Two websites you might not have seen yet

We already reported on the brand new super-tournament, to be held in London in December. For this exciting event, now officially called "London Chess Classic", a tournament website has now been (quietly) launched. And besides the site about "Valencia, birthplace of modern chess", we also came across a separate website about the Kasparov-Karpov match.

The official website of the London Chess Classic (December 7-15 in the Olympia Conference Centre) is now up. Besides inviting you to have a look, we'll give the most important details about the tournament below.

The London Chess Classic 2009 will be the highest level tournament in London for 25 years and will be the first in a series of events designed to increase enthusiasm for chess in the UK and promote the game and its undoubted educational benefits in schools and communities. It is also the objective of the organizers to bring the World Championship to London in the Olympic year 2012.

The participants of the London Chess Classic 2009 will be Nigel Short, Michael Adams, Luke McShane, David Howell (ENG), Vladimir Kramnik (RUS), Magnus Carlsen (NOR), Ni Hua (CHN) and Hikaru Nakamura (USA).



Spectators will be treated to live commentary on the games from Grandmasters and will be able to play tournament or informal games all day. Tickets for the auditorium and commentary room are now on sale (£10 per adult per day; £50 for all seven rounds).

Purchasing an adult ticket gives you the following benefits:

• Admission to the London Chess Classic 2009
• Full access to the auditorium throughout the day’s play. Moves will be displayed on a giant screen.
• Access to the Grandmaster commentary room from the start of play. Commentators will include: Former British champions Julian Hodgson and Jonathan Rowson, IM Lawrence Trent, GM Stephen Gordon and IM Malcolm Pein.

Side events

• 9-round FIDE rated Open (this will be 2-7pm 5 hour session, a double round Friday 11th
• 10am-3pm and 4pm-9pm, this is a rest day for the Classic, final day 12 noon-5pm)
• Weekend Classic Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th
• A Grandmaster closed event (details tbc)
• 1 Day Rapidplay on the Sunday 13th, 6-rounds
• Foyer Blitz Prix tournaments (not Sunday) every evening timed 7pm to 9.30pm
• There will be daily junior coaching in the mornings 10am to 12 noon, and a large junior event on the Saturday.
• Womens invitational - this will be a 10 player all play all invitational event. The schedule will be identical to the FIDE rated Open. A list of participants will be posted in the near future.

Kasparov-Karpov We already mentioned the mentioned the official website for the festival "Valencia, birthplace of modern chess", but now we've come across a seperate website for the Kasparov-Karpov match. It has a number of articles which don't provide information that's earth shaking, but are entertaining anyway.

For example, we read that Kasparov will arrive in Valencia "on the eve of the historical match of revenge against Anatoli Karpov, September 20th. Until that moment, he’ll continue being concentrate at his residence in Croatia, where he prepares his awaited return to the boards with a specific training." (That's not a long stay in Croatia then, because yesterday he answered the Norwegian press about his cooperation with Carlsen.)

Karpov however has already been in Valencia since September 12th, together with a "personal elite trainer", Victor Bologan. "Although the days of the match he'll stay at the hotel 'Puerta de la Mar', until then, he plans on staying close to the beach to concentrate and prepare this match, which both of them are taking very seriously, despite of being an exhibition."

Schedule

Date	Time	Activity	Place
Monday, Sep 21	12:00 CEST	Opening, presentation	Exm. Ayuntamiento de Valencia
	19:00 CEST	Simuls by Karpov and Kasparov for invited players	Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias
Tuesday, Sep 22	16:30 - 18:30 CEST	Start of the International Sympiosum “Valencia, Birthplace of Modern Chess” With: Alessandro Sanvito, Antoni Ferrando, Govert Westerveld, Joseph Alio, Jose Antonio Garzón, José María Gutierrez, Lothac Schmid, Rafael Solaz, Rafael Ferrando and Thomas Thomsen First session: "La Historia del Ajedrez"	Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (Palau de les Arts)
	19:00 CEST	Rapid (25'+5") games "Karpov vs Kasparov"	Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (Palau de les Arts)
Wednesday, Sep 23	16:30 - 18:30 CEST	International Sympiosum “Valencia, Birthplace of Modern Chess” 2nd session: "The Social and Cultural Environment of the New Chess 'de la dama'"	Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (Palau de les Arts)
	19:00 CEST	Rapid (25'+5") games "Karpov vs Kasparov"	Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (Palau de les Arts)
Thursday, Sep 24	16:30 - 17:30 CEST 17:30 - 18:30 CEST	International Sympiosum “Valencia, Birthplace of Modern Chess” 3rd session: Cultural and Artistic Values of Chess (16:30-17:30 hrs) Round table discussion on collectionism and chess (17:30-18:30 hrs)	Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (Palau de les Arts)
	19:00 CEST	Blitz (5'+5") games "Karpov vs Kasparov"	Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (Palau de les Arts)
Friday, Sep 25	12:00 CEST	Closing	Complejo Deportivo Cultural la Petxina