Swiss Young Masters kicks off in Basel

A new location

The Swiss Young Masters in Basel (16-24 April) offers opportunities for young Swiss players to climb the rating ladder and potentially collect IM norms.

The traditional tournament will take place in Basel for the first time, at the recently inaugurated Hotel Mövenpick near the SBB railway station. In this invitational tournament, five players from Switzerland will meet five young masters from neighbouring countries. This nine-round event offers the opportunity to gain a norm for the title of International Master.

Anti-London System

On this DVD GM Yannick Pelletier offers Black a repertoire against the London System that you can employ no matter which opening (Systems with d5, systems with g6, Queen's Indian, Queen's Gambit, Benoni, Benko, Dutch) you usually play against 1.d4 followed by 2.c4. Thematic games explain and illustrate the theory and ideas of the repertoire Pelletier proposes.

The Swiss Chess Federation has decided to hold this traditional tournament from this year onwards in different regions of Switzerland. The first event will be held in Basel, organized by the Riehen Chess Club. The past six editions have brought many young chess talents to Switzerland, some of whom have since embarked on impressive careers. For a number of Swiss players this tournament has been an important building block in their careers.

In this year’s field of participants, two players have already achieved norms for the grandmaster title and are therefore the tournament favourites: Pierre Laurent-Paoli from France and Lev Yankelevich from Germany. There are also two members from the Swiss women’s squad in action: Ghazal Hakimifard and Lena Georgescu.

List of participants

All games live on the internet

All games will be broadcast live on chess 24, ChessBase and lichess. To ensure that there are no opportunities for cheating, the transmissions will be made with a 15-minute time delay, which is usual for such tournaments.

Own homepage

In order to be informed about everything at all times, a separate homepage has been created: www.swissyoungmasters.ch. You can find all the information there, including player portraits. The results with the rankings and many statistics are reported via www.chess-results.com.

Spectators are welcome

The games will be played from 14.00 hrs local time, with the exception of the last round, which will start at 10.00 hrs.  Since it is again possible to admit spectators, they are very welcome in the playing hall!

Side events

Parallel events will be held in the adjoining rooms at the Mövenpick Hotel. On Holy Saturday, 16 April, a closed Junior Rapid Tournament will be played, while on Sunday, 24 April, a Rapid Tournament will take place, this one open to all players.

Both tournaments will be hosted by the Northwestern Switzerland Chess Federation. Registrations can be made online on the homepage. On Saturday, 23 April, there will also be a simultaneous exhibition, in which Swiss Grandmaster Nico Georgiadis will compete against 20 players. The Swiss Chess Federation is organizing this event and will also issue the invitations. Spectators are welcome!

Swiss Youth Chess Foundation

The organization of this tournament is made possible by the Swiss Youth Chess Foundation, which is providing a considerable amount of money. The Swisslos Sportfonds Basel-Stadt and the sponsorship provided by the Hotel Mövenpick also contribute substantially to the making of the event.

A Classical Guide to the French Defence

This DVD gives you the key to start out with the French Defence. GM Yannick Pelletier is a specialist of this opening, and believes that the most efficient way to understand its ideas, plans, and typical structures is to study classical lines.

Links

• Official site
• Follow the games at Live.ChessBase.com