Albena Chess Tournament with a 40,000 EUR Prize Fund

Albena Chess Tournament with a 40,000 EUR Prize Fund
25th June – July 3rd in the Albena sea resort (near Varna, Bulgaria)

This year a number of closed events like Linares, Mtel Masters, or even opens like Arctic Chess Challenge are suffering from the financial crisis. But are things really projecting to be so negative financially in the chess world? Not exactly, many traditional opens are coping well with the crisis, while another class of tournaments is emerging – the “Super Opens”.

These are events with over 30000 EUR prize fund and are open festivals for everyone. Aeroflot 2011 (125 000 eur), Cappelle La Grande 2011 (30 000 eur), Dubai Chess Open (45,000 USD), and Nakhchivan Open (66,500 USD) are just some of the events that have been going on for the first months of this year.

The latest Super Open that was announced is Albena Chess Open. It will take place 25th June – July 3rd in the Albena sea resort (near Varna, Bulgaria), and is boasting a prize fund of over 40,000 EUR.

The first prize in Albena is the impressive 8000 eur, but what is even better for the chess enthusiasts, there are 30 prizes ranging from 1000 to 100 eur for amateur chess players, and 16 prizes ranging from 500 to 100 eur for youngsters. Exactly such prize distribution is very typical for the Super Opens and beneficial to the whole chess community.

The response has been very enthusiastic and one month before the start of the tournament nearly 100 players are signed to participate. The full list is bellow.

Albena Chess Open rules and regulations

Albena Open 2011 will take place 25th June – July 3rd. It is a 9 round open Swiss tournament with time control 90 minutes for each player plus 30 seconds per move starting from the first move.

Accommodation is provided right next to the playing hall and starts for as low as 11 eur/night, an incredible deal for the high season of summer for one of the major Black Sea resorts.

All details on the event can be found in the links below.

Registration / Accommodation / Contacts / Prizes (40 000 eur)

Click here for an interractive map of Albena