Other Ongoing Events
I won't be covering them here, but they're still strong enough and interesting enough in their own right to mention. So: there's another women's Grand Prix underway, this one in Geneva, Switzerland. After three rounds of 11, Anna Muzychuk, Kateryna Lahno and Bela Khotenashvili lead with two points apiece; the next seven(!) players, including Hou Yifan, are half a point behind.
The other big event is the European Individual Chess Championship, taking place in Legnica, Poland. 12 players rated 2700 and up are participating, and there are many more players near that special number. The top four seeds are Dmitry Jakovenko (2739), Evgeny Tomashevsky (2719), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2718) and Ian Nepomniachtchi (2710). Round 1 was Sunday, so it's still early on. Despite having 12 2700s, my recollection is that the tournament is usually a bit stronger at the top. The absolute glut of recent and forthcoming super-events may have weakened it, but it's still a tournament to keep one's eye on.
HT: Chess Today.
Reader Comments (1)
The European Championship never, or hardly ever appealed to the very strongest players - it seems it doesn't offer conditions, and there's no guarantee for a major money prize in a Swiss event. The main incentive for "subtop" players might be that it is a World Cup qualifier, interesting for those who may not qualify by rating.
The last edition (2012) had Caruana - who may have committed/made up his mind before entering the absolute world top - and Mamedyarov (lacking other invitations/opportunities to play?). BTW Caruana finished in 38th place, and for Mamedyarov it became a nightmare: a series of draws against sub-2500 players, then one win, then a zero tolerance forfeit, then a double forfeit for accepting a draw before move 30, then he dropped out of the event