Chess: First ever classical tournament to be played online amid Covid-19

New era of chess is going to begin, The inaugural Sunway Sitges International Online Chess Open tournament in all likeness will be the first-ever classical open tournament played online. The tournament starts of April 17 on Chess.com.

Those interested in participating in the tournament can register here to support the local hospital of Spain's town of Sitges in their fight against COVID-19.

There's the regular open tournament in Sitges, Spain, which is still scheduled for December 2020. In the meantime, organizer Oskar Stober Blazquez came up with another event: the Sunway Sitges International Online Chess Open tournament—a full-fledged open tournament, which is not FIDE rated and is played online.

The format is a 9-round Swiss, followed by a 16-player knockout. The time control for the Swiss portion is 90 minutes per player for the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move. The first prize is €1,500.

The rounds will be played April 17-25 each day at 17:30 CEST which is 11:30 a.m. Eastern and 08:30 a.m. Pacific time.

There will be two groups. The open section (group A) will be open to all players with a valid FIDE ID. Group B will be open to players with a FIDE rating below 2000 and who have not surpassed 2100 in the last three years.

Registration for the tournament shall be valid once the registration form has been filled in and payment by a valid credit/debit card has been confirmed. The registration fee is 15 euros or $16,50. All benefits will go to a local hospital fighting COVID-19 (Hospital Residència Sant Camil) after the deduction of tournament costs. Players in either category who have an existing Chess.com diamond membership may gift their prize to a friend or family member.

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