26 October 2015
The New Format of Zurich Chess Challenge 2016
The traditional event will be played on February 12-15.
Savoy Baur en Ville Hotel will host Zurich Chess Challenge 2016. The event will be attended by Viswanathan Anand (India), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Levon Aronian (Armenia), Anish Giri (Netherlands), and Alexei Shirov (Latvia).
The world's oldest chess club and its honorary member and tournament sponsor Oleg Skvortsov introduced an important new feature – the time control during the main stage of the tournament will be changed to 40 minutes + 10 seconds per move. “We think that future in classical chess belongs to the quicker time control – one hour per game for each player. We decided that games in our tournament should be shorter. Our brand scoring system will remain intact.”
Winning in a classical chess counts as 2 points, draw – 1 point. A won blitz game will bring the winner 1 point, draws cost 0.5 point.
Schedule
The opening ceremony takes place on February 12 at 6 pm. The famous cellist Boris Andrianov, classical guitar player Dmitry Illarionov, and violinist Alyona Baeva will perform for the players and guests of the tournament.
The opening day is traditionally dedicated to the blitz tournament, which also serves as a drawing of lots.
February 13: round 1 – 3 pm, round 2 – 6 pm.
February 14: round 3 – 3 pm, round 4 – 6 pm.
February 15: round 5 – 3 pm, blitz tournament with colors of classical games reversed, followed by a closing ceremony – 6pm.
All games will be streamed online. Entrance to the tournament hall is free of charge.
Sponsors: Zurich Chess Club and IGC International Gemological Laboratories.
