We keep the same dates as in previous editions: from November 30 to December 8, making it easier for every player to know with certainty, on which dates the next edition will be played.
THE LLOBREGAT OPEN CHESS TOURNAMENT has accepted the offer of the City Council of Sant Boi and will keep the venue of the tournament in this town in the next editions from 2023 to 2027. Sant Boi has the vocation to become a reference city for the world chess. In this way we can see playing in Sant Boi (theater room of Can Massallera), outstanding Spanish players, competing with masters of the world elite.
Europe’s strongest chess tournament
With an average of 2,350 ELO points, the last edition became the strongest open played in Europe in 2022. And logically, the most relevant of those played in Spain; this has just been certified by the Spanish Chess Federation and the Superior Council of Sports of Spain.
From May 1st, anyone interested can consult the rules of the next edition, the fourth, as well as all the information related to the open; they can do so by visiting our website: elllobregat.com/openchess. From that moment on, the registration period for players will be open. Already in this month of April, although we have not yet opened registration, we can announce (since we have been authorized to do so), that in this fourth edition, we will count again with the participation of Paco Vallejo, the best Spanish player, with an ELO over 2,700 points..
Another novelty of the 2023 edition: the twenty games corresponding to the forty best-ranked players will be broadcast each round; the room will also have a television circuit that will broadcast information on the Internet about the development of each day. We expect that the audience achieved in 2022 (29,505 people) will be multiplied in this 2023 edition.
Program to support promising young chess players
One of the work lines of the organizing team is the promotion of chess among the youngest. In this edition, within the framework of the open, we will repeat and expand the offer of a rapid tournament for schoolchildren. And another novelty: we started a program to help promising young players, sponsoring Alex Villa, who with a FIDE ELO of 2,216, is the best U-14 Catalan, and the fourth Spanish. We look forward to helping Alex progress in the sport of chess; we wish him much success throughout 2023 in the tournaments in which he participates.
From this edition until December, we will continue to report on the progress in the organization of the fourth edition of EL LLOBREGAT OPEN CHESS TOURNAMENT.
