2009 SPICE Cup (A and B group)

Tuesday, 22 September 2009 06:48

2009 SPICE Cup (A and B group)

Official website: www.ChessDailyNews.com
LIVE Broadcast: http://www.depts.ttu.edu/spice/SPICE_CUP_2009_LIVE_COVERAGE.php

September 19-29 at Texas Tech University

The full schedule is here.

SPICE Cup A Group
Category 16 (6-player DRR)
Average rating: 2631
Average age: 20

http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2009/09/spice-cup-crosstable.html

Grandmaster Dmitry Andreikin, Russia, 2659, 18 years old
Number one Russian Junior, reigning Russian Junior Champion

Grandmaster Wesley So, Philippines, 2644, 15 years old
Number one Filipino player, member of the 2008 Filipino Olympiad team

Grandmaster Varuzhan Akobian, United States, 25 years old, 2636
2008 SPICE Cup Co-Champion, 2-time Olympiad Bronze Medalist

Grandmaster Yuriy Kuzubov, Ukraine, 2636, 19 years old
2nd ranked Ukrainian Junior, 9th in the world

Grandmaster Rauf Mamedov, Azerbaijan, 2626, 21 years old
European Team Championship Silver Medalist, member of the 2008 Azerbaijani Olympiad team

Grandmaster Jon Ludvig Hammer, Norway, 2585, 19 years old
2nd ranked Norwegian player, member of the 2008 Norwegian Olympiad team
This event will break the U.S. record by a big margin.

Last year's SPICE Cup was a category 15 event with average rating of 2605.5. This year's average rating will be over 2630, which is the highest rated international invitational tournament in U.S. history.

SPICE Cup B Group
Category 11 (10-player RR)
Average rating: 2503

http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2009/09/spice-cup-b-crosstable.html

International Master Gabor Papp, Hungary, 2562, 22 years old, 1 GM norm
Texas Tech student and member of the TTU Knight Raiders Chess Team

International Master Davorin Kuljasevic, Croatia, 2547, 22 years old, 2 GM norm
Texas Tech student and member of the TTU Knight Raiders Chess Team

Grandmaster Eugene Perelshteyn, United States, 2542, 29 years old
2007 SPICE Cup Champion and former winner of the prestigious Samford fellowship

International Master Ray Robson, United States, 2527, 14 years old, 2 GM norm
Reigning U.S. Junior Champion and winner of the prestigious Samford fellowship

Grandmaster Andre Diamant, Brazil, 2526, 19 years old
Top rated Brazilian Junior and Reigning Brazilian National Champion

International Master Ben Finegold, United States, 2515, 40 years old, 2 GM norm
2-time U.S. Open Champion, 2-time National Open Champion and former winner of the prestigious Samford fellowship

International Master Gergely Antal, Hungary, 2486, 24 years old, 2 GM norm
Texas Tech student and member of the TTU Knight Raiders Chess Team, 2009 National Collegiate Champion

Grandmaster Vinay Bhat, United States, 2474, 25 years old
2007 USCL MVP and former winner of the prestigious Samford fellowship

International Master Dean Ippolito, United States, 2459, 31 years old
Former winner of the prestigious Samford fellowship and 11-time All-American

FIDE Master Danny Rensch, United States, 2388, 23 years old, 2 IM norm
Former National Elementary, Junior High, and High School Champion and 6-time All-American

All ratings listed are from the September 2009 FIDE rating list.

Just as last year, the SPICE Cup will be held on campus at Texas Tech University and is co-organized by SPICE, Susan Polgar Foundation, and Texas Tech University.