SPICE CUP 2009 Pairings

Official Website http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2009/09/spice-cup-crosstable.htmlm already released the pairings for this Saturday's Spice Cup 2009. With such a strong field, huge following is expected with the Juniors battling it out for the championship crown. Chess Realm will keep up the phase in updating the chess results.

My bet here is the wonder boy from the Philippines, GM Wesley So. Should he be able to make a good run during the 1st half of the tourney , Wesley will sure have a good shot at the title.

Below is the tournament schedule in actual Texas Time.

Saturday, September 19 2pm- Round 1

Akobian - Mamedov

Andreikin - Hammer

So - Kuzubov

Sunday, September 20 2pm - Round 2

Mamedov - Kuzubov

Hammer - So

Akobian - Andreikin

Monday, September 21 2pm - Round 3

Andreikin - Mamedov

So - Akobian

Kuzubov - Hammer

Tuesday, September 22 2pm - Round 4

So - Mamedov

Kuzubov - Andreikin

Hammer - Akobian

Wednesday, September 23 2pm - Round 5

Mamedov - Hammer

Akobian - Kuzubov

Andreikin - So

Friday, September 25 2pm - Round 6

Mamedov - Akobian

Hammer - Andreikin

Kuzubov - So

Saturday, September 26 2pm - Round 7

Kuzubov - Mamedov

So - Hammer

Andreikin - Akobian

Sunday, September 27 2pm - Round 8

Mamedov - Andreikin

Akobian - So

Hammer - Kuzubov

Monday, September 28 2pm - Round 9

Mamedov - So

Andreikin - Kuzubov

Akobian - Hammer

Tuesday, September 29 2pm - Round 10

Hammer - Mamedov

Kuzubov - Akobian

So - Andreikin

SPICE CUP 2009

Andreikin, Wesley So, and Akobian are the tournament favorites.

The SPICE Cup 2009 is going to take place 19-29 September at Texas Tech University, USA. It is one of the highly anticipated tournaments of the year featuring the best chess junior chess player battling out in a round robin format.
This year's edition is a powerhouse tournament as Group A section is fielded with 6 strong grandmaster with Andreikin, Wesley So, and Akobian at the helm.

Below is the roster of participants beginning with group A

GM Dmitry Andreikin 2659
Russia (#6 junior under 20 in the world - Russian Junior Champion) 19

GM Wesley So 2644
Philippines (#7 junior under 20 in the world - #1 in the Philippines - member of the 2008 Filipino Olympiad team.) 15

GM Varuzhan Akobian 2636
USA (#6 in the U.S. - 2008 SPICE Cup Co-Champion - 2-time Olympiad Bronze Medalist) 26

GM Yuriy Kuzubov 2636
Ukraine (#8 junior under 20 in the world - #12 in Ukraine) 19

GM Rauf Mamedov 2626
Azerbaijan (#5 player in Azerbaijan - member of the 2008 Azerbaijani Olympiad team) 21

GM Jon Ludvig Hammer 2585
Norway (#2 in Norway behind Magnus Carlsen - member of the 2008 Norwegian Olympiad team) 19

Noticeable here is the participation of top seed IM Gabor papp who sports a GM rating of 2562 and the kid superstar IM Ray Robson.

Here is the full list of the SPICE Cup 2009 B group:

IM Gabor Papp 2562
HUN (GM norm - Texas Tech Student)

IM Davorin Kuljasevic 2547
CRO (2 GM norms - Texas Tech Student)

GM Eugene Perelshteyn 2542
USA (2007 SPICE Cup Champion)

IM Ray Robson 2527
USA (2 GM norms - Winner of the 2009-2010 Samford Fellowship)

GM Andre Diamant 2526
Brazil (2008 Brazilian Champion)

IM Ben Finegold 2515
USA (2 GM norms)

IM Gergely Antal 2486
HUN (2 GM norms - Texas Tech Student)

GM Vinay Bhat 2474
USA (Former winner of the prestigious Samford Fellowship)

IM Oliver Barbosa 2451
PHI (One of the top young Filipinos - Winner of 20 U.S. tournaments in the past year)

FM Danny Rensch 2388
USA (2 IM norms)


more details of the Official site: susanpolgar.blogspot.com

Chess Realm will be closely following the game of the young filipino grandmaster who has been making waves both in the local and international circuit. Below is a featured video of Wesle So after his conquest of the prestigious Corus C tourney.