Σκακιστικά νέα

The 2014 Zagreb Chess Open will be held on 17-24th March at the Panorama Zagreb Hotel, Krešimir Ćosić Square in Zagreb, Croatia.

The nine round Swiss tournament is organized by the Zagreb Chess Union and the Zagreb Sports Union.

The total prize fund is 7800 EUR, with 1550 EUR reserved for the champion. Last year the convincing winner was GM Robert Zelcic.

The 12th Sagaalgan Chess Festival 2014 took place from 28th February to 2nd March at the Buddhist University “Dashi Choynhorlin” in Ivolga Datsan, near Ulan-Ude in the Russian Republic of Buryatia.

The tournament was organized by the Russian Chess Federation, Buddhist University “Dashi Choynhorlin”, Republic of Buryatia and the Chess Federation of Buryatia.

The 13-round rapid open tournament is a stage of the Rapid Grand Prix of Russia.

The talented programmer Enrique Sánchez Acosta, author of the Alfil chess engine, gave an interview for the Spanish version of Chessdom.

The 36th Marchand Open will take place on 8-9th March at the Strong National Museum of Play, One Manhattan Square, Rochester, NY 14607.

The event is marking the 100th anniversary of Erich Marchand birthday and the 25th anniversary of the Rochester Chess Center.

The tournament format will be 5-round Swiss and there will be four playing sections: Open, U1800, U1400, U1000.

The total prize fund is $10,750 guaranteed.

The 21st Annual Western Class Championships will be held from March 7-9, 2014, at the Sheraton Agoura Hills Hotel, 30100 Agoura Road, Agoura Hills, California.

The event has 7 sections: Master, Expert, Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D and Class E.

All sections have either 3-day (March 7-9) or 2-day (March 8-9) schedules to play in.

The event has a $20,000 prize fund, based on 320 entries, with $16,000 minimum guaranteed.

The 13th Rochefort Chess Festival was held from 21th to 28th February at the Congres Palais, in Rochefort, France.

Just days before the huge Cappelle-la-Grande Open, the Rochefort Festival was an excellent occasion for the players to test their preparations and use the perfect training opportunity.

More than 250 participants, including 130 GMs and more than 200 players with international titles from 27 different countries, started playing round 1 of the EICC. With 23 World Cup places at stake, all players entered the long battle with high desire for decisive games. Exactly this desire, combined with the high rating of the opponents, led to multiple surprises on the boards.

An amazing drama determined the winner of Stage 1b of the strongest computer championship TCEC.

The 15th European Individual Chess championship that takes place 3-15 March, 2014, in Yerevan, was officially opened with a beautiful opening ceremony (photos here).

Games broadcast with the official permission of tournament organizer Smbat Lputian and Armenian Chess Federation General Secretary Gaguk Oganessian.

Detailed information on the event at armchess.am