Σκακιστικά νέα

On 26th January a new sponsorship contract was signed with the investment firm GAMMA which will be the main sponsor of the Reykjavik Open for the next four years.

The contract was fittingly signed on the national chess day in Iceland, also the 80th birthday of legendary Grandmaster Fridrik Olafsson.

Veselin Topalov explains his thinking behind one of his favourite games, then answers questions from the audience.

Official website

The 18th International Lienz Open will be held from 7-14th February, 2015, at the RGO-Arena Julius-Durst-Straße 6, 9900 Lienz, Austria.

The biennial event is organized by the Schachklub Volksbank Lienz. There will be two sections: Group A and Group B (

Social events for players and families include sledging tour, trip to the Weissensee, trip to Innichen (ITA) with sightseeing, social evening etc.

The total prize fund is 10,000 EUR with 1900 EUR reserved for the winner of Open A.

The 2015 Moscow Open – 11th International RSSU Chess Cup is scheduled to take place from 29th January to 9th February in Moscow, Russia.

The total prize fund of the festival is 4,300,000 RUB (approximately 57,000 €), more information here.

The opening ceremony of the Moscow Open 2015 – RSSU Chess Cup, section H, was held on Friday at the Russian State Social University.

The participants were welcomed by the RSSU Rector Natalia Pochinok, prefect of the North-Eastern Moscow District Valery Vinogradov, ECU General Secretary Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou and Tournament Director Alexander Kostyev.

More than 700 kids compete in four age groups of section H: U9, U11, U13 and U15. The event continues until 7th February.

Daily news broadcast featuring The Governor of Gibraltar HE Lieutenant General Sir James Dutton, Chess Festival Director Stuart Conquest and some of the top players including Sara Sadat Khadem-al-sharieh, Stephen Whatley and Pentala Harikrishna during the 2015 Tradewise Gibraltar Open Chess Tournament.

The 2015 Moscow Open B – Women’s Cup takes place from 29th January to 9th February, 2015, in Moscow, Russia.

The total prize fund of the festival is 4,300,000 RUB (approximately 57,000 €), more information here.

The 2015 Vladimir Dvorkovich Memorial, stage of the Russian Chess Cup Men 2015, was held from 18-26th January, 2015, at the Congress Hotel in Taganrog, Russia.

The 9-round Swiss tournament gathered 82 players from Armenia, Spain, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Russia. Among them were 21 Grandmasters. The total prize fund was RUB 1,2 million.

The Armenian Rapid Chess Championship 2015 took place on 24th January in Yerevan.

46 players participated in the 9-round Swiss event with the time control 10′+5”.