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Royal battles
| The players at the opening ceremony |
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An exhibition event in St. Louis, USA involving rapid and 'Fischer random Chess' between two teams was dominated by the 'Kings' (headed by Hikaru Nakamura) against the 'Queens' (featuring Kateryna Lahno). The final score was a one-sided 31.5-18.5.
The prize-money was quite reasonable by most standards, even for the members of the losing team.
There are very few events that feature 'Fischer random Chess' otherwise known as Chess960. Essentially the starting position of the eight pieces are determined just prior to the games, as once suggested by Bobby Fischer. I believe that the king has to be placed between the two rooks, and the bishops shouldn't be on the same coloured squares but otherwise anything goes! A total of 960 starting positions can be determined, hence the alternative name.
| No. | Title | Player | Rating | FED | Total | Indiv Prize | Team Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Hikaru Nakamura | 2753 | USA | 9.5 | $5,500 | $4,000 | $9,500 |
| 2 | GM | Ben Finegold | 2489 | USA | 7.5 | $5,000 | $4,000 | $9,000 |
| 3 | GM | Marc Arnold | 2505 | USA | 6 | $4,250 | $4,000 | $8,250 |
| 4 | IM | Jacek Stopa | 2482 | POL | 6 | $4,250 | $4,000 | $8,250 |
| 5 | NM | Kevin Cao | 2120 | USA | 2.5 | $1,500 | $4,000 | $5,500 |
| 1 | GM | Kateryna Lahno | 2554 | UKR | 5 | $3,000 | $0 | $3,000 |
| 2 | GM | Alexandra Kosteniuk | 2469 | RUS | 5.5 | $3,500 | $0 | $3,500 |
| 3 | IM | Irina Krush | 2472 | USA | 3 | $2,500 | $0 | $2,500 |
| 4 | IM | Anna Zatonskih | 2508 | USA | 2.5 | $1,500 | $0 | $1,500 |
| 5 | IM | Martha Fierro | 2378 | ECU | 2.5 | $1,500 | $0 | $1,500 |
NM= National master in the USA
The games were played with a rapid time limit: 25' +10" for the Chess960, and 25' + 5" for the standard Rapidplay.
More information (plus the games) from the official site:
Published: 19/09/2011 20:33, modified: 30/10/2011 20:30
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