Russian GM Ivan Popov will lead a strong field of more than 175 chess champions from 12 countries in the international open section of the Rs 27 lakh prize money 9th Mumbai Mayor’s International Chess Tournament 2016, which will be hosted by Mount Litera International School, Bandra Kurla Complex from June 2 to 9. Among these will be 14 Grandmasters and 16 International Masters along with 50 title holders.
Russian GM Ivan Popov
Organized by Venus Chess Academy under the aegis of Mumbai Suburban District Chess Association, Maharashtra Chess Association & All India Chess Federation, the tournament, with a record prize pool of Rs.27 lakhs, has attracted more than 700 + entries till date and is expected to cross the 900 mark. The tournament is being sponsored by BMC and co-sponsored LIC along with Ankit Gems.
Indian GM Sandipan Chanda
Besides Popov, who has a rating of 2645, the other big foreign names will be Grachev Boris (Russia), Gregoryan Karen (Armenia), Amanatov Farrukh (Tajakistan), Mozharov Mikhail (Russia), Ulybin Mikhail (Russia), Ziaur Rahman (Bangladesh), Gleizarov Evgeny (Russia) & Ziatdabov Raset (USA)
Leading the Indian challenge will be Grandmasters Sandipan Chanda, Diptayan Ghosh and R R Laxman. The recently titled Maharashtra Grandmaster Shardul Gagare, who made his title at the same venue, will also be one of the players to watch out for. Another Maharashtra Grandmaster Swapnil Dhopade will also be fighting for the title.
The players in the open international section would be vying for the first prize of Rs. 3,00,000 from a pool of Rs.11 Lakhs in this 10-round tournament with a classical time-control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds per player. In addition, the players also have a golden chance to earn the GM/IM norm.
The ‘B’ category event with a prize Rs.8 Lakhs would also be held simultaneously from 2-5 June, 2016 while the ‘C’ category event with a prize fund of Rs.8 lakh would be conducted from 6-9 June, 2016.
The Chief Arbiter for the tournament is International Arbiter Vasanth B H who will be looking after the technical conduct of the event. The games would be broadcasted live on the official website: www.venuschess.com