Baku Chess Open begins

GM Gata Kamsky: Ready for Baku

Hello Everyone,

The strong Baku Open 2010 has begun with top seed GM Gata Kamsky and seventeen other grandmasters vying for the top spot. Top rated among women at the tournament is GM Natalia Zhukova seeded twentieth in the list.

The tournament is taking place from August 22-31 at the 'Af Hotel', near Caspian Sea, Novkhani, in Baku.

Here is the list of the top-20 players at the Baku Open.

1 GM Kamsky Gata 2713 USA

2 GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij 2686 UKR

3 GM Sutovsky Emil 2665 ISR

4 GM Areshchenko Alexander 2664 UKR

5 GM Mamedov Rauf 2660 AZE

6 GM Smirin Ilia 2646 ISR

7 GM Aleksandrov Aleksej 2642 BLR

8 GM Savchenko Boris 2623 RUS

9 GM Guseinov Gadir 2611 AZE

10 GM Amonatov Farrukh 2608 TJK

11 GM Safarli Eltaj 2603 AZE

12 GM Shanava Konstantine 2556 GEO

13 GM Abbasov Farid 2549 AZE

14 GM Ibrahimov Rasul 2534 AZE

15 GM Jojua Davit 2530 GEO

16 IM Abasov Nijat Azad Oglu 2517 AZE

17 GM Guliyev Namig 2510 AZE

18 GM Durarbeyli Vasif 2501 AZE

19 IM Toufighi Homayoon 2501 IRI

20 GM Zhukova Natalia 2499 UKR

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com