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Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2018 |
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Monday, 22 January 2018 20:23 |
The 16th edition of the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival began on Sunday, January 21st, with two simultaneous displays that evening, by GMs David Howell and Natalia Zhukova, and will finish with the traditional gala dinner and prize-giving on Thursday, February 1st, 2018.
For 2018 the prize fund reaches a record £200,000, the Masters' top prize now at a Festival high of £25,000. The total of the women's awards will be £50,000 - as far as we know, no open chess tournament in the world offers comparable prizes to its female participants.
The three highest ranked players in 2018 form an elite trio of grandmasters: Levon Aronian (Armenia), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), and Hikaru Nakamura (USA). We are honoured that all three have chosen Gibraltar as their first major tournament of 2018.
The women's entry is led by Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine), Ju Wenjun (China), and Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia). In total, seven of the world's current top ten females will play in Gibraltar. The first women's prize is £15,000, with 55 women expected in the Masters alone.
Over sixty countries will be represented. Professional and amateur players will be travelling to Gibraltar from Europe, Asia, Australasia, Africa, and the Americas. Some will be here for the first time, others make an annual pilgrimage to the Rock. The Festival showcases competitive chess of the highest calibre, but it is also a place to renew friendships made here in former years.
Many of the world's top juniors will be playing, including Indian super-prodigies Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin.
The Tradewise Festival is not just about the stars of the game. The four Morning events (Amateurs and Challengers) have always been popular, and as new players continue to register we may well see record numbers in these tournaments.
The social programme remains of prime importance. There will be our signature events which have become Festival favourites: at least three Masterclasses with top players, two blitz events (pairs, and teams of four); and of course our very own Battle of the Sexes. There will be an Opening Ceremony on Monday 22nd January, at 8:30pm, to which everyone is invited. Earlier that afternoon we will have a talk by GM Nigel Short. We are also excited to announce a brand new event for our 2018 social diary: a #Gibchess Question & Answer Panel Night.
#gibchess
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