Southern Rocky FIDE Open

Southern Rocky FIDE Open
February 25-27th, 2011
University of New Mexico – Student Union Building

The Wired Kings Chess Club is extremely pleased to announce that we have organized what we anticipate to be a large regional tournament on the weekend of February 25th-27th, 2011 to be held at the UNM Student Union Building. This tournament is highlighted by the following features:

$5,000 Projected prize fund + Trophies, $1,000 guaranteed to first place in Open Section and numerous class prizes in all sections!

40 Grand Prix Points available! Open Section is FIDE rated.

5 Sections - Open, Reserve (U1800), Booster (U1400), Saturday Scholastic and Sunday Scholastic (both U1200 & under age 19).

2 Grandmaster Simuls! GM Melikset Khachiyan and GM Mikheil Kekelidze will each hold a simul on Friday at 4:30PM. Prizes will be given out to players who win in the simul.

Blitz Tournament! (5DSS, 5 min) to be held Friday night after the simuls with a guaranteed 80% cash prize payout.

Our GMs will be playing in the blitz tournament, the main tournament, giving simuls and hosting other side events including:

Breakfast with GM Khachiyan! GM Khachiyan will be hosting a breakfast on the Sunday before the tournament. He will answer questions about chess, life, or his history. Food and drinks will be provided. Mr. Khachiyan has won several major tournaments, competed in 3 of the last 4 US Closed Championships, coached Levon Aronian from start to IM (he is now ranked #5 in the world rating list), currently coaches 4 All-American student chess players, and was formerly coached by world champion Tigran Petrosian!

Mr. Khachiyan, the winner of Aeroflot B (an exclusive GM-only tournament) two years ago, chose to come to Albuquerque over the prominent tournament in Moscow. Let’s give him a warm welcome!

GM Kekelidze Pizza Party! GM Kekelidze will be hosting a pizza party/blitz with a GM session after the last round on Sunday. Tickets to the pizza party will also allow you to play blitz versus GM Kekelidze who won the National Open G/5 Championship this year. Pizza and drinks will be provided. Bring your best blitz game and finish the tournament with a bang!

Chad has spent considerable effort in getting these two Grandmasters to come to the Southern Rocky FIDE Open in Albuquerque, so let’s make the most of it! This tournament will be advertised in Chess Life, Chess Life Online (feature story and in TLAs), and other avenues, but you are hearing all the details first!

Chess equipment & literature from Yetman Brothers available for purchase at the tournament site. We hope that other local vendors will join us as well. If you are interested in vending chess equipment at the Southern Rocky Open, please send us an e-mail. Vending space will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Plaza Inn of Albuquerque is offering tournament players a nightly rate of $56 with full amenities and free shuttle service to the tournament site and anywhere within 5 miles. This block is available for four nights (24th, 25th, 26th, & 27th), but room must be booked by 2/11/11 to ensure the best rate.

We know there is lots of time until the tournament; however, there are many reasons to book/enter early.

1) Simul space will be limited to 20 participants per GM at this point. If you want to play a certain GM, you should book the simul soon.
2) The Breakfast with GM Khachiyan will be limited to ensure a more intimate setting with the GM and to allow your questions to be answered.
3) The Pizza Party/Blitz with GM Kekelidze will be limited because he can only play a reasonable amount of blitz games after the tournament.
4) Early entries will not be charged additional fees for registering late.
5) The Best hotel price will only be available until the sooner of 2/11/11 or until hotel rooms space runs out.

Check www.SouthernRockyOpen.com for all of the details and announcements of the tournament. Jeff Sallade has given us incredible support in creating the tournament website. We owe him endless thanks for programming the online entry forms which link to the USCF site (to pull ratings) and Google Checkout which will allow for Online entry! We will also accept entries through the mail. The tournament flyer and is posted on the Southern Rocky FIDE Open website (www.SouthernRockyOpen.com) and on the NMCO and WKCC websites as well.

Thanks to Dante Archuleta and the UNM Chess Club for arranging the use of the SUB!

We hope to see you all there!

Chad Schneider & Scott Kerns
Wired Kings Chess Club