The New Zealand Chess Federation is delighted to announce official confirmation of the 2012 Queenstown Chess Classic, to be held 15th-23rd January 2012. The $50,000 sponsorship is being provided by New Zealand Chess Grandmaster Murray Chandler.
The tournament will be a nine round Swiss-system, staged over nine days. As with the previous Queenstown events of 2006 and 2009, the 2012 Classic will be a fully-fledged International Open tournament.
The 119th New Zealand National Championship will also be incorporated within the event. This event has a famous history, being the oldest continuously staged national championship in the world.
The venue will be the ballroom of the Millennium Hotel, Queenstown.
Previous Queenstown events have attracted numerous international players, including Grandmasters and Masters. Opportunities for international title norms are once again expected to be available.
Players list is bellow, for further information see the tournament website, which will be updated regularly over the coming months.
Millennium Hotel Queenstown
Entries so far (in order received):
GM Gawain Jones (ENG)
wim Sue Maroroa (NZL)
GM Klaus Bischoff (GER)
wim Ingrid Lauterbach (ENG)
GM Eduardas Rozentalis (LTU)
wfm Helen Milligan (NZL)
GM Dejan Bojkov (BUL)
wgm Karolina Smokina (MDA)
Huseyin Yeten (CYP)
GM Kivanc Haznedaroglu (TUR)
Hacer Haznedaroglu (TUR)
FM Brian Jones (AUS)
Richard Voon (AUS)
Stephen Fairbairn (CAN)
Karl Zelesco (AUS)
Elliott Renzies (AUS)
GM Darryl Johansen (AUS)
FM Mike Steadman (NZL)
George Lester (AUS)
Hamish Selnes (AUS)
GM Zhao Xue (CHN)
GM Surya Ganguly (IND)
Chris Burns (NZL)
GM Sune Berg Hansen (DEN)
wim Christin Andersson (SWE)
Leon Kempen (AUS)
FM Ove Hartvig (DEN)
Ari Dale (AUS)
Hans Gao (NZL)
Bruce Kay (NZL)
GM Li Chao (CHN)
IM George Xie (AUS)
Domagoj Dragicevic (AUS)
wgm Kruttika Nadig (IND)
wfm Nicole Tsoi (NZL)
Edward Rains (NZL)
Roland Brockman (AUS)
Angelo Tsagarakis (AUS)
William XW Li (NZL)
Kevin Brown (AUS)
Leighton Nicholls (NZL)
Kian Hwa Lim (MAS)
Adrian Flitney (AUS)
Trevor Tao (AUS)
Seong-June Her (NZL)
IM Russell Dive (NZL)
Chris Benson (NZL)
Dennis Holland (AUS)
Luke Li (NZL)
Erlend Millikan (USA)
Roy Seabrook (NZL)
FM Max Illingworth (AUS)
Winston Yao (NZL)
IM Anthony Ker (NZL)
David Lovejoy (AUS)
Quentin Johnson (NZL)
FM Stephen Lukey (NZL)
Federico Roura (NZL)
Gary Judkins (NZL)
Ross Jackson (NZL)
John McDonald (NZL)
Daniel Shen (NZL)
David Capper (NZL)
Bill Forster (NZL)
Stewart Holdaway (NZL)
IM Paul Garbett (NZL)
John Duneas (NZL)
Tim Rains (NZL)
FM Junta Ikeda (AUS)
FM Bob Smith (NZL)
wfm Viv Smith (NZL)
Harry Press (AUS)
FM Bobby Cheng (AUS)
IM Stephen Solomon (AUS)
Leo Zhang (NZL)
Andrew Bird (AUS)
Tony Booth (NZL)
Alan Ansell (NZL)
David Capper (NZL)
Andrew Brockway (NZL)
Carlssen van Rooyen (NZL)
Nigel Cooper (NZL)
William Zhang (NZL)
Robert Clarkson (NZL)
Ben Clayton (NZL)
Peter Stuart (NZL)
Hamish Gold (NZL)
Laurence Matheson (AUS)
Hilton Bennett (NZL)
Malcolm Pyke (AUS)
wfm Natasha Fairley (NZL)
Justin Davis (NZL)
IM Moulthun Ly (AUS)
Alphaeus Ang (NZL)
IM Herman Van Riemsdijk (BRA)
Eugene Schon (AUS)
Andy Machdoem (NZL)
wgm Xiaobing (Vivian) Gu (CHN)
GM Zhao Jun (CHN)
John Beckman (AUS)
Malcolm Armstrong (ENG)
Alek Safarian (AUS)
FM Tim Reilly (AUS)
wim Emma Guo (AUS)
Jean Watson (AUS)
IM Guy West (AUS)
Jamie-Lee Guo (AUS)
Ivan Dordevic (NZL)
Ryan Louie (AUS)
Marc Repplinger (GER)
Yi Liu (AUS)
Bob Mitchell (NZL)
IM James Morris (AUS)
Jared Louie (AUS)
Hamish Shierlaw (NZL)
Chris Wallis (AUS)
Shanon Vuglar (AUS)
Leteisha Simmonds (AUS)
Noel Pinic (NZL)
Andrew Janisz (NZL)
IM Andrew Brown (AUS)
Mathew King (NZL)
Bruce Gloistein (NZL)
Efrain Tionko (AUS)
Arie Nijman (NZL)
Enzo Pieri (ITA)
wgm Irene Sukandar (INA)
Jason Tang (AUS)
Kenneth Holt (AUS)
Jack Hughes (AUS)
