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General Oct 16, 2014 | 9:12 AMby Colin McGourty

Aronian and Kramnik to play in TASHIR Chess


We have a new supertournament! The Tashir International Chess Tournament in memory of Tigran Petrosian opens on 3rd November in Moscow and includes Levon Aronian and Vladimir Kramnik in an 8-player line-up with some surprises. The event, which will overlap with the start of the Anand-Carlsen World Championship match, is a Russian-Armenian joint venture with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan chairing the Organising Committee.

As we mentioned in our 2014 Chess Calendar this event had been rumoured for some time and has finally been officially announced. The line-up for the single round-robin tournament is a little more eclectic than we’re used to, with China’s Ding Liren in particular facing a tough challenge. In last year's Alekhine Memorial he finished second last, though he did inflict the only defeat on the winner, Levon Aronian.

Ding Liren interviewed after helping China to Olympiad gold medals! | photo: David Llada 

The full line-up, and it's hard to suppress a moment of shock at seeing Aronian and Kramnik as "only" world no. 5 and 11, is as follows:

  1. Alexander Grischuk, Russia – 2797, world no. 4
  2. Levon Aronian, Armenia – 2793, world no. 5
  3. Vladimir Kramnik, Russia – 2760, world no. 11
  4. Peter Leko, Hungary – 2731, world no. 21
  5. Boris Gelfand, Israel – 2748, world no. 16
  6. Ding Liren, China – 2730, world no. 22
  7. Alexander Morozevich, Russia – 2724, world no. 26
  8. Ernesto Inarkiev, Russia – 2672, world no. 75

The tournament is partly a replacement for the Tal Memorial, which explains why Ernesto Inarkiev plays, since qualification for the 2014 Tal Memorial was the main prize for winning the 2013 Higher League. Inarkiev recently won the Baku Open, while Boris Gelfand of course shared first place at the Baku Grand Prix, as well as winning the 2013 Tal Memorial.

Alexander Morozevich and Ernesto Inarkiev playing in the same tournament may split their fan base! | photos: ruchess.ru

The event is sponsored by the Tashir Group owned by Russian-American businessman Samvel Karapetyan, and is held to mark the 85th anniversary of the birth of the Armenian 9th World Chess Champion, Tigran Petrosian.

The official website can be found here, although there’s currently little to see. The venue will be the Moscow City Novotel and the prize fund is €100,000.


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