The presentation was attended by Ana Pastor, first vice-president of the Valencian Community Chess Federation; Javier Jordá, Councillor for Sports at Benidorm Town Council; José Ramón González de Zárate, regional deputy and councillor at Benidorm Town Council; Alberto Varela, director of the Meliá Benidorm Hotel; Alfonso Vilches, Tournament Director; and Fernando Brotons, CEO of Tour-Sports Promociones Deportivas.
The competition will run until 2 November as Open A SUPRA 1800 and Open B SUB 2000, valid for FIDE ELO and governed by international rules. The Benidorm Chess Open will distribute €25,510 in prizes. In this fifth edition, there will be three main new features related to the Open A competition: around 40 games will be broadcast online, with electronic boards, and can be followed on the main chess broadcasting platforms worldwide.
In terms of inclusivity, twenty of the twenty-five blind chess players are Spanish, and five are coming to the City of Tourism from the Polish Chess Federation for the Blind and Visually Impaired. This is a milestone, as the Polish delegation does not participate in tournaments that are not exclusively for the blind.
‘We want to maintain this tournament as a benchmark for organisational quality and offer chess lovers and their companions in Spain a sublime chess tournament experience, thanks to the combination of competition, training and leisure in an unbeatable setting and facilities,’ said Alfonso Vilches.
For her part, Ana Pastor, first vice-president of the Valencian Community Chess Federation, highlighted ‘the commitment to inclusion, one of the most beautiful things about this sport’ and stressed that the organisation and the federation are working to ensure that each participant ‘enjoys a high-level experience’.
As for the wide representation of players from up to 31 countries, the registration list reveals that chess players will be coming from Wales, Poland, Italy, Germany, China, Austria, Andorra, India, Armenia, England, Colombia, Belgium, Ireland, Sweden, Israel, Argentina, Scotland, France, New Zealand, Burundi, Hungary, Romania, Norway, the Netherlands, Singapore, Uzbekistan, South Africa, the Czech Republic, Venezuela, Ukraine and Spain.
As for the origin of the Spanish players, the regions represented will be Andalusia, Aragon, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Castile and Leon, Castile-La Mancha, Catalonia, Madrid, the Chartered Community of Navarre, the Valencian Community, Galicia, the Region of Murcia, the Basque Country and the Principality of Asturias.
‘We have been promoting this tournament for five editions now, still in its early stages with restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, and we have managed to grow and consolidate an event that is now established as a benchmark in the international calendar, complying with principles that we greatly value as an experiential, sporting and sports tourism-related commitment,’ said Fernando Brotons.
The players will not be coming alone, and up to 500 people will be visiting Benidorm, generating approximately 3,500 overnight stays, with the tournament being held at the Hotel Meliá.
The international tournament programme features a masterclass with Julen Arizmendi, Grand Master since 2004, as well as conferences, game analysis, simultaneous games with the Grand Master, tourist visits, such as the Valor Chocolate Museum or the Mar de Vins winery, and preserving memories of the tournament through merchandising.
The presentation was closed by the Councillor for Sports of Benidorm City Council, Javier Jordá, who celebrated the consolidation and organisational success in shaping the tournament, while noting that ‘it is growing in participation, growing in visibility and, above all, growing in inclusion’.