Yesterday an international tournament of the Association of Chess Professionals Cup was opened in Riga. In the course of the draw, the opponents who will compete with each other over the coming several days have been determined. The prize fund amounts to USD 75 thousand.
An international tournament of the Association of Chess Professionals Cup is being held in Riga for the first time. The competitions will take place from 13 to 15 September with the participation of 16 outstanding grandmasters from Russia, France, Poland, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Latvia.
The tournament is arranged with the support of Rietumu Bank in the gallery of the bank’s headquarters – Rietumu Capital Centre.
According to grandmaster Alexei Shirov, who represents Latvia at the competitions, “Such a strong tournament, with the participation of chess stars from the entire world, has not been held in Riga since 1995. I hope now that competitions of such a level will take place here annually, and Riga will occupy the worthy place it rightly deserves in the world of this intellectual sport.”
The international tournament in Riga is organised by the Association of Chess Professionals jointly with the Latvian Chess Federation. The average rating of the participants exceeds 2730. Three participants have a rapid chess rating of above 2800 and are among the six strongest in the world.
Yesterday, the President of the Association of Chess Professionals Emil Sutovsky said at a meeting with media, “I am always pleased to come to Latvia – a country with rich chess traditions. I am sure that the current tournament will be very interesting – the selection of the participants has been very thorough and, as a result, we have managed to gather the best and the most talented grandmasters here. I would like to thank the Latvian Chess Federation and Rietumu Bank, whose support has allowed us to organise this really meaningful event in the world of intellectual sport.”
In turn, the Rietumu Bank spokesperson Sergey Grodnikov noted, “Chess is a sport which helps in achieving success in many other fields – research, art and business. Therefore, I sincerely hope that the rich chess traditions Riga is famous for will not only continue, but will also receive a new impulse for development.”
Participants of the tournament are: the prize winner of many of the biggest international tournaments and a contender for the title of World Chess Champion Alexei Shirov, the current Latvian Champion Igor Kovalenko, the World Champion 2002 Ruslan Ponomaryov (Ukraine), the Russian Champion and the World Blitz Champion Alexander Grishchuk (Russia), the World Rapid Chess Champion 2013 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), the three-time Chess960 World Champion Peter Svidler (Russia), the semi-finalist of the World Championship 2004 Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), the winner of the World Team Championship 2010 in Team Russia Vladimir Malakhov (Russia), the two-time winner of the world championships in Team Russia Alexander Morozevich, the European Rapid Chess Champion 2008 Polish grandmaster Radosіaw Wojtaszek, the two-time winners of the World Chess Olympics in Team Ukraine Vasily Ivanchuk and Pavel Elyanov, the French grandmaster Laurent Fressinet, the European Champion 2012 Dmitry Yakovenko (Russia), the European Champion 2013 Alexander Moiseyenko (Ukraine), the World Rapid Chess Vice-Champion 2013 Yan Nepomnyashchy (Russia). Prior to the draw, games with students of the Riga Chess School took place – 3 out of 11 games ended in a tie, the rest were won by the grandmasters.
Yesterday, prior to the draw, games of the professionals with students of the Riga Chess School took place. Three out of eleven games ended in a tie, the rest were won by the grandmasters.
The first round of the tournament takes place on Friday, 13 September, the quarter-finals – on Saturday, and the semi-finals and finals – on Sunday.
The venue for the tournament is the gallery of Rietumu Bank which has one of the best premises in Riga for hosting exhibitions, vernissages, auctions and other cultural and intellectual events. Address: 7 Vesetas St., Riga.
The programme of the tournament can be found here: http://www.sahafederacija.lv/?p=5853 or http://www.acp-cup.com Live broadcast of the games can be watched here: http://www.acp-cup.com/ Eleonora Gailisha Mass Media and Public Relations
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