Wednesday, January 2, 2013

2013 Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival

It's January and that means the warm tradewinds of Gibraltar are beckoning chessplayers from around the world.  The weather, yes, but especially excellent playing conditions that the players have responded to over the years, and generous prize structures!  What's not to love about Gibraltar at the end of January?

The Masters attracts top talent from everywhere, and this year is no different.  Top female players include (all players numbered by rating):

25 14111330 Muzychuk, Anna g SLO 2582
29 13601903 Dzagnidze, Nana g GEO 2555
35 617822 Sebag, Marie g FRA 2530
36 1700030 Cramling, Pia g SWE 2518
38 2902257 Stefanova, Antoaneta g BUL 2516
39 12801259 Cmilyte, Viktorija g LTU 2515
40 5015197 Harika, Dronavalli g IND 2514
43 8603006 Ju, Wenjun wg CHN 2505
46 14101572 Zatonskih, Anna m USA 2491
47 4167570 Gunina, Valentina m RUS 2490
49 4641833 Paehtz, Elisabeth m GER 2482
52 4147855 Pogonina, Natalija wg RUS 2475
54 14114550 Muzychuk, Mariya m UKR 2471
55 12400149 Hoang, Thanh Trang g HUN 2470
69 13602446 Melia, Salome m GEO 2403
70 5007844 Tania, Sachdev m IND 2403

And many more chess femmes.  Thus far 233 players are registered just for the Masters Open!  A notable absence this year, though, is IM Irina Krush, currently U.S. Women's Chess Champion.  She will be providing live commentary instead!  Fellow Team America player IM Anna Zatonskih will again be holding a Master Class (she held one last year and it proved a very popular event), as well as playing in the Masters.

Prizes for the Masters Open:

Open to all
Prizes for best relative rating achievement
1st Prize
£20,000 Rating Band 1st Prize 2nd Prize
2nd Prize
£14,000 2500-2599 £3,000 £2,000
3rd Prize
£12,000 2400-2499 £2,000 £1,000
4th Prize
£10,000 2300-2399 £2,000 £1,000
5th Prize
£6,000 2200-2299 £2,000 £1,000
6th Prize
£4,000 2100-2199 £2,000 £1,000
7th Prize
£3,000 2000-2099 £2,000 £1,000
8th Prize
£2,500 Under 2000 £2,000 £1,000
9th Prize
£2,000 A player may not win more than
one complete prize from this table.
10th Prize
£1,000
11th Prize
£1,000
12th Prize
£1,000

Open to all Women
1st Prize
£12,000
2nd Prize
£8,000
3rd Prize
£5,000
4th Prize
£3,500
5th Prize
£2,500
6th Prize
£2,000
7th Prize
£1,500
8th Prize
£1,000
9th Prize
£600
10th Prize
£400

You can be sure the fight for top women's prize of £12,000 will be fierce!  Top prizes for the Open and the special women's prizes are NOT shared.

The Festival runs January 21 - 31, 2013!  You can read more news and player entries at the official website

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