2024 FIDE Candidates Blitz Event at ACC

[Salim Belcadi]

Annex Chess Club (ACC) is honored to organize the FIDE Candidates Blitz side event on April 8th at its main playing hall.

Note: Monday April 8th is a break day and all the candidates, their seconds, visiting GMs and former WC Vishy Anand will receive an invitation as FIDE guests, and may or may not participate.

When: Monday 8 April 2024, from 8:00 p.m. to midnight

Format: 9-round Swiss tournament, one section

Time Control: 3 minutes + 2 second increment

WHERE: Annex Chess Club, 918 Bathurst St. Toronto, ON M5R 3G5

Entry Fee: $75, Early bird price of $55 before March 25. Free entry for GMs/WGMs/IMs/WIMs

Rating: CFC and FIDE rated

The prize fund is tbd at this time. We will send an update soon.

Registration: https://candidates-blitz-2024.square.site

Number of seats: LIMITED - 100 players plus FIDE guests

FIDE-titled players currently registered:

GM Evgeny Bareev (CAN)
GM Emil Sutovsky (ISR)
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI)
GM Thomas Roussel-Roozmon (CAN)
GM Pavel V. Tregubov (FRA)
IM Nikolay Noritsyn (CAN)
IM Mark Plotkin (CAN)
IM Shiyam Thavandiran (CAN)
IM Arthur Calugar (CAN)
IM Michael Barron (CAN)
WGM Qiyu Zhou (CAN)
FM Tymur Keleberda (CAN)
FM Victor Plotkin (CAN)
WIM Yunshan Li (CAN)
CM Koosha Jaferian (CAN)
CM Geordie Derraugh (CAN)
WCM Haneul Park (KOR)

Arbiters: IA Omar Shah (Chief Arbiter), IA Aris Marghetis (Deputy Chief Arbiter), FA Alex Ferreira (Pairings), Keith Denning, Victor Zheng (Technical Arbiter), Heidi Gay, Michael Corrie

[Olga Mushtaler]

Amazing line up of players! Congratulations!

[Salim Belcadi]

Thank you Olga!

GM Mark Bluvshtein who has been away from chess for a while has kindly agreed to do a lecture at 7pm at ACC on Monday April 8th, right before the Blitz.
The theme will be "Life After Chess" - with a Q&A session.

The lecture is open to all within ACC's capacity limits - no entry fees required.

Current list of players registered:

Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 2024 Candidates Blitz

There are not a lot of entries left for interested participants. Please do register asap if you plan to participate as potential extension of the capacity is contingent on FIDE's guest list.

[Hans Jung]

Salim you are a promoter and organizer par excellence! Thanks for getting Mark Bluvshtein involved! He has always been a class act and should deliver a hallmark lecture.

[Bob Armstrong]

I believe, post chess, Mark has been quite successful in the financial industry.

Bob A

[Salim Belcadi]

Reminder that the FIDE Candidates Blitz 2024 is taking place tonight at ACC.
The event will start with GM Mark Bluvshtein at 7pm, and the games at 8pm (9 rounds, 3|2 time controls).

The lineup will be stellar. The following GMs & WGMs are currently registered:

GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (former #2 in the world and Candidate)
GM Evgeny Bareev (former #4 in the world and Candidate)
GM Ivan Cheparinov
GM Mark Bluvshtein
GM Aryan Tari
GM Emil Sutovsky
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (former Women World Champion)
GM Thomas Roussel-Roozmon
GM Pavel Tregubov
GM Petro Golubka
GM Bator Sambuev
WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan
WGM Salomeja Zaksaite
WGM Anna Burtasova
WGM Nemo Zhou

There will be over 40 FIDE titled players in total. More GMs are invited and could potentially join the party.

[Erik Malmsten]

12 boards live: https://lichess.org/broadcast/candid...und-4/fRXWK9CH

[Salim Belcadi]

Thank you to all who attended GM Mark Bluvshtein's lecture and participated in the FIDE Candidates Blitz. The atmosphere was vibrant and the foreign players were amazed by the lively spirit of the Canadian chess community - far from the funeral vibe that some of them are used to back home (quote from a reputable international chess player).

Special thanks to ACC Club Manager Keith Denning and Heidi Gay. This event would not have happened without their meticulous planning and organizational skills.

Amazing job by IA Omar Shah, FA Alex Ferreira and the whole team of arbiters for running the event smoothly and efficiently. The pairing was world class and the turnover lightning fast for a blitz event with 120 players.

- GMs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Ivan Cheparinov shared the first place with a score of 8/9
- IM Sai Krishna (who got his first GM norm in January) took third place with 7.5/9
- Special mention to IM Nicholas Vettese, 4th with 7/9. Nicholas also finished ahead of many highly rated and famous GMs
- GM Alexandra Kosteniuk was the top woman player with 6.5/9
- Roman Gavrilin finished top U2200 with 6.5/9
- Bradley Tseng finished top U1800 with 6/9

Full results: Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 2024 Candidates Blitz