The
city of Rethymnon, Crete is preparing to host the 2003 European Clubs Cup, scheduled
to begin on 28 September.
Organised by the national chess champion Club of Kydon (from the neighbouring
city of Chania), the competition is part of the "Venizeleia" multi-sport
event held annually on Greece's largest island.
The venue is the Creta Star Hotel in the city of Rethymnon.

Here is the schedule:
27 Sept. 2003 |
Arrival of Participants |
28 Sept. 2003 |
10:00 |
Captains' meeting |
13:30 |
Opening Ceremony |
14:00 |
Round 1 Men & Women |
29 Sept. 2003 |
14:00 |
Round 2 Men & Women |
30 Sept. 2003 |
14:00 |
Round 3 Men & Women |
1 Oct. 2003 |
14:00 |
Round 4 Men & Women |
2 Oct. 2003 |
14:00 |
Round 5 Men & Women |
3 Oct. 2003 |
14:00 |
Round 6 Men & Women |
4 Oct. 2003 |
14:00 |
Round 7 Men & Women |
21:00 |
Closing Ceremony |
5 Oct. 2003 |
Departure of Participants |
The
official web site
gives a record number of 52 men's and 18 women's teams that have been entered
in the 2003 European Chess Clubs Cup. A late addition to the field is Garry
Kasparov, who will spend two weeks in Rethymnon as a guest of Kydon S.C. Chania,
the club that has won the last four Greek national championships, and the Municipality
of Geropotamos.
Kasparov will take part in the European Clubs Cup as a member of the Russian
team of Ladia-Kazan-1000, which is also fielding Sergei Rublevsky (2672), Ilia
Smirin (2656), Viktor Bologan (2650) and Alisa Galliamova (2502). The French
NAO Chess Club of Paris is also fielding an exceptionally strong team, comprising
of Alexander Grischuk (2732), Peter Svidler (2723), Michael Adams (2719), Joel
Lautler (2677), Vallejo Pons Francisco (2662), Etienne Bacrot (2645), Laurent
Fressinet (2640) and Igor-Alexandre Nataf (2549).

A view of Rethymnon (photo from www.rethymnon.gr)
Other favourites are the defending champion of Bosna Sarajevo, Polonia Plus
of Warsaw and the 2001 European champion, Norilsky Nikel. With several clubs
still to announce their team lists, there are now more that 150 Grand Masters,
80 International Masters, 35 FIDE Masters and 3 Women's Grand Masters entered
in the competition. The full list of participating teams may be found here.
Here are the top 16 players at the European Clubs Cup:
Player |
Fed. |
Elo |
Team |
|
Kasparov Garry |
RUS |
2830 |
Ladia-Kazan |
1 |
Grischuk, Alexander |
RUS |
2732 |
NAO Chess |
6 |
Shirov, Alexei |
ESP |
2732 |
Bosna |
7 |
Svidler, Peter |
RUS |
2723 |
NAO Chess |
8 |
Bareev, Evgeny |
RUS |
2721 |
Bosna |
9 |
Adams, Michael |
ENG |
2719 |
NAO Chess |
10 |
Ivanchuk, Vasyl |
UKR |
2710 |
Polonia |
13 |
Akopian, Vladimir |
ARM |
2703 |
Alkaloid |
14 |
Azmaiparashvili, Zurab |
GEO |
2702 |
Kiseljak |
15 |
Dreev, Alexey |
RUS |
2698 |
Norilsky |
17 |
Malakhov, Vladimir |
RUS |
2696 |
Norilsky |
18 |
Gelfand, Boris |
ISR |
2695 |
Polonia |
19 |
Sokolov, Ivan |
NED |
2693 |
Bosna |
20 |
Morozevich, Alexander |
RUS |
2679 |
Tomsk-400 |
23 |
Khalifman, Alexander |
RUS |
2678 |
Tomsk-400 |
24 |
Lautier, Joel |
FRA |
2677 |
NAO Chess |
25 |
Links
• Official
web site
• Travel
Information – getting there
• The Crete
city of Rethymnon
Kasparov vs Azmaiparashvili
In addition to the European Clubs Cup, Kasparov will play four rapid and four
blitz matches against Zurab Azmaiparashvili on 22nd September to 25th September
in Geropotamos, Crete. Azmaiparashvili was crowned the European Champion in
Turkey in June this year.

The Kasparov vs. Azmaiparashvili games will be played at the Panormos, located
on the coastal road, 20 kilometres east of Rethymnon and 55 kilometres west
of Herakleion. The modern-day village of Panormos, which boasts a 10th-century
Byzantine basilica, is built on the site where, according to Homer, lay the
ancient city of Panormos.

The playing site. No, not really. This is the 10th-century Byzantine basilica
Links
• Kasparov-
Azmaiparashvili clash in Crete
• Travel
information on Panormos