Staufer Chess Open will take place 2-6 January, 2013, in Germany. A total of 265 players will participate in the competition. Top seeded is the European team champion from ETCC 2011, the local GM Rainer Buhmann. His main opponents are the Ukranian GM Alexander Zubarev, the Russian GMs Vladimir Epishin, Vladimir Burmakin, and GM Egor Krivoborodov, the local GMs Lev Gutman and Sergey Kalinitschew, and GM Alexandre Dgebuadze from Belgium.
Update: All favorites won their round 1 games, see the results at the official website
Participants Staufer Open 2013
| 1 | GM | Buhmann,Rainer | 2598 |
| 2 | GM | Zubarev,Alexander | 2594 |
| 3 | GM | Epishin,Vladimir | 2582 |
| 4 | GM | Burmakin,Vladimir | 2565 |
| 5 | GM | Dgebuadze,Alexandre | 2532 |
| 6 | GM | Krivoborodov,Egor | 2513 |
| 7 | GM | Gutman,Lev | 2498 |
| 8 | GM | Kalinitschew,Sergey | 2472 |
| 9 | GM | Starostits,Ilmars | 2468 |
| 10 | FM | Krassowizkij,Jaroslaw | 2400 |
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
This is quite strong.