Four weeks to go: grenke Chess Festival heads toward new participation record
The preparations for the grenke Chess Festival are in full swing.
Exactly four weeks before the start of the tournament, 2,900 registrations have already been received. Taking into account the registrations and withdrawals that can still be expected, a new participation record of more than 3,000 players appears very likely.
Organization behind the scenes
While the list of participants continues to grow, various teams are working intensively behind the scenes. Registration confirmations have to be prepared, catering and numerous additional services need to be organized. In addition, thousands of emails and phone inquiries must be answered in advance – already an impressive achievement by the entire organizing and arbiters’ team.
The setup of more than 50,000 chess pieces in the Schwarzwaldhalle and the Gartenhalle also requires careful planning. An impression of the enormous scale of the event is conveyed by the spectacular drone video from last year, which flies through the huge playing hall with its seemingly endless rows of chessboards.
Excitement about prominent participants
Participants and spectators can look forward to five days full of excitement and emotion, side by side with world stars such as Magnus Carlsen and Vincent Keymer. The opportunity to qualify for the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship as well as an attractive prize fund have attracted 14 super-grandmasters with ratings above 2700 to Karlsruhe.
With Alexandra Kosteniuk and Mariya Muzychuk, two former Women’s World Champions will also take part. In addition, well-known German players such as Niclas Huschenbeth and Elisabeth Pähtz will be competing. The announcement that Artur Yusupov will participate in the Freestyle Open has generated particularly strong reactions on the Instagram channel grenkechess.
Streamers and international media interest
A special innovation of this year’s festival is the deliberate inclusion of streamers. For this purpose, a dedicated streaming area with 15 to 20 DGT boards will be set up, where influencers can broadcast their games live using a compact streaming setup.
The accredited streamers come from many different countries, including Germany (WIM Sonja Maria Bluhm, Niklas Steenfatt), the United States (IM Kostya Kavutsky), Türkey (GM Cem Kaan Gökerkan), Australia (Hannah Sayce), Morocco (Sarah El Barbry) and India (IM Suyog Wagh). In this way, the games – and especially the unique atmosphere of the grenke Chess Festival – will reach audiences around the world. Overall, a particularly strong international media presence is expected this year.
A frequently asked question concerns spectator access. Admission for spectators is free, and no tickets are required. The only request for visitors is to maintain silence in the playing hall and not to take photos inside the playing hall during the games.
Side events and program
Once again this year there will be live commentary on selected games from the Freestyle A Open and the classical A Open. For this purpose, a dedicated commentary room will be set up again.
The large Chess Tigers sales booth will once again offer visitors the opportunity to purchase chessboards and books – or simply browse through a chess book.
Another highlight of the supporting program will be the exhibition “Capture” by star photographer Stev Bonhage, who will present some of his most impressive chess photographs.
The organizers are looking forward to a great chess festival and invite all players who have not yet registered to do so. Registration is still possible via the following link:
