Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra as taken an interest in our tournament, both as a chess player herself and because of the visiting Women’s World Champion GM Hou Yifan. BCC President Kai Tuorila took the opportunity to present the PM with one of our specially created 12th BCC Open 2012 mugs, made by our sponsor Könitz.
The Brunei Chess Federation (BCF) is pleased to invite chess players from all federation to participate in the Brunei Campomanes Memorial Grandmaster Open 2012 from the 7th April 2012 (Arrival) to the 12th April 2012 (Departure). The organising committee for this tournament is the Brunei Chess Federation in collaboration with FIDE (World Chess Federation) and the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Brunei Darussalam.
The tournament will be held at the Orchid Garden Hotel, Jalan Berakas, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam.
The Prize Fund is 10,000 US Dollars. Entry fees are as follows:
The deadline for registration is 24th March 2012. After this, a late registration penalty of 50% will be added. However, organizers reserve the right to refuse or decline late registrations.
Interested players can REGISTER into the tournament by contacting the BCF General Secretary, Mr Leong Voon Choon via email: leongvc@live.com or Tournament Director, Pg Abd Rahman PLW Yussof via email: parwijaya@live.com
Accommodation
Special rates between the Brunei Chess Federation and specific hotels in Brunei Darussalam have been organized. Interested players can contact the organizers to acquire further details. Below are examples:
Tournament Format
Download the full details here
A Press Conference was held at the Champagne Bar of the Dusit Thani Bangkok, presenting the BCC Open to the press. Speakers included representatives from organisers, sponsors and chess players; K. Prajuab, President of the Thailand Chess Association; Alex Willats, General Manager of the hotel; Kai Tuorila, Tournament Organiser and others.
You can download a copy of the press release here. For more information and pictures, please contact us through our web form here.
Ladies World Champion Grandmaster Hou Yifan has confirmed her participation in the 12th BCC Open tournament.
This is the first time for a reigning World Champion to play chess in Thailand, and is sure to create quite a stir here, and will be an inspiration for all juniors (GM Yifan is still only 17 years old) as well as lady players. Yifan has had an amazing run in the last year – as Leonard Barden wrote in the Guardian: “Hou Yifan’s astonishing result at Tradewise Gibraltar last week marks a highly significant break-through for women’s chess. China’s 17-year-old beat four elite grandmasters, outplayed the great tactician Alexei Shirov at his own game, and performed far above expectations.”
There is no doubt that Hou is getting stronger, and she must surely be the favourite for the 12th BCC Open despite the participation of GM Nigel Short who defeated her in the playoff. It is excellent news for the BCC Open that GM Nigel Short and GM Hou Yifan, joint winners of the strongest open tournament in history (Gibraltar), are confirmed for the tournament!
A new tournament from Jirapak Chess Academy takes place on successive sundays at the academy in February and March. It should be the perfect way to warm up for the BCC Open in April. The format is 7 rounds swiss with a standard time control of 90 minutes plus 30s/move.
Chief Arbiter: IA Panupand Vijjuprabha
Location: Jirapak Chess Academy
Entry Fee for rated players: ฿1,250 / ฿1,000 (register before 19 February)
Entry Fee for unrated players: ฿1,500 / ฿1,250 (register before 19 February)
Prizes: 1st ฿3,000 / 2nd ฿2,000 / 3rd ฿1,000 plus trophies
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You all know Kasparov’s joke?
So I came upon my pal David the other day. He was playing chess with a dog. I commented on what a smart dog that must be. David said “He’s not so smart. I’m winning 3 games to 1…”