The 32nd Edoardo Crespi Trophy is set to take place from 3rd to 11th December in the large tournament hall of Chess Club in Milan, via Sant’Uguzzone 8.
The Festival consists of five separate tournaments:
Master – for players with FIDE rating or Italian Elo rating equal to or more than 2000; 3-10th December; 9 rounds
Open A – for players with FIDE rating or Italian Elo rating between 1750 and 2050, both included; 7-11th December; 7 rounds
Open B – for players with Italian Elo rating or FIDE rating less than 1800; 7-11th December; 7 rounds
Open C – for players with Italian Elo rating or FIDE rating less than 1500; 8-11th December; 5 rounds
Open Under16 – for all players born after 31th December 1995; 5 rounds
Participation is open to all Italian and foreign players. All Italian and foreign players who are resident in Italy must show a valid FSI membership card for the current year or subscribe on site at the tournament venue, provided they apply for membership to the “Società Scacchistica Milanese” for the current year.
All players are kindly requested to register in advance by phone at +39 02.2573478, by fax at 02.40044486 or by e-mail at info@scacchisticamilanese.it specifying their name, rating, title and tournament.
Crespi Memorial Playing Venue
Top rated players:
Jobava Baadur GM 2678
Solodovnichenko Yuri GM 2629
David Alberto GM 2597
Drazic Sinisa GM 2537
Malaniuk Vladimir GM 2504
Kosic Dragan GM 2502
Salvador Roland GM 2500
Shishkin Vadim GM 2449
Doric Darko IM 2504
Colovic Aleksandar IM 2451
Lazic Miroljub GN 2445
Martinez Rolly IM 2420
Bellia Fabrizio IM 2418
Bodiroga Predrag IM 2406
Brunello Marina WIM 2221
Admission Deadline:
2nd December for Master tournament
6th December for other tournaments
Prize fund in the Master tournament:
1st Place – € 1.000 + cup
2nd Place – € 700 + cup
3rd Place – € 500 + cup
4th Place – € 350
5th Place – € 300
6th Place – € 250
7th Place – € 200
8th Place – € 200
9th Place – € 150
10th Place – € 150
About Società Scacchistica Milanese:
Wide tournament hall, playing and analysis rooms, reading room and library, snack bar, gardens, open till late seven days a week
Via Sant’Uguzzone, 8 – 20126 Milano Tel: 02.2573478 – Fax: 0240044486
e-mail: info@scacchisticamilanese.it www.scacchisticamilanese.it
Download full regulations (ENG/PDF)
Matthew Herman (USA), then untitled player rated 2149, was the surprising winner of the last year Master event. Herman is now American Senior Master rated 2414 FIDE and was invited to play in the recent Spice CUP C Group.
Crespi Memorial History
Edoardo Crespi died in March 1910 and in his will he did not forget about chess: he bequeathed 45.000 lire to the Braidense library to create a small chess section, 300 lire per year to the SSM to organize a club tournament and 3.000 lire every 4 years for a national tournament.
The club tournament was held in 1914 when the funds were finally released, whereas the national tournament was postponed because of the war. It took place in 1916 and was won by Arturo Reggio.
The 2nd Crespi tournament, which was held in 1919 instead of 1918, was named the “Victory Tournament”.
The 3rd Crespi tournament, held in 1922, was memorable for two reasons: it was hosted by the “Società del Giardino” (the following editions were hosted by the “Società Patriottica”) and it witnessed the rise of Mario Monticelli who was to win the 6th and 7th editions in 1934 and 1938.
The 4° Crespi tournament was played in 1926 whereas the 5th edition – which was also the national championship – was postponed to 1931 to make it coincide with the Fiera Campionaria exhibition.
The SSM thrived in the 30s thanks to the patronage of its President Dal Verme and to the assiduous work of Ferrantes. The Crespi tournament became more and more prestigious: the 6th edition was held in 1934 and was won by Mario Monticelli, who also became Italian champion.
The 7th edition took place in 1938 and was again won by Mario Monticelli ex-aequo with Eliskases. It was the first International tournament, as conceived by Edoardo Crespi in his will. But it was also to be the last. Ferrantes had the idea to turn the Crespi tournament into a new event – “Aprile Scacchistico Milanese” – with an international tournament, two national tournaments and even the fist women national championship, not to mention a simultaneous display by M° Grob and a lesson held by M° Esteban Canal.
Today the Crespi tournament, besides being one of the most important Italian chess events, has also became a major event on the international calendar thanks to the participation of many strong players from all over the world. In the last edition there were about 300 players divided in five different tournaments.
International web sites (FIDE website, Twic, Chessdom, ChessToday, Susan Polgar’s blog, etc.) and magazines (Europe Echecs, Rochade) and the Italian media (Gazzetta dello Sport) and televisions have paid considerable attention to our tournament giving an important contribution to the development of the Italian chess movement as a whole.
