6th Staunton Memorial Starts
The great 19th Century English chess player Howard Staunton (pictured) is probably best remembered today for giving his name to the basic standardised design of chess pieces - and less auspiciously for scrupulously avoiding a match with the great Paul Morphy.
The famously pompous Staunton now has an annual tournament played in his name at the famous Simpson's-in-the-Strand (part of the Savoy) in London.
The 6th edition of this event will take place from 7-18th August and has attracted some familar names, mainly from England and the Netherlands.
| Michael Adams (ENG) | 2735 |
| Ivan Sokolov (NED) | 2658 |
| Nigel Short (ENG) | 2655 |
| Loek Van Wely (NED) | 2644 |
| Erwin L'Almi (NED) | 2610 |
| Jan Smeets (NED) | 2593 |
| Jan Werle (NED) | 2591 |
| Jan Timman (NED) | 2561 |
| Peter Wells (ENG) | 2526 |
| Jon Speelman (ENG) | 2524 |
| Alexander Cherniaev (RUS) | 2431 |
| Bob Wade (ENG) |
2167 |
In addition to the individual event, the scores of the English and Dutch players will be added together to see who wins the 'team' competition. I assume Alexander Cherniaev is an honorary Englishman in this instance!
At the grand old age of 87, the renowned Bob Wade is surely one of the oldest players ever to take part in an international chess tournament! Good luck Bob!
The event is organised by the Staunton Society and Eric Schiller of Chess.com is the arbiter and will - time permitting - be blogging from the event exclusively for Chess.com. Thanks Eric!
The official website is here. Look out for Eric's blog and coverage at Chess.com!
