Vishy Anand won the top prize at the Eurotel trophy in Prague on Sunday May 5. He defeated former world champion Anatoly Karpov who was enjoying a resurgance in form. Karpov had eliminated Nigel Short, Vladimir Kramnik and Alexei Shirov in the rapidplay section of the tournament.
John Henderson sends a remarkable photo which suggests you need to have a "K" in your name to be a leading player on the world chess scene. John lined up the 5Ks in Prague (l to r) Vladimir Kramnik, Bessel Kok, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov.
Preview: From April 27 through May 5, 2002, the Eurotel World Chess Trophy brings the best of chess to Prague's Zofín Palác. Mixing the high energy of rapid chess with the smoldering intensity of a classic final, the Eurotel Chess Trophy features the world's 32 top-players facing off for a total prize fund of 500,000 Euro. Presented under the auspices of Online World Chess B.V. (Bessel Kok, and Serge Grimaux), it will be the highest-level chess event ever to be held in the Czech Republic.
The 32 participants include: GM Garry Kasparov, the highest rated player in the world; GM Vladimir Kramnik, the Classical World Champion; as well as GM Judit Polgar, the world's highest rated female player ever, and Czech grandmasters GM Sergei Movsesian and GM Zbyněk Hráček.
A series of knock-out matches will determine the two finalists, who will then measure themselves in two games of classical chess during the last two days of the event. Each knock-out match consists of two games of rapid chess, so that every participant faces their opponent playing both the white and black pieces. In each game, each player receives a total of 25 minutes to complete all of his or her moves. If a match is tied after these two games, two blitz games (and if necessary, a shoot-out) will be used to decide who continues to the next round. The event’s final match features two games played with classical time limits (each player gets 40 moves in 2 hours; 20 moves in 1 hour; rest of the game in 30 minutes). If the final is tied after two games, blitz games (and if necessary, a shoot-out) will determine the winner of the 2002 Eurotel World Chess Trophy.
“Eurotel is delighted to sponsor an event that unites the leading players of the chess world," said Terrence Valeski, Eurotel's CEO. "Just like mobile telephony, chess inspires and brings together millions of people, though it has been around much longer. That's why this is a perfect opportunity to combine the two and continue the tradition of bringing people together.”
Indeed, combining the two is quickly becoming a Eurotel tradition. In 1998, the company hosted a match between GM Garry Kasparov and GM Jan Timman. In 1999, it hosted a match between GM Alexei Shirov and GM Judit Polgar. And in 2001, it hosted a match between GM Garry Kasparov and the four highest ranked members of the Czech national team (GM Kasparov played the four Czechs in simultaneous games).
The kick-off for the week of chess festivities starts with the opening ceremony at 4 PM on Saturday, April 27, when participants draw lots to determine who will play white in the opening games. Games will be displayed in real time on the Internet at www.worldchesstrophy.cz . Up-to-date information (commentary, results, chat) will also be available on handsets via the mobile portal Juice at /Sport/World Chess Trophy, and via Juice Easy (call *111*#). (Web, WAP, and Juice Easy channels will be launched on April 15, 2002.)
The event takes place at Zofín Palác (Slovanský ostrov 226, Praha 1). Admission is free at the door, but tickets must be obtained in advance through Ticketpro outlets located all over the Czech Republic. Venue capacity is limited.
For more information, call Ticketpro Call Center at + 420 2 24 81 80 80,
or write to chess@ticketpro.cz. Members of the press
can contact Lucie Boublikova, Online World Chess B.V., at + 420 2 61 00 11
23, or by email at chess@ticketpro.cz. They may also contact
Katerina Tornerova at + 420 2 24 81 40 20, or by email at chess@ticketpro.cz.