8th Gibraltar Chess Festival

The tiny British territory of Gibraltar plays host to the annual Gibtelecom chess festival from 26 January to 4 February 2010.

There are several open competitions taking place, but the main event is the Gibtelecom Masters.

The Masters is a ten round Swiss open which has attracted many strong players, headed by top seed Etienne Bacrot from France.  Last year's winner Peter Svidler is absent, but many other familiar names will be taking part, including Gata Kamsky.  All players rated above 2350 Elo are shown below, including many talented women such as world champion Alexandra Kostenuik.

The first prize is a respectable £15,000, with prize money down to 12th place, and a best game prize of £1,000.

Games start daily at 3pm local time, with more information and live games available at the excellent official site, including player biographies.