Vladimir Petrov Memorial

Vladimir Petrov Memorial

Latvian Chess federation and Grandmaster Alexei Shirov have the pleasure to announce the Vladimir Petrov Memorial.

The aim of the tournament is to pay the tribute to one of the brightest representatives of Latvian Chess ever who tragically died in Soviet camps during the Second World War.

The tournament will be supported by the family of Vladimir Petrov among others. The Vladimir Petrov Memorial replaces previously announced but unfortunately canceled the Tal Memorial and the event keeps all the original terms – the schedule, the venue, the prize fund and the invited players.

The tournament will be held in Jurmala, Latvia, from Feb. 15 (arrival) to Feb. 20 (departure), 2012. The exact venues of the separate tournaments have been changed and the festival will be held in two districts of the Jurmala city, namely Jaunkemeri and Majori.

The event will include the following tournaments:

Tournament A: Feb. 16-17 (qualifier) and Feb. 18-19 (final). The final will be held at the Amber Beach Resort in Jaunkemeri. It will feature 8 players: four Super GMs by invitation and the top four from the qualifier. As of now there are four confirmed Super GMs:

Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine)
Alexander Morozevich (Russia)
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbajan)
Alexei Shirov who as of Jan 1, 2012 will be representing Latvia.

The time control is 15 minutes plus 6 seconds per move.

Prizes for the final are: 1st: €1250, 2nd: €825, 3rd: €600, 4th: €400, 5th: €300, 6th: €250 7th €225, 8th €200, for the total of €4050.

The preliminary tournament (9 rounds; Swiss system; time control 15 minutes plus 6 seconds per move) will be held in Jurmala City museum. It is open to all who pay the entry fee.

The prizes for the preliminary tournament are: 1st: €750, 2nd: €500, 3rd: €400, 4th: €350 5th: €300, 6th: €250, 7th: €200, 8th: €150, 9th: €120, 10th: €100, 11th: €80, 12-16th: €70.

Special prizes by nomination include: best result for women, juniors born no later than 1992, and players rated below 2250: €50 for each category. There are also two prizes for players rated 2251-2500: 1th: €60, 2nd: €40. Prizes are not divided, each player can only receive one prize. The total prize fund for the preliminary tournament is €3850.

This Sunday Aivars Gipslis Memorial was held in Riga.

Participants in the preliminary tournament (top 25 seeds):

1 GM Grachev Boris RUS 2693
2 GM Azarov Sergei BLR 2667
3 GM Fridman Daniel GER 2660
4 GM Kurnosov Igor RUS 2648
5 GM Landa Konstantin RUS 2645
6 GM Khairullin Ildar RUS 2638
7 GM Fedorchuk Sergey A UKR 2634
8 GM Nyback Tomi FIN 2634
9 GM Khalifman Alexander RUS 2632
10 GM Khenkin Igor GER 2631
11 GM Krasenkow Michal POL 2607
12 GM Sulskis Sarunas LTU 2595
13 GM Kovalenko Igor UKR 2587
14 GM Kulaots Kaido EST 2581
15 GM Sokolov Andrei FRA 2581
16 GM Perez Candelario Manuel ESP 2572
17 GM Gleizerov Evgeny RUS 2566
18 GM Miezis Normunds LAT 2544
19 GM Fedoseev Vladimir RUS 2525
20 IM Neiksans Arturs LAT 2524
21 GM Sveshnikov Evgeny LAT 2514
22 IM Fridman Rafael GER 2506
23 GM Solozhenkin Evgeniy RUS 2483
24 GM Starostits Ilmars LAT 2469
25 IM Klyuner Vyacheslav UKR 2428