$25,000 HDBank Open in Vietnam

The Vietnam Chess Federation has the honor to invite your Federation to participate in the 1^st HDBank Cup Open Chess Tournament 2011 which shall be held 03 to 10 January 2011 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

1. Schedule

03 January 12:00 Arrival

19:00 Technical Meeting
04 January 08:30 Opening Ceremony

09:00 Round 1

15:30 Round 2

05 January 09:00 Round 3

15:30 Round 4

06 January 09:00 Round 5

07 January 09:00 Round 6

15:30 Round 7

08 January 09:00 Round 8

09 January 09:00 Round 9

18:00 Closing Ceremony

10 January before 12:00 Departures

2. Time Control:

The tournament shall be conducted as a Swiss System competition of 9 rounds and will be played according to FIDE regulations. The time control is 90 minutes for the whole game with an addition of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1.

Draw offers below 30 moves shall not be allowed.

Pairings will be made by Swiss Manager.

3. Prize fund:

Twenty five thousand U.S. Dollars (US$25,000) in cash prizes shall be awarded.

1^st $6,000

2^nd $4,000

3^rd $3,000

4^th $2,000

5^th $1,000

6^th $800

7^th $700

8^th $600

9^th to 10^th $500 each

11^th to 20^th $250 each

Women only: 1^st $1,200; 2^nd $800; 3^rd $500; 4^th $300; 5^th to 6^th $200 each.

Special prize: Best U16 $100 and U12 $100

Cash prizes shall be shared equally among tied players. Players not present at the Opening Ceremony shall be fined 5% of their prize. The champions should be present at the closing ceremony. Players not present at the closing ceremony shall be fined five percent (5%) from their prize.

For trophies (Top 3 Standings), ties will be decided by Tiebreak: Buchholz, followed by Sonnenborn-Berger; Number of Wins with the Black pieces.

4. Entry Fee

For all players based on the 1^st November 2010 FIDE Rating List, the entry fee is as follows:

4.1 Registration is free for GM, IM, WGM and players with a FIDE Rating of 2500 and above.

4.2 For all other players, the entry fee is as follows:

Above 2399 $50

2350 to 2399 $75

2300 to 2349 $100

2250 to 2299 $125

2000 to 2250 $150

Below 2000 $200

5. Appeals Committee:

An Appeals Committee shall be constituted before the beginning of the tournament in accordance with FIDE practice. The deposit fee will be US$100 for each protest, refundable if the protest is upheld. Protests should be submitted to the Chief Arbiter in writing within half an hour after the round.

6. Accommodation

The Grandmasters who have ratings above 2550 and Women Grandmasters who have ratings above 2350 will be provided accommodation on a twin sharing basis for the duration of the tournament.

7. Travel

Players and accompanying persons will be picked up at the Tan Son Nhat airport, Ho Chi Minh City and taken to the hotel by the Organizing Committee.

8. Entry Deadline

National Federations should fill the registration and send it before 10^th December 2010. Players who send entry late after the deadline will pay double the entry fee. The registration form is enclosed but should be received no later than 20^th December 2010.

9. Visa

Participants who need visa shall apply for visas at the Vietnam Embassy in your respective countries. If you have any problem, please do not hesitate to contact the following address:

36 Tran Phu St., Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel/Fax: (84-4)3823 2471
Email: ldc@hn.vnn.vn

Dang Tat Thang
General Secretary
Vietnam Chess Federation

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