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The (Pan American) Continental Championship will be in Mexico this year, much closer than the usual South America. It is being tacked on to Mexico's annual Mexican Open, Easter Week (19-24 April 2011) with their standard 9 game in 6 day schedule. Prize fund is over $30,000 (Canadian dollars) for the Continental. There are other sections too.
The 7-page tournament announcement (Convocatoria) in Spanish is available at:
http://chessapatzi.wordpress.com/201...rto-de-toluca/.
I played in the Mexican Open once, and directed a similar tournament once. It is likely to be the largest adult chess tournament you've ever seen, if you haven't been to an Olympiad or a World Open. Playing conditions are difficult to predict. TDs will do the best with what is available, but sometimes that means a lot of noise and not much light.
Because this qualifies for the World Championship thingie, the event has traditionally attracted lots of GMs from all over the Americas.
Toluca is close (63 km) to Mexico City. Anybody who has been to Mexico City airport will know that the word "convenient" does not necessarily apply. If you lose, lightheadedness is a ready-made excuse: Toluca's altitude is 2,680 metres (8,793 ft) above sea level. By comparison, Morelia, co-site of some famous Linares tournaments, is only 6,300 feet in elevation, which for most participants, in Morelia, would not be a factor. On the good side, the temperatures in Toluca can be quite cold (not freezing in April, but cold) by world standards, so Canadians may have a competitive advantage over tropical lowlanders (but not the locals!).
The 7-page tournament announcement (Convocatoria) in Spanish is available at:
http://chessapatzi.wordpress.com/201...rto-de-toluca/.
I played in the Mexican Open once, and directed a similar tournament once. It is likely to be the largest adult chess tournament you've ever seen, if you haven't been to an Olympiad or a World Open. Playing conditions are difficult to predict. TDs will do the best with what is available, but sometimes that means a lot of noise and not much light.
Because this qualifies for the World Championship thingie, the event has traditionally attracted lots of GMs from all over the Americas.
Toluca is close (63 km) to Mexico City. Anybody who has been to Mexico City airport will know that the word "convenient" does not necessarily apply. If you lose, lightheadedness is a ready-made excuse: Toluca's altitude is 2,680 metres (8,793 ft) above sea level. By comparison, Morelia, co-site of some famous Linares tournaments, is only 6,300 feet in elevation, which for most participants, in Morelia, would not be a factor. On the good side, the temperatures in Toluca can be quite cold (not freezing in April, but cold) by world standards, so Canadians may have a competitive advantage over tropical lowlanders (but not the locals!).
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