2012 Queenstown Chess Classic
The 2012 Queenstown Chess Classic runs from 15-23 January in New Zealand.
The competition is a nine-round international open incorporating the 119th New Zealand Chess Championships, with a guaranteed prize fund of NZD 30,000 (approx USD 24,000).
The tournament is the inspiration of New Zealand chess Grandmaster Murray Chandler (pictured), and is the third edition following two successful previous events in 2006 and 2009.
Games start each day at 3 pm local time (02:00 UTC) and the time control is 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for 20 moves, and 15 minutes to a finish plus a 30 second increment from the start.
The field is headed by Li Chao of China. The top 20 rated entrants are:
| 1 | 2693 | Li Chao (CHN) |
| 2 | 2653 | Gawain Jones (ENG) |
| 3 | 2639 | Surya Ganguly (IND) |
| 4 | 2592 | Eduardas Rozentalis (LTU) |
| 5 | 2572 | Sune Berg Hansen (DEN) |
| 6 | 2569 | Zhao Jun (CHN) |
| 7 | 2553 | Dejan Bojkov (BUL) |
| 8 | 2551 | Zhao Xue (CHN) |
| 9 | 2537 | Klaus Bischoff (GER) |
| 10 | 2459 | George Xie (AUS) |
| 11 | 2455 | Kivanc Haznedaroglu (TUR) |
| 12 | 2422 | Trevor Tao (AUS) |
| 13 | 2414 | Akshat Khamparia (IND) |
| 14 | 2403 | Darryl Johansen (AUS) |
| 15 | 2401 | Herman Van Riemsdijk (BRA) |
| 16 | 2388 | Max Illingworth (AUS) |
| 17 | 2376 | Moulthun Ly (AUS) |
| 18 | 2375 | Stephen Solomon (AUS) |
| 19 | 2375 | Bobby Cheng (AUS) |
| 20 | 2359 | Anthony Ker (NZL) |
Some of the beautiful local scenery - Lake Wakatipu
Live coverage is available at the official website, including a live blog of each round as it happens.
