Anand to play in the Torneo de Estrellas in Benidorm

World Rapid Chess Champion, Viswanthan Anand will participate in the Torneo de Estrellas in Benidorm, Spain. The event is to be held from November 27th to 29th. The tournament known as the Star event brings together along with Anand , top names in the Chess world, like Karpov, Judit Polgar, Vesselin Topalov, Teimour Radjabov, Sergei Kariakin, European Champion Azmaiparashvilli, Junior World Champion Mamedyarov Shakhriyaz, Francisco Vallejo among others.

The event will be a rapid chess event. The time control is 15 minutes plus ten seconds additional per move.

This is the second edition of the event. Anand is participating in this event for the first time.

The tournament is to be played in the Hotel Bali. This hotel is one of the tallest hotels in Europe and is a major tourist attraction in the area.

This will be Anand’s last major event for the year 2003. Anand will be playing both the teenage wonder kid, Kariakin and Mamedyarov Shakhriyaz for the first time. Asked on his expectations before the event, the Indian Grandmaster replied, “It will be a very different event. I will be playing some new faces and especially these rivals are so young that it takes some time getting used to. The event was very well organised last year. These are 15 minute games so a lot of nerves, tension and time scrambles. Most of these players are very good in this format so it will be a tough tournament”

The tournament and results can be found on http://www.ajedrezbali.com