Watch live chess
Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 live at ChessBomb with computer analysis.
This year's
Zurich Chess Challenge starts on 29th January 2014 and has a record average rating of 2801!
One of the top chess tournaments worldwide at present,
Zurich Chess Challenge Tournament has a long history dating back to 1809, when the Schachgesellschaft Zürich was first founded, which makes it the oldest chess club in the world. The founders were Sigmund Spöndli (the State cashier of Zurich), Leonhard Ziegler (a paper manufacturer), Johann Escher (a grocer) and the three painters Heinrich Maurer, Carl Schulthess and Heinrich Schulthess.
In the 20th century the Schachgesellschaft Zürich gained popularity with its international tournaments, especially after the end of World War II.
The 125-year-jubilee tournament of the Schachgesellschaft Zürich in 1934 was won by the World Champion Alexander Alekhine.
The 150th anniversary in 1959 was won by MIhail Tal.
| 1. | John Nunn | 6.0 |
| 2. | Viktor Korchnoi | 5.5 |
| Yasser Seirawan | 5.5 |
| Florin Gheorghiu | 5.5 |
| Juan Bellón López | 5.5 |
| Gennadi Sosonko | 5.5 |
| Boris Spassky | 5.5 |
| 8. | Vlastimil Hort | 5.0 |
| Stefan Kindermann | 5.0 |
The 175th anniversary in 1984 was celebrated with an invitational tournament, featuring 8 Swiss players and 14 foreigners, including the World champion Boris Spassky. The surprise winner was GM John Nunn.
| # | Ti. | Player | Rtng | FED | Pts. | BH |
| 1 | GM | Areshchenko Alexander | 2651 | UKR | 7½ | 50 |
| 2 | GM | Avrukh Boris | 2641 | ISR | 7½ | 47 |
| 3 | GM | Dreev Alexey | 2660 | RUS | 7 | 50 |
| 4 | GM | Mikhalevski Victor | 2631 | ISR | 7 | 48 |
| 5 | GM | Morozevich Alexander | 2751 | RUS | 6½ | 51½ |
| 6 | GM | Kuzubov Yuriy | 2635 | UKR | 6½ | 50 |
| 7 | GM | Sutovsky Emil | 2675 | ISR | 6½ | 49 |
| GM | Golod Vitali | 2599 | ISR | 6½ | 49 |
| 9 | GM | Meier Georg | 2658 | GER | 6½ | 48 |
| 10 | GM | Pelletier Yannick | 2574 | SUI | 6½ | 47½ |
| GM | Hess Robert L. | 2560 | USA | 6½ | 47½ |
| 12 | GM | Sandipan Chanda | 2585 | IND | 6½ | 47 |
| GM | Geetha Narayanan Gopal | 2575 | IND | 6½ | 47 |
| GM | Bosiocic Marin | 2551 | CRO | 6½ | 47 |
| 15 | GM | Gharamian Tigran | 2615 | FRA | 6½ | 46½ |
| 16 | GM | Fridman Daniel | 2665 | GER | 6½ | 45 |
| 17 | GM | Miroshnichenko Evgenij | 2696 | UKR | 6½ | 44½ |
| GM | Hou Yifan | 2584 | CHN | 6½ | 44½ |
| GM | Bischoff Klaus | 2551 | GER | 6½ | 44½ |
| 20 | GM | Bauer Christian | 2602 | FRA | 6½ | 44 |
| 21 | IM | Bromberger Stefan | 2510 | GER | 6½ | 42½ |
| 22 | IM | Hirneise Tobias | 2429 | GER | 6½ | 40½ |
| 23 | GM | Ivanisevic Ivan | 2629 | SRB | 6½ | 36 |
In 2009 Zurich Chess Challenge celebrated its
200th Anniversary. The winner of the Open tournament was GM Alexander Areshchenko. The event also featured a Champions Simultan against a World Chess Champion: Viswanathan Anand, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Viktor Korchnoi, Vladimir Kramnik, Boris Spassky, Ruslan Ponomariov, Veselin Topalov – each of these players had simultans with 25 selected amateurs players.
The Schachgesellschaft Zürich has seen almost all the most famous players, including the World champions Lasker, Alekhine, Euwe, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky, Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov and Kramnik, and many other exceptional players from the newer generations.
You can see games from
Zurich Chess Challenge 2013 with computer analysis at ChessBomb (won by GM Fabiano Caruana).
Watch live
Zurich Chess Challenge 2014 live at ChessBomb with computer analysis.
Official page:
Zurich Chess Challenge
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