The strongest invitational tournament ever to be held in Israel, the ACP Masters, will be hosted by the city of Ashdod, in collaboration with the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) on December 7-10 during the Chanukah holiday.
Participants:
GM Vassily Ivanchuk, Ukraine 2825
GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, Russia 2821
GM Gadir Guseinov, Azerbaijan 2739
GM Richard Rapport, Hungary 2736
GM Boris Gelfand, Israel 2713
GM Etienne Bacrot, France 2700
GM Dmitry Jakovenko, Russia 2700
GM Pavel Eljanov, Ukraine 2680
GM Baskaran Adhiban, India 2641
GM Emil Sutovsky, Israel 2622
GM Ilya Smirin, Israel 2613
GM Sam Sevian, USA 2546
8 players are invited based on their results in ACP Tours 2013-2015. In addition there are 4 wildcards from the organizers of the event.
The tournament is consisted of 3 stages of rapid games. The 12 players will be divided into two preliminary groups. The first two players in each group will qualify to the semi-finals. The final will be played on December 10th between the two semi-final winners for a first prize of 10,000 US$. The total prize fund is 41,000 USD.
The organizing committee is chaired by Moshe Slav, chairman of the Israel Chess Federation and the Chief Arbiter is IA Victor Glatman. The games will be transmitted by the new Israeli technology of “Chess vision”. The official website will be available soon. Several accompanying events, lectures and simultaneous exhibitions, will be held too for the benefit of the visitors.
The city Ashdod is the sixth largest city in Israel, its largest port on the Mediterranean coast and an important regional industrial centre.
Ashdod chess club is one of the youngest Israeli clubs and yet it has already established its position among the country’s leading and most successful ones. The club was founded in 2003 by the education and sport department in the municipality of Ashdod, headed by Yehuda Frenkel and a group of Chess enthusiasts led by Moshe Slav.
Tournament program:
Monday 7 December
12:00 Opening ceremony at the presence of the mayor Dr. Yechiel Lasri
13:00-16:00 Games group 1 – Kivoonim centre, 4 Hatzionut st, Ashdod
16:00-19:00 Games group 2- Kivoonim centre, 4 Hatzionut st, Ashdod
Tuesday 8 December
13:00-16:00 Games group 1- Kivoonim centre, 4 Hatzionut st. Ashdod
16:00-19:00 Games group 2- Kivoonim centre, 4 Hatzionut st. Ashdod
Wednesday 9 December
11:00 Lecture at the chess club, 3 Erez st. Ashdod
12:30-15:00 Open simultaneous exhibition at the city hall square
More information here:
https://www.chessprofessionals.org/
http://www.ashdod.muni.il/English/Pages/default.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashdod
https://www.ashdodport.co.il/english/aboutashdodport/Pages/default.aspx
http://chessvi.com