Pearl Spring chess tournament

Venue

The tournament was named after the venue, the Mingfa Pearl Spring Hotel located in Pukou District of Nanjing.

Organization

The tournament was organized by the Municipal People's Government of Nanjing and Chess & Cards Administration Center of General Administration of Sport of China, and the People's Government of Pukou District, Nanjing, and Nanjing Administration of Sport

• Tournament Director: Wang Yonghong
• Chief arbiter: Casto Abundo
• Arbiters: Tang Jianming, Feng Zhe, Zhang Jilin

The organization web site did not disclose the player invitation criteria or protocol. In each of the first three years, one participant was of Chinese nationality.

Sponsorship

The tournament was sponsored by Jiangsu Kanion Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Yangzi Evening News, and Mundell International University of Entrepreneurship. The total prize fund was €250,000 with a first prize of €80,000.

Support

The tournament has received support from FIDE, the European Chess Union (ECU) and the Asian Chess Federation.

Guests

Guests invited to the opening ceremony included Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, President of the World Chess Federation; Boris Kutin, President of ECU; Sheikh Sultan, President of ACU and Liang Zhirong, Secretary-General of FIDE, Xu Jialu, Vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and Nobel Prize winner, Robert A. Mundell.

Results

2008

10-22 December

The six players were Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria (Elo rating 2791, ranked first in the world); Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine (Elo rating 2786, ranked third in the world); Levon Aronian of Armenia (Elo rating 2757, ranked seventh in the world); Sergei Movsesian of Slovakia (Elo rating 2732, ranked thirteenth in the world); Peter Svidler of Russia (Elo rating 2727, ranked seventeenth in the world); Bu Xiangzhi of China (Elo rating 2714, ranked twenty-sixth in the world). With at least an Elo rating average of 2751.6, it was a category 21 tournament making it the strongest chess tournament ever held in China.

:{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+1st Pearl Spring, 11–21 December 2008, Nanjing, China, Category XXI (2751) ! !! Player !! Rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! Points !! TPR !! Place |- |-style="background:#ccffcc;" | 1 || align=left | **Veselin Topalov **|| 2791 || || ½ 1 || ½ ½ || 1 1 || ½ 1 || ½ ½ || 7 || 2892 || 1 |- | 2 || align=left | Levon Aronian || 2757 || ½ 0 || || ½ ½ || ½ ½ || 1 1 || ½ ½ || 5½ || 2786 || 2 |- | 3 || align=left | Bu Xiangzhi || 2714 || ½ ½ || ½ ½ || || ½ 0 || ½ 0 || 1 1 || 5 || 2758 || 3 |- | 4 || align=left | Peter Svidler || 2727 || 0 0 || ½ ½ || ½ 1 || || ½ ½ || 0 1 || 4½ || 2720 || 4 |- | 5 || align=left | Vassily Ivanchuk || 2786 || ½ 0 || 0 0 || ½ 1 || ½ ½ || || ½ ½ || 4 || 2672 || 5–6 |- | 6 || align=left | Sergei Movsesian || 2732 || ½ ½ || ½ ½ || 0 0 || 1 0 || ½ ½ || || 4 || 2683 || 5–6 |}

2009

September 27 - October 9 (Category 21, 2764)

First tournament of the Grand Slam series 2009-2010.

:{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+2nd Pearl Spring, 28 September – 9 October 2009, Nanjing, China, Category XXI (2764) ! !! Player !! Rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! Points !! SB !! TPR |- |-style="background:#ccffcc;" | 1 || align=left | **Magnus Carlsen **|| 2772 || || 1 ½ || ½ 1 || 1 ½ || 1 ½ || 1 1 || 8 || || 3002 |- | 2 || align=left | Veselin Topalov || 2813 || 0 ½ || || ½ ½ || ½ ½ || ½ 1 || ½ 1 || 5½ || || 2789 |- | 3 || align=left | Wang Yue || 2736 || ½ 0 || ½ ½ || || ½ ½ || ½ ½ || ½ ½ || 4½ || || 2733 |- | 4 || align=left | Teimour Radjabov || 2757 || 0 ½ || ½ ½ || ½ ½ || || ½ ½ || ½ 0 || 4 || 20.00 || 2693 |- | 5 || align=left | Peter Leko || 2762 || 0 ½ || ½ 0 || ½ ½ || ½ ½ || || ½ ½ || 4 || 19.25 || 2692 |- | 6 || align=left | Dmitry Jakovenko || 2742 || 0 0 || ½ 0 || ½ ½ || ½ 1 || ½ ½ || || 4 || 17.25 || 2696 |}

2010

The 3rd edition of the tournament took place from October 19 to October 30; with at least an Elo rating average of 2766, it was a category 21 tournament.

:{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+3rd Pearl Spring, 20–30 October 2010, Nanjing, China, Category XXI (2766) ! !! Player !! Rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! Points !! SB !! TPR |- |-style="background:#ccffcc;" | 1 || align=left | **Magnus Carlsen **|| 2826 || || ½ ½ || 1 ½ || ½ ½ || 1 1 || 1 ½ || 7 || || 2903 |- | 2 || align=left | Viswanathan Anand || 2800 || ½ ½ || || 0 1 || ½ ½ || 1 ½ || ½ 1 || 6 || || 2831 |- | 3 || align=left | Étienne Bacrot || 2716 || 0 ½ || 1 0 || || 1 ½ || ½ 0 || 1 ½ || 5 || || 2776 |- | 4 || align=left | Vugar Gashimov || 2719 || ½ ½ || ½ ½ || 0 ½ || || ½ ½ || ½ ½ || 4½ || 23.00 || 2739 |- | 5 || align=left | Veselin Topalov || 2803 || 0 0 || 0 ½ || ½ 1 || ½ ½ || || ½ 1 || 4½ || 19.50 || 2722 |- | 6 || align=left | Wang Yue || 2732 || 0 ½ || ½ 0 || 0 ½ || ½ ½ || ½ 0 || || 3 || || 2623 |}

References

• Pearl Spring Super Tournament - more information from FIDE

References

1. (4 October 2018). "Nanjing 2014 YOG - Athletes, Medals & Results".
2. Mark Crowther. (22 December 2008). "The Week in Chess 737". The Week in Chess.
3. Mark Crowther. (12 October 2009). "The Week in Chess 779". The Week in Chess.
4. [http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6778]
5. Mark Crowther. (1 November 2010). "The Week in Chess 834". The Week in Chess.