Grand Slam Press Release

PRESS RELEASE

Amsterdam, March 16^th, 2009

During the Presidential board meeting of the GSCA (Grand Slam Chess Association) in Linares (Saturday, March 7th 2009), the next decisions have been made:

A. The GSCA Presidential board will now consist of these members:

Juan Fernandez (Linares) President

Silvio Danailov (Sofia) Executive Director

Jeroen van den Berg (Wijk aan Zee) Spokesman

Andoni Madallaga (Bilbao) General Secretary

A fifth member from Nanjing (China) will be announced later.

B. The potential new member of the GSCA, San Luis, has not yet made an official request to enter the GSCA. In case San Luis wants to enter this year, the deadline is April 1^st 2009.

C. Via Malcolm Pein the GSCA has received a request from a new tournament in London to enter the GSCA. The GSCA will decide about London’s participation in the Grand Slam after the players field has been announced. Since it is important to have a 3 years guarantee for each new tournament in the Grand Slam, the GSCA considers to include London as an invitational tournament for the year 2009.

D. The next GSCA Meeting will be held on 22/23 May 2009 in Sofia, during the M-tel Masters Tournament.

E. In the agenda for the next meeting these items will be discussed: unified criteria for all tournaments, such as time control, dress code, tie breaks, etc etc.

F. Next GSCA Tournaments:

Sofia, M-Tel Masters: 12-23 May 2009

Bilbao, Grand Slam Masters Final: 2-15 September 2009

Nanjing: 27 September – 9 October 2009

Corus Chess Tournament: 15-31 January 2010