1/21/2020 The 18th Gibraltar International Chess Festival starts today at the Caleta Hotel on the east side of the Rock of Gibraltar. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov tops the starting ranking list, joined by fellow "2700 club" members Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Wang Hao, Veselin Topalov, David Navara, Le Quang Liem and Kirill Alekseenko. Anatoly Karpov opened the festival with a simultaneous exhibition. Live games and commentary with GM David Howell and Fiona Steil-Antoni from 14:00 UTC (15:00 CET, 9:00 EST). | Pictured: Mayor of Gibraltar John Gonalves, made the first move on the top board at the start of the 2020 Gibraltar Masters with top seed GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov from Azerbaijan. Currently No.8 in the world he played his first round game against 12-year-old Candidate Master Raahil Mullick from India. Photo: Niki Riga

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The Gibraltar International Chess Festival 2020 starts today and runs over nine rounds through January 30th. It is the 18th edition of the tournament, which takes place, as usual, at the Caleta Hotel in Gibraltar and is directed by GM Stuart Conquest.

In the Masters tournament, 240 players are in attendance, including almost 100 grandmasters. The top seeds areShakhriyar Mamedyarov and Maxim Vachier-Lagrave, but also five other grandmasters rated over 2700. In addition, many other grandmasters with well-known names play along, including Vassily Ivanchuk and Michael Adams. Notably absent this year is the U.S. Champion Hikaru Nakamura who has been a Gibraltar regular in the past. The top-ratedwoman in the field is Anna Muzychuk 59th onthe overall list.

Official teaser video

Players receive 100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for 20 moves, then 15 minutes until the end of the game plus 30 seconds per move startingfrom move one.

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With 17 players each, England and Spain unsurprisingly have strong contingents, but they are surpassed by the Indian delegation, which comprises 29 players,led by Adhiban Baskaran, and featuring future starsPraggnanandhaa and Gukesh.

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...240 Players

Gibraltar is known in part for its high prize fund specifically for women, with the top scorer taking home GBP 20,000,ensuring once again that many women take part in the Chess Festival. Notable namesincludeAlexandra Kosteniuk, Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, Lei Tingje,Tan Zhongyi and many more.

Continuing a trend, the Tehran Times recently reported that Sarasadat Khademalsharieh, the strongestwoman from Iran and eighth best player in the country overall, as well as number 13 in the women's world rankings, had announced her withdrawal from the country's national team on her Instagram account.

For many years, the Gibraltar Open was one of the best attended open tournaments in the world, a successor to the long-running Aeroflot Open. In recent years theIsle of Man has outstripped Gibraltar in this respect, particularly last year when the tournament was upgraded to a qualifying event for the FIDE candidates tournament. But the Gibraltar Chess Festival remains a first-class destination and its Masters group one of the absolute top opens. It is popular among players not only because of the high prize money, but also because of its friendly and fun-filledatmosphere.

In addition to the Masters, amateur and challenge tournaments are offered, as well as a blitz tournament and a number of other side events.

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The 12thworld champion in simultaneous action

Former World Champion Anatoly Karpov opened the festival with a simultaneous performance on 29 boards, which Karpov won with 27-2 (+25, = 4).

Translation from German and additional reporting: Macauley Peterson

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Start of the Gibraltar Chess Festival 2020 - Chessbase News