are all among the highest ranked women players in the world.

Another former Women World champion – Nona Gaprindashvili – is a technical adviser. Chinese Ruan Lufei is one of the “newcomers” in FIDE Grand Prix Series. Her appearance in World Chess scene was bright – she reached the final in the 2010 Women’s World Championship, having won on tiebreaks in every round (eliminating previous champion Alexandra Kosteniuk in the process), and faced fellow Chinese Hou Yifan in the final. Certainly the participation of the local player and two-time Women Russian Champion Ekaterina Kovalevskaya will attract a lot of attention of the chess lovers and press.

The FIDE Women Grand Prix is a series of elite tournaments which will be organised by FIDE and Global Chess. There will be 6 stages over two years in various countries around the world with three tournaments every year.

The winner of each tournament will win 6,500 euros out of a prize fund of 40,000 euros and the overall winner of the series will win a further 15,000 euros at the end of the series.

Opening ceremony will take place in Don-Plaza Hotel at 7 p.m. on 1st of August. Games start: rounds 1-10 at 3:00 PM local time and round 11 at 12 AM local time.

Rest days: August 6th (after round 4) and August 11th (after round 8).

The official tournament web page is http://rostov2011.fide.com/

The match between the Czech Republic top players David Navara and Viktor Laznicka is set to take place on 1-7th August at the art restaurant Ajeto in Novy Bor. Six games with the long time control (90 min/40 moves +30 min +30 sec increment) will be played.

The games will take place in a circular room in Ajeto and the viewers will be able to watch the battle from the comfort of the restaurant, which is separated by a round glass wall from the “arena”. Grandmaster Marek Vokáč along with many other guests will provide live commentary in the separate room.

Restaurant Ajeto in Novy Bor

David Navara was three times champion of the Czech Republic (2004, 2005 and 2010) and Viktor Láznička has a gold medal from Brno 2006. Mutual statistics in over the board meetings show a favorable balance of +1 = 4 for Láznička.

David Navara (26 years) is for many years the best chess player of the Czech Republic. He regularly represents the country in the Chess Olympiads and international tournaments. His highest world rank was thirteenth place (from 1 January to 30 June 2007), is now he is at the 39th place (ELO 2702).

Currently the second player of Czech Republic, Láznička Viktor, was born on 9th January 1988 in Pardubice. In 2008 he won the very strong Calcutta Open in India and in the same year took the second place in the European Union Championships in Liverpool, England.

In 2010 came a series of successful performances. In Philadelphia he became the outright winner of the World Chess Open tournament. His great form was confirmed in Paks, Hungary, where he masterfully won the Marx Gyorgy Memorial. Most recently he played at the prestigious AAI Grandmaster Tournament in India where he finished second behind Fabiano Caruana.

Visit Novoborsky SK for more information

The World Junior Chess Championship 2011 will take place 1-16 August in India. It is one of the strongest WJCC ever, featuring over 80 titled players among the juniors and girls.

Daily live games with computer analysis here

Top rated in the junior section are the Russians GM Maxim Matlakov (2632) and GM Sanan Sjugirov (2629). It is difficult to project them as favorites, given the full list of participants including the Spanish star GM Ivan Salgado Lopez, the Russian talent GM Alexandr Shimanov, the WYCC participant GM Tamir Nabaty, Armenia’s champion and WYCC team member GM Robert Hovhannisyan and his compatriot who currently is playing in Lake Sevan GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan, the USA star and one of the youngest GMs in the world GM Ray Robson, the Polish talent GM Dariusz Swiercz, the top Indian junior GM Adhiban, and many other GM, IM, and FM talents from around the world.

Full participants list here

In the girls section 30 titled players are favorites for the title, in what is expected to be a very close race. Top rated is the medalist from the 2008 WJCC WGM Nazi Paikidze, followed by WGM Anastasia Savina and WGM Olga Girya (all three of them stars from the Blondes vs Brunettes match), the Peru top junior WGM Deysi Cori, and the local star Padmini Rout.

Full participants list girls here

More about the World Junior and Girls U-20 Championships

The idea was the brainchild of William Ritson-Morry and he organized the 1951 inaugural event to take place in England. Borislav Ivkov was the first champion. Since then it has been held every two years until 1973, when an annual schedule was adopted. The first tournament was 11-round Swiss, but in subsequent years preliminary tournament have been played with players divided into sections of approximately equal strength. From these preliminaries sections, players qualified for the top, middle and lowest sections i.e. A, B, C and D finals.

In the period 1951-1973 finals were held as Round-Robin tournaments. Since then preliminaries were cancelled and a 13-round Swiss event was adopted.

In 1982, a separate tournament for girls U-20 was organized. The first winner was Agnieszka Brustman of Poland. The first event was also called the World Cup. Since then the World Girls U-20 Championships have been held every year, except 1984 year.

Top junior players of all continents are taking part in Championships. Champions under 20: Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand became World Champions. The World Girls U-20 Champion Zhu Chen became the World Women Champion.

In the 2009 year in Argentina 80 juniors and 45 girls from 61 countries took part. In the 2010 year in Poland 109 juniors and 67 girls from 50 countries took part.

Indian players have been regularly participating in World Junior Chess Championships. The current World Champion and World No.1 GM Viswanathan Anand made India proud by becoming the first World Junior Champion in 1987. Since then, GM Pentala Harikrishna (2004), and GM Abhijeet Gupta (2008), had won World Junior Championship.

The current World Women’s Champion contender GM Koneru Humpy became the first Indian girl to win the World Junior Girls Championship in 2002. After her Dronavalli Harika (2008), and Soumya Swaminathan (2010) emerged as Champions in World Junior Girls Championship.

The rise of Viswanathan Anand and Koneru Humpy in the world arena has inspired many Indian Juniors to take up chess more professionally. At this year’s WJCC are expected a large contingent of Indian players to take part this time as this prestigious event is to be organized in the historical city Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.

Official website

GM Gabriel Sargissian

The 20th Kavala Open Chess Tournament is set to take place from 30th July to 6th August in Kavala, Greece. One of the strongest events of the Greek Chess Summer is organized by the Kavala Chess Club, East Macedonia and Thrace Chess Union and Greek Chess Federation.

A total of 263 players are signed to compete in one of the three Groups. The main Open A has 120 players from 18 countries, with 37 Grandmasters and 17 International Masters in the field.

Top seeded is GM Gabriel Sargissian from Armenia, arriving immediately after the celebration of the gold medal from the World Team Championship. His compatriot GM Tigran Petrosian, winner of the massive Benasque Open, is third seed, behind the Indian hope GM Sandipan Chanda.

Players list (Group A):

1 GM Sargissian Gabriel ARM 2663

2 GM Sandipan Chanda IND 2656

3 GM Petrosian Tigran L ARM 2636

4 GM Socko Bartosz POL 2631

5 GM Gupta Abhijeet IND 2627

6 GM Atalik Suat TUR 2619

7 GM Andriasian Zaven ARM 2616

8 GM Pantsulaia Levan GEO 2612

9 GM Bartel Mateusz POL 2611

10 GM Mastrovasilis Dimitrios GRE 2604

11 GM Halkias Stelios GRE 2600

12 GM Solak Dragan SRB 2598

13 GM Zubarev Alexander UKR 2597

14 GM Kolev Atanas BUL 2590

15 GM Nikolov Momchil BUL 2589

16 GM Burmakin Vladimir RUS 2579

17 GM Gopal G N IND 2576

18 GM Svetushkin Dmitry MDA 2576

19 GM Mamedov Nidjat AZE 2575

20 GM Zhigalko Andrey BLR 2573

21 GM Kryakvin Dmitry RUS 2551

22 GM Mastrovasilis Athanasios GRE 2537

23 GM Maiorov Nikita BLR 2535

24 GM Margvelashvili Giorgi GEO 2525

25 IM Harika Dronavalli IND 2513

26 IM Kohlweyer Bernd GER 2494

27 GM Socko Monika POL 2490

28 IM Paichadze Luka GEO 2489

29 GM Antic Dejan SRB 2487

30 GM Kosic Dragan MNE 2483

31 GM Marjanovic Slavoljub SRB 2469

32 GM Neelotpal Das IND 2453

33 IM Ashwin Jayaram IND 2449

34 IM Zysk Robert GER 2437

35 IM Atalik Ekaterina TUR 2436

36 IM Kaplan Sasha ISR 2436

37 IM Raznikov Danny ISR 2434

38 Zarkua Davit GEO 2433

39 IM Pavlidis Antonios GRE 2420

40 IM Kanmazalp Ogulcan TUR 2412

41 WGM Zawadzka Jolanta POL 2405

42 IM Vuilleumier Alexandre SUI 2374

43 IM Karavade Eesha IND 2358

44 WGM Charkhalashvili Inga GEO 2355

45 WGM Soumya Swaminathan IND 2338

46 Markidis Konstantinos GRE 2330

47 Galopoulos Nikolaos GRE 2327

48 WGM Botsari Anna-Maria GRE 2326

49 WIM Raeva Elitsa BUL 2324

50 FM Hadzimanolis Antonios GRE 2322

51 WIM Tomilova Elena RUS 2317

52 FM Malikentzos Sotirios GRE 2314

53 FM Shanmugam Ravindran SIN 2291

54 WGM Cherednichenko Svetlana UKR 2283

55 Tchantcev Chaliko RUS 2283

56 WGM Makropoulou Marina GRE 2282

57 Kanakaris Georgios GRE 2281

58 Kourousis Epaminondas GRE 2273

59 Kostopoulos Evaggelos GRE 2262

60 WGM Przezdziecka Marta POL 2249

61 Dounis Alexandros GRE 2248

62 Filippas Sebastian GRE 2246

63 Exizoglou Dimitrios GRE 2245

64 FM Simeonidis Ioannis GRE 2244

65 WIM Pavlidou Ekaterini GRE 2220

66 Kokolias Konstantinos GRE 2205

67 Valden Petros GRE 2201

68 Theodoulidis Theodoros GRE 2196

69 Skaperdas Kostantinos GRE 2194

70 Dorfanis Ilarion GRE 2190

71 Hamaletsos Hristoforos GRE 2188

72 Aftsoglou Ioannis GRE 2186

73 Papadimitriou Athanasios GRE 2184

74 WIM Fakhiridou Ekaterini GRE 2183

75 Lagopatis Nikolaos GRE 2181

76 Tzintzios Georgios GRE 2174

77 Papadimitriou Loukas GRE 2166

78 Ketzetzis Georgios GRE 2164

79 Tepelenis Nikolaos GRE 2156

80 Osmanoglou Halil GRE 2154

81 Zografos Achilleas GRE 2150

82 Gimnopoulos Lazaros GRE 2144

83 Vlassis Georgios GRE 2138

84 Stathopoulos Ioannis GRE 2122

85 Michelakos Panagiotis GRE 2111

86 Makka Evanthia GRE 2109

87 Iskos Alexandros GRE 2103

88 WIM Makka Ioulia GRE 2102

89 FM Galopoulos Panagiotis GRE 2090

90 Aghabekian Liana ARM 2084

91 Kazantzidis Ilias GRE 2082

92 Bar Aviv ISR 2079

93 Hrisomalis Theodoros GRE 2078

94 Pambalou Fotini GRE 2078

95 Konstantelias K GRE 2077

96 Manelidou Maria GRE 2074

97 Adamopoulos Ioannis GRE 2070

98 Koutsidis Mihail GRE 2067

99 Pambalos Panayiotis GRE 2067

100 Balokas Dimitrios GRE 2060

101 Grapsa Georgia GRE 2057

102 Altukhov Yriu RUS 2054

103 Savoglou Nikolaos GRE 2054

104 Liodakis Konstantinos-Spyros GRE 2048

105 Spirliadis Achileas GRE 2044

106 Sidiropoulos Nikolaos GRE 2043

107 Skoulakis Charalambos GRE 2039

108 Anagnostopoulos Konstantinos GRE 2038

109 Gitsis Hristos GRE 2032

110 Pappelis Dimitrios GRE 2025

111 WFM Petraki Maria GRE 2024

112 Papakonstantinou Dimitrios GRE 2018

113 Megalios Konstantinos GRE 2008

114 Galanos Dimitrios GRE 1999

115 Kakkanas Evangelos GRE 1976

116 Androni Konstantina GRE 1967

117 Athanasiou Georgios GRE 1954

118 Minas Ioannis GRE 1941

119 Vatkali Dimitra GRE 1929

120 Charpidou Anna GRE 1749