http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2010/08/2010-spice-cup-fide-rated-open.html

November 5-7, 2010

A few stories here that might be of interest.

Scoring system

- No draw offer allowed prior to move 30

- A win = 3 points, a draw = 1 point, and loss = 0 point

Looks like this is becoming more popular with tournament directors.

GM norm will be 6/9 and IM norm will be 4/9

You may recall IM Bryan Smith won, but failed to earn a GM norm in the Philadelphia International 2010  http://reports.chessdom.com/news-2010/world-open-2010  (and IM Sam Shankland announced he quit trying to become a GM).

IM Danny Rensch (also known as ACEChess) will be there. In the 2009 version he denied GM Ray Robson a GM norm while earning an IM norm himself.   http://blog.chess.com/ArizonaScorpions/danny-rensch-is-an-international-master