Morelia/Linares starts in one week

In exactly one week, the first moves will be played at the second super tournament of 2008: Morelia/Linares.


Morelia/Linares is an eight-player, double round-robin and is held from February 14 till March 8. Participants are Anand, Aronian, Carlsen, Ivanchuk, Leko, Radjabov, Shirov and Topalov.

The first part takes place 14-23 February in the Mexican city of Morelia, after which the players fly to Spain for the second part of the tournament: February 28 - March 8 in Linares.


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Today some information about the cities; tomorrow we'll have profiles of the players.

MORELIA

Morelia is the capital of the Mexican state of Michoac?ɬ°n de Ocampo. The city has a population of approximately 6,00,000 600,000 inhabitants and is the seat of the municipality of Morelia.

The city's historic downtown area which houses more than 1000 colonial buildings and churches became a World Heritage Site in 1991. Famous buildings in the centre are the cathedral, the Casa del Arte, the colonial aquaduct and the birth place of fighter for independence Jos?ɬ© Mar?ɬ?a Morelos, to whom the town was named in 1828. (Wikipedia)

The baroque Cathedral of Morelia		Aquaduct in the middle of the street
Street in the historical centre		Palacio Clavijero

Somewhere between February 23 and 28, the players will fly to Spanje. In Linares, where this top event has been organised for many years, the second half of the tournament will be played.

LINARES

Linares is a city located in the Andalusian province of Ja?ɬ©n, Spain. With its approximately 60,000 inhabitants, it's about ten times as small as Morelia. It's famous for being the birthplace of both Andr?ɬ©s Segovia and the singer Raphael.

The hotel Anibal, where the tournament is always taking place, has the same name as the model as the terrain-vehicle produced by car company Santana Motor, which makes vehicles for the Spanish army and is located in Linares (Wikipedia).

The town hall of Linares		Church of San Agust?ɬ?n
Plaza de Toros		Suzuki-Santana-fabrics

Tomorrow: profiles of the players.

External link:

• Tournament website