Fire on Board Trophy – you can win an invitation!
10.06.2005 On June 25-26 two of the most aggressive players of our time, Alexei Shirov and Viktor Kortchnoi, will cross swords in four 90-minute games in Eschweiler, Germany. You can buy special attendance packages for €450 – or you can win them (including travel expenses) in this weekend's special Playchess Warm-up Blitz.
From Friday, June 24th until Sunday, June 26th 2005, there is an interesting
tournament in Eschweiler, Germany. The motto is Fire on Board and it features
two very uncompromising players: Alexei Shirov and Viktor
Kortchnoi. Two weeks before the event there will be two
warm-up blitz tournaments on the Playchess.com server.
Incidentally, when you visit the English language Fire
on Board site you are greeted by a big Flash film, which has a "Skip Intro"
option at the bottom. Do not make use of this, since otherwise you
will miss a nice animated game (Shirov vs Kortchnoi, Drammen 2004) and – the
talking chicken. The site itself is very informative and provides a wealth
of information, clearly striving to fulfill the organisers' adage: "A new Dimension
in LIVE Broadcasting".
The event
The Location is the Best Western Hotel de Ville in Eschweiler, which is close
to the German city of Aachen (near Belgium and the Netherlands). The modern
Business Class hotel is offering "Fire on Board Trophy 2005' Weekend Specials"
for a stay from Friday to Sunday (June 24 to 26) for €450, or €650 for a double.
This includes buffet dinners, private lessons with Kortchnoi and Shirov, attendance
at the match with live commentary by GM Danny King, and other festive events.
For full information click "Hotel & Tickets" on the right of the Fire
on Board page – we haven't figured out how to link directly to sub-pages
in this Flash-driven site.
The Match
Alexei Shirov
Viktor ("the Terrible") Kortchnoi
The fighting grandmasters Alexei Shirov and Viktor Kortchnoi will play four
games, with 90 minutes for all their moves. The program is as follows:
- Friday, 24 June 2005
- 6 pm: Opening of the Chess in Art exhibition
- 7 pm: Chess Simul featuring Shirov & Kortchnoi
- Saturday, 25 June 2005
- 11 am: Private Lesson with Kortchnoi
- High noon: Private Lesson with Shirov
- 2 pm: 1st match game
- 6 pm: 2nd match game
- Sunday, 26 June 2005
- 11 am: Private Lesson with Kortchnoi
- High noon: Private Lesson with Shirov
- 2 pm: 3rd match game
- 6 pm: 4th match game
- 9 pm: Victory Presentation & Gala-Dinner & Musical CHESS
Live coverage
There is pay-per-view live coverage with audio (€14.99) and Internet TV (€24.99)
which can be booked in advance. The Internet TV coverage includes post-match
interviews (moderated by GM Danny King), the lessons by Shirov and Kortchnoi,
as well as highlights from the Musical "Chess". There are also a number of
competitions and a "Chess in Art" presentation.
Letters from Shirov and Kortchnoi
Dear
Chess fans,
Of course, it is a big pleasure to greet you in the eve of my match
against one of the most unique personalities in chess history. I remember
when I first time played against Victor Lvovich in Torcy in 1990; it
was kind of ‘young and green’ player against the experienced veteran.
Now, fifteen years after, the definition ‘experienced veteran’ can be
easily applied for myself while my opponent is not only ‘forever young’
and ‘evergreen’ but also an extremely promising and unpredictable player
taking into account his recent successes in rapid chess!
In my latest book ‘Fire on Board 2’ (by the way, the German version
will shortly be available too) I called my biography chapter ‘The struggle
without limits’ and I think that Victor Kortchnoi’s example, his lifetime
devotion to chess, is the best inspiration for such an attitude. Whatever
will be the outcome of our mini-match, I will definitely learn something
new with this experience.
And I hope not to disappoint my fans either.
Alexei Shirov
Riga, 3rd of June 2005
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To
my fans:
Hi, do you play chess? What kind – blitz, speed, normal? Well, it is
our ancient, thoughtful game of chess, known for several thousand years
as the Game of Kings, in the 20th Century underwent changes
in the manner of playing and acquired diversity of forms.
Presumably, "speed chess" was introduced due to the drastically increased
number of players all over the world. All of them want to take part at
chess events, So any competition should not last too long. Perhaps the
true craftsmanship of players will be suitably demonstrated by speed
chess. But on the other hand people say the play is more attractive for
spectators. Hopefully...
Well, the forthcoming match between me and Alexei Shirov will be played
within the framework and according to rules of the speed chess. A Spanish
citizen, Shirov is a great expert of this kind of play. In the speed
chess tournaments of the highest rank, regularly organized by J. van
Oosterom in Monaco, Shirov is always among the winners. He is also the
favorite in our match. However, the underdog – me – is capable of snarling
and biting. In April of this year I won a speed tournament in Israel,
a 14th category event, with 10.5 out of 13, which was 2.5 points ahead
of my pursuers. So, let us just wait and see what will happen...
Viktor Kortchnoi
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Warm-up Blitz on Playchess
Two weeks before the event starts, namely on Saturday, June 11th and Sunday,
June 12th 2005, the organisers, Best Western Hotel De Ville in Eschweiler,
are sponsoring two blitz tournaments on the
Playchess.com server. The first
prize in both tournaments is a free trip to the event, including accomodations.
Travel costs are also covered, no matter where you start your journey. And
there are a lot of additional prizes to win.
Who can play
In order to participate in the Playchess Blitz events you must have a valid
account on the Playchess server. Further you must give your proper name and
current address in the User Info (press F2 after you have logged in to modify).
Otherwise you will not be eligible to win the prizes – these are reserved for
proper human beings, not anonymous handles on the server.
Schedule
- Saturday, 11th June, 2005, 15:00h server time (CEST)
10 x 10 Tournament
- 10 rounds Swiss, time controls 10+0.
- Location Playchess: "Tournaments – Official A"
- To take part you need to have the rank of knight
- Sunday, 12th June, 2005, 15:00h server time (CEST)
Fire On Board – Blitz-tournament
- 13 rounds swiss, time controls 5+0.
- Location Playchess: "Tournaments – Official B"
- To take part you need to have the rank of pawn.
Prizes (same for both tournaments):
-
Winner: Round trip to the "Fire On Board" event with
full participation, including simultaneous event, private teaching, gala
dinner and a visit of the musical Chess. Travel expenses and accomodations
are covered by the Best Western Hotel De Ville.
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Places two to four: An "event package" each containing a print of
a painting by Tschinkel, five books by Shirov and Kortchnoi (signed) and
two DVDs by Kortchnoi (signed).
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Places five to eight: Two DVDs by Kortchnoi
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Special prizes: There are three more "event packages" and two more
sets of DVDs. How these prizes will be distributed will be announced after
the first two rounds of the tournament.
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Tournament director: Saturday, Gaby Assmann, Sunday, Holger Lieske
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Registration: On both days registration is possible from 14:30h
server-time (CEST) by registering at the tournament director.
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Rules: The general Playchess server rules for tournaments apply.
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