Tuesday, December 2

2008 Berkeley International

I am writing on behalf of my friend IM David Pruess. He is organizing the 2008 Berkeley International, to be held in Berkeley on December 14-23. The tournament will be 10 rounds, one game per day. The field should be incredibly strong, with six Grandmasters and four IMs signed up to date. David is still recruiting more foreign players so that GM and IM norms are possible. Entries are restricted to FIDE rating of 2200 and juniors over 2100.

Update December 2: David told me earlier today that he recruited two more foreigners, including GM Zviad Izoria (2610 FIDE).

Sound like a good deal? Certainly there is no other local tournament to match this level of competition. If you count airfare and hotel, then it is much cheaper to play in Berkeley than, say, World Open in Philadelphia.

I know that some chess players have work or school during the week of December 15. Since the games are daily at 2pm, David suggests taking 2-3 byes if you are able to get out at noon on other days. Unfortunately, if you are looking for a norm, you will need to play all of the rounds.
If you have any questions or concerns about the tournament, please contact IM David Pruess using pruess (at) gmailNOSPAM.com or dpruess on ICC.

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