SPICE Cup begins on 19th!

The highly-anticipated SPICE Cup tournament will begin on September 19th and touts one of the strongest lineups in U.S. history for a closed tournament. GM Susan Polgar has raised the stakes and improved on last year’s tournament that had an average rating of 2605.5. This year’s field has an array of strong, young talent including several of the world’s top junior players. The strength tips the scale at 2631 or Category 16.

Player	Nation	Flag	ELO
GM Dmitry Andreikin	Russia		2659
GM Wesley So	Philippines		2644
GM Varuzhan Akobian	USA		2636
GM Yuriy Kuzubov	Ukraine		2636
GM Rauf Mamedov	Azerbaijan		2626
GM Jon Ludvig Hammer	Norway		2585

There is also a Category 11 “B” tournament held in conjunction with the “A” tournament. This tournament also boasts an impressive field with 14-year old phenom IM Ray Robson vying for his last Grandmaster norm. He will have a tough road in facing top seed IM Gabor Papp of Hungary. There is another player vying for his 3rd GM norm and that is IM Benjamin Finegold. The Michigan-based player is arguably the strongest IM in the country and hopes to close the deal in Lubbock.

Player	Nation	Flag	ELO
IM Gabor Papp	Hungary		2562
IM Davorin Kuljasevic	Croatia		2547
GM Eugene Perelshteyn	USA		2542
IM Ray Robson	USA		2527
GM Andre Diamant	Brazil		2526
IM Ben Finegold	USA		2515
IM Gergely Antal	HUN		2486
GM Vinay Bhat	USA		2474
IM Oliver Barbosa	PHI		2451
FM Danny Rensch	USA		2388

In the past several years, Texas Tech has gone from being a chess desert to a chess oasis under the leadership of Polgar. She has created a thriving chess community and a powerful collegiate team. Her continued success at organizing venues for girls and women’s chess have been commendable. Now she has added elite tournaments to her agenda. Certainly this tournament will bring excitement to Lubbock, Texas. Stay tuned!

Coverage: https://monroi.com/2009-spice-cup-chess-festival-home.html
SPICE Cup reports: https://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/search/label/SPICE%20Cup