Press Release / Zurich, 20 August 2009
Eleven Chess Champions Join the Jubilee Festivities of the Schachgesellschaft Zürich
Start is this coming weekend, 22/23 August 2009, when no less than eleven chess champions will play at the jubilee festivities of the Schachgesellschaft Zürich. At 200 years, it is the oldest chess club in the world. Legends of the past 50 years such as the current World Champion Anand will be joining both a simultaneous exhibition and a rapid tournament at Zurich Main Station. Main sponsor of the jubilee Credit Suisse once again helps the Schachgesellschaft Zürich realise a first-class chess event.
On Saturday, 22 August 2009, 200 amateurs will play against eight champions who have left indelible marks on chess in the past 50 years: Viswanathan Anand, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Viktor Korchnoi, Vladimir Kramnik, Boris Spassky, Ruslan Ponomariov and Veselin Topalov.
Each of them will play against 25 amateurs, 200 games altogether, one for every year of the club’s history. The event begins at 2 p.m. and is expected to finish around 6.30 p.m.
On Sunday, 23 August 2009, another group of eight champions — Viswanathan Anand, Werner Hug, Anatoly Karpov, Alexander Khalifman, Vladimir Kramnik, Judit Polgar, Ruslan Ponomariov and Veselin Topalov — will play against one another in an attractive rapid chess format. Judit Polgar is the strongest female chess player ever. The event begins at 11.00 am, each of the seven rounds begins on the hour. Ranking announcements and prize awards are expected to take place around 6 p.m.
Matthias Deutschmann, the renowned German cabaret artist and the voice of the “Fritz” chess software, will guide through the events on site. Both the simultaneous exhibition and the rapid tournament are open to visitors without charge. Enthusiasts can also watch all the excitement of both tournaments live on the Internet at www.sgzurich2009-live.ch. Grandmasters Klaus Bischoff, Vlastimil Hort, Lothar Vogt and for some hours also World Champion Boris Spassky will be commenting online on the games. Credit Suisse has organized autograph sessions on both days of the event. At around 4 p.m. some of the chess legends will be available for about an hour to sign autographs.
For further information on the jubilee of the Schachgesellschaft Zürich, please visit www.sgzurich2009.ch and www.sgzurich2009-live.ch.
Dr. Christian Rohrer
Schachgesellschaft Zürich
Jubilee 2009
Communications
www.sgzurich2009.ch
www.sgzurich2009-live.ch
This sounds like a spectacular event.