Dortmund 2009: the category 20 line-up

by ChessBase
5/13/2009 – The Sparkassen Chess-Meeting is the most important traditional chess tournament in Germany. It is also a favourite of former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, 33, who has won it a record eight times. This year the average rating is 2744 (and the average age 25.7 years), and Kramnik has the likes of Magnus Carlsen and Peter Leko snapping at his heels. Make a note: July 2–12 2009.

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Chess festival of Dortmund presents first-class participants

Six world-class grandmasters at the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting 2009

From 2nd to 12th July 2009 the attention of the whole chess world is drawn to Dortmund. Six of the world's strongest grandmasters take part in the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting – the 37th edition – and go all out to win this prestigious tournament. The fans of the most traditional chess tournament in Germany expect nothing but the best. Four top ten players of the current world ranking list are the favourites.

First of all one should name Vladimir Kramnik, who has won this tournament eight times. Dortmund 2009 is his first big tournament after his defeat by Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2008 in Bonn. It could mark a starting point for a new attempt to fight for the crown.


Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik

Peter Leko starts as a titleholder in Dortmund. The Hungarian has been amongst the ten best players in the world for many years and is undoubtedly one of the favourites of this event.


Former World Championship challenger Peter Leko (with his wife Sofi)

Magnus Carlsen enters the race with the highest rating: 2770. The Norwegian has developed from a prodigy to one of the best players of the world, and is currently the third in the world ranking list. He will surely want to improve on hisfirst performance in Dortmund, where he finished sixth.


One of the most exciting figures in chess today: 18-year-old Magnus Carlsen

Dmitry Jakovenko celebrates his debut in Dortmund. This 25-year-old chess player earned the invitation with his fantastic performance in the recent years, which catapulted him to the seventh place in the world rankings. Jakovenko is the biggest hope in the Russian chess.


Debut in Dortmund: Russian GM Dmitry Jakovenko

By winning Aeroflot Open Etienne Bacrot qualified for this year's edition. It is his second appearance in Dortmund, after 2005. The former junior World Champion is known for his great talent and still is one of the candidates for the highest chess crown.


Top French GM and world-class player Etienne Bacrot

The German colours are represented by Arkadij Naiditsch. The number one in the German ranking list made history in 2005: he was the first German and at the same time the youngest player ever to win this tournament. Currently he has crossed the magic line of 2700 Elo and therefore belongs to the elite of the chess world.


Top German GM Arkadij Naiditsch, who won Dortmund in 2005

Participants (overview)

Player
Age
Nat.
Elo
Rank
Magnus Carlsen
18
NOR
2770
3
Vladimir Kramnik
33
RUS
2759
4
Dimitri Jakovenko
25
RUS
2753
7
Peter Leko
29
HUN
2751
9
Etienne Bacrot
26
FRA
2728
17
Arkadij Naiditsch
23
GER
2700
31

Average rating: 2744 (Category 20) – average age: 25.7 years

The playing format: each player has to play two games against every opponent, one with the white and one with the black pieces. The winner of this tournament will be determined after ten rounds.

Sparkassen-Open Dortmund

Parallel to the main event the Sparkassen-Open tournament with an A and B Group will take place in the town hall. This year many grandmasters and International Masters are expected to participate. The invitation to the Open Tournaments can be found here. For registration and queries please send email to info@sparkassen-chess-meeting.de.

Tickets / Advance Bookings
Day ticket: 6 Euros (concessions: 4 Euros) – Season Ticket: 25 Euros
Advance Bookings: Kulturinfoshop im Karstadthaus, Kampstr., D-44137 Dortmund.
Tel.: +49-231-5027710 – Fax: +49-231-5027740 – Internet: www.dortmund.de/kis

Live coverage

All games will be broadcast by the official web site's "Live Games" page and on the Playchess.com server, most likely with live audio commentary by a top GM. We are also planning live coverage on the ChessBase news page, using our Flash client. As in the previous year the games of the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting will be broadcasted on the Internet with a delay of 15 minutes – which means that the moves stay in the playing hall for that period, before they are transmitted to the rest of the world). This is an important anti-cheating measure that has been proposed to FIDE since October 2005 and has the support of most of the top players. We commend the Dortmund organisers for taking the initiative.

Schedule

Round 1: Thursday, July 2nd, 15:00h
Peter Leko 
-
 Vladimir Kramnik
Magnus Carlsen 
-
 Dmitry Jakovenko
Arkadij Naiditsch 
-
 Etienne Bacrot
GamesReport
Round 2: Friday, July 3rd, 15:00h
Vladimir Kramnik 
-
 Etienne Bacrot
Dmitry Jakovenko 
-
 Arkadij Naiditsch
Peter Leko 
-
 Magnus Carlsen
GamesReport
Round 3: Saturday, July 4th, 15:00h
Magnus Carlsen 
-
 Vladimir Kramnik
Arkadij Naiditsch 
-
 Peter Leko
Etienne Bacrot 
-
 Dmitry Jakovenko
GamesReport
Round 4: Sunday, July 5, 15:00h
Arkadij Naiditsch 
-
 Vladimir Kramnik
Etienne Bacrot 
-
 Magnus Carlsen
Dmitry Jakovenko 
-
 Peter Leko
GamesReport
Round 5: Monday, July 6th, 15:00h
Vladimir Kramnik 
-
 Dmitry Jakovenko
Peter Leko 
-
 Etienne Bacrot
Magnus Carlsen 
-
 Arkadij Naiditsch
GamesReport
Round 6: Wednesday, July 8th, 15:00h
Vladimir Kramnik 
-
 Peter Leko
Dmitry Jakovenko 
-
 Magnus Carlsen
Etienne Bacrot 
-
 Arkadij Naiditsch
GamesReport
Round 7: Thursday, July 9th, 15:00h
Etienne Bacrot 
-
 Vladimir Kramnik
Arkadij Naiditsch 
-
 Dmitry Jakovenko
Magnus Carlsen 
-
 Peter Leko
GamesReport
Round 8: Friday, July 10th, 15:00h
Vladimir Kramnik  
-
 Magnus Carlsen
Peter Leko 
-
 Arkadij Naiditsch
Dmitry Jakovenko 
-
 Etienne Bacrot
GamesReport
Round 9: Saturday, July 11th, 15:00h
Dmitry Jakovenko 
-
 Vladimir Kramnik
Etienne Bacrot 
-
 Peter Leko
Arkadij Naiditsch 
-
 Magnus Carlsen
GamesReport
Round 10: Sunday, July 12th, 15:00h
Vladimir Kramnik 
-
 Arkadij Naiditsch
Magnus Carlsen 
-
 Etienne Bacrot
Peter Leko 
-
 Dmitry Jakovenko
GamesReport

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