2011 SPICE Spring Invitational

The 2011 SPICE Spring Invitational, one of the most prestigious International Invitational Chess Tournaments in the United States, will take place from March 12 – 16, 2011 on the beautiful campus of Texas Tech University.

In 2009, young International Master Robert Hess earned a Grandmaster norm at Texas Tech during the SPICE Spring Invitational. He completed his Grandmaster title shortly after that and his career has skyrocketed since. He is now one of the top players in this country.

In 2010, Darwin Yang, the top junior in Texas, earned his first International Master norm at the SPICE Spring Invitational. He followed it up with his 2nd International Master norm at the 2010 SPICE Cup. He is gunning for his final IM norm this Saturday.

GM = Grandmaster; IM = International Master; FM = FIDE Master; SM = Senior Master

The drawing of lot was done today and here are the drawn numbers:

1. SM Aleskerov, Faik 2324 FIDE – 2458 USCF (Azerbaijan)
2. FM Yang, Darwin 2416 FIDE – 2467 USCF (USA)
3. IM Naroditsky, Daniel 2438 FIDE – 2485 USCF (USA)
4. GM Kuljasevic, Davorin 2528 FIDE – 2558 USCF (Croatia)
5. IM Sipos, Istvan 2407 FIDE – 2458 USCF (Hungary)
6. IM Altounian, Levon 2432 FIDE – 2478 USCF (USA)
7. IM Esserman, Marc 2425 FIDE – 2530 USCF (USA)
8. GM Diamant, Andre 2520 FIDE – 2532 USCF (Brazil)
9. GM Bykhovsky, Anatoly 2517 FIDE – 2649 USCF (Israel)
10. IM Kleiman, Jake 2413 FIDE – 2470 USCF (USA)

Here are the round by round matchups:

Round 1
Aleskerov – Kleiman
Yang – Bykhovsky
Naroditsky – Diamant
Kuljasevic – Esserman
Sipos – Altounian

Round 2
Kleiman – Altounian
Esserman – Sipos
Diamant – Kuljasevic
Bykhovsky – Naroditsky
Aleskerov – Yang

Round 3
Yang – Kleiman
Naroditsky – Aleskerov
Kuljasevic – Bykhovsky
Sipos – Diamant
Altounian – Esserman

Round 4
Kleiman – Esserman
Diamant – Altounian
Bykhovsky – Sipos
Aleskerov – Kuljasevic
Yang – Naroditsky

Round 5
Naroditsky – Kleiman
Kuljasevic – Yang
Sipos – Aleskerov
Altounian – Bykhovsky
Esserman – Diamant

Round 6
Kleiman – Diamant
Bykhovsky – Esserman
Aleskerov – Altounian
Yang – Sipos
Naroditsky – Kuljasevic

Round 7
Kuljasevic – Kleiman
Sipos – Naroditsky
Altounian – Yang
Esserman – Aleskerov
Diamant – Bykhovsky

Round 8
Kleiman – Bykhovsky
Aleskerov – Diamant
Yang – Esserman
Naroditsky – Altounian
Kuljasevic – Sipos

Round 9
Sipos – Kleiman
Altounian – Kuljasevic
Esserman – Naroditsky
Diamant – Yang
Bykhovsky – Aleskerov