An Invitation to the Chess Olympiad in Turin

by ChessBase
1/12/2006 – This year, from May 20 to June 4, the 37th Chess Olympiad will be held in Turin, Italy. For the 140 federations and 450 games per day a giant playing venue, 21,000 sq. m. in size, is being prepared. The virtual venue on the Playchess server is already installed and running. You can play in blitz tournaments there every Thursday, and maybe win a ticket to Turin.

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An Invitation to Turin

By Andrea Natoli

The Olympic flame touring Italy prior to the Winter Olympics may inflame some hearts, but chess players can’t wait for that other Olympiad, starting not in February but in May 2006 in Turin.

The numbers are mind-boggling: 21,000 sq. m. area for the playing venue, 140 federations present and 450 games scheduled daily.


The Oval – playing venue for the Chess Olympiad in Turin

So it’s all hands to the pumps in Turin, to make everything ready to welcome players and visitors, mindful of the fact that visitors will not only want to watch the games but may also want to move out of town for a few days and see what Italy has to offer in the way of art and tradition.


A view of the Mole Antoneliana

The Olympiad website (see link below) in English and Italian contains all the information you need about the Olympiad schedule and what tours are available, and there is also a section dedicated to playing chess on line.


The mascot of the 37th Chess Olympiad

Just register at the site for free and you will be able to play against strong Grandmasters who are challenging the world in global games. You will also be able to take part in pre-Olympiad tournaments and, when the time comes, all the games can be watched live.


Alexandra Kosteniuk gives a simul in Turin

At the time of writing, GM Sergio Mariotti is playing a game against the Rest of the World, while the 9th of January saw the start of the second game on the schedule, against GM Misho Cebalo.

As for the pre-Olympiad tournaments online, the Organising Committee, in cooperation with ChessBase, has made available to registered users a downloadable program that will let them play on Playchess.com gratis until the end of the Olympiad.

This same program will allow you to play in the tournaments that will take place every Thursday from January to April in the special Olympiad room created on the Playchess.com server.

The February tournaments will act as qualifiers into the 1st Italian Online Blitz tournament to be held on Sunday 25 February and will see the best Italian players in contention.

Apart from offering nine prizes for every tournament, the Olympiad Committee is also organising a final lottery with the participation of the best 14 players from each tournament and the winners of the secondary prizes. The winner will be the guest of the Chess Olympiad for three days!


Alexandra Kosteniuk with Paolo Fresco, President of the Olympic Organising Commitee


Garry Kasparov visits Paolo Fresco

Summary

Controls  Please consult the Events Calendar at the bottom of this table.
Dates Every Thursday from January 12th till April 27th, 20.20 Uhr (GMT +2); ChessOlympiads Torino 2006 --> TournamentsTutti i Giovedì dal 12 Gennaio fino al 27 Aprile 2006, 8.20 pm MESZ (GMT +2); Stanza: ChessOlympiads Torino 2006 --> Tournaments
Modus Please make sure you look at the Events Calendar at the bottom of this table. Controllare il Calendario sotto questo bando.
Prize

1st Prize: 250 Ducats; 2nd Prize: 150 Ducats; 3rd Prize: 100 Ducats; + 6 Lucky Prizes: 50 Ducats

Additional The best 14 players and the 6 lucky winners of each tournament will join to the final raffle. The winner will win 3 days sojourn in Turin during Olympiads.
Length appr. 1h 40 min

Registration

Starts at 20.00 Uhr MESZ (GMT +2); Open for everyone for rank Knight or higher.

T-Direcor Andrea Natoli
Software

Fritz 8/Shredder 7/Tiger 15 users only: please make sure you have updated to the latest software version (23.12.2004)!

Winners

In order to win the prizes it is requested to register on the Olimpic site. The prizes can only be won, if the tournament was played till end. If a prize goes to a player who has not finished the tournament, the prize will expire.

Rules

The  Complete Tournament Rules published in the server news section apply. Participation in the tournament implies full acceptance of these rules.

Calendar

January/Gennaio
Thursday 12th. 20.00   Blitz 5+0 7 Rounds
Thursday 19th. 20.00 Blitz 3+0 9 Rounds
Thursday 26th 20.00 Blitz 5+0 7 Rounds
February/Febbraio
Thursday 2nd. 20.00 Blitz 5+0 9 Rounds (1st Preliminary Italian Blitz Championship)
Thursday 9th. 20.00 Blitz 5+0 9 Rounds(2nd Preliminary Italian Blitz Championship)
Thursday 16th. 20.00 Blitz 5+0 9 Rounds(3rd Preliminary Italian Blitz Championship)
Thursday 23rd. 20.00 Blitz 5+0 9 Rounds(4th Preliminary Italian Blitz Championship)
Saturday 25th. 16.00 1st Italian Blitz Championship Online - Candidates Tournament
Sunday 26th. 11.30 1st Italian Blitz Championship Online - Final Tournament
March/Marzo
Thursday 2nd. 20.00 Blitz 3+2 9 Rounds
Thursday 9th. 20.00 Blitz 5+2 7 Rounds
Thursday 16th. 20.00 Blitz 2+1 11 Rounds
Thursday 23rd. 20.00 Blitz 5+0 7 Rounds
April/Aprile
Thursday 6th. 20.00 Blitz 3+2 9 Rounds
Thursday 13th. 20.00 Blitz 5+2 7 Rounds
Thursday 20th. 20.00 Blitz 2+1 11 Rounds
Thursday 27th 20.00 Blitz Marathon

Links


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