It was an epic final that more than went the distance in overtime here on ICC - as GM Mikhail Panarin, of Russia, beat GM Ivan Cheparinov, of Bulgaria, 10.5-9.5(!) in the final playoff game to take the qualifying spot for the Bosna2010 tournament.

Panarin is no stranger to big-time opens, such as the one he will now be representing ICC in at Bosnia2010, as he had two very commendable performances recently at the Moscow Open and Aeroflot Open in the Russian capital. 

Finals Bracket

Finals Table

Bosna2010 PGN - All 4 Qualifiers

The Internet Chess Club (ICC), in conjunction with the organizing committee of the  "Bosna2010" 40th Anniversary Tournament, are offering ICC members the chance to win an exclusive round trip ticket, prize money, paid entry fee, accommodation and automatic invite to the tournament, running 5-15 May, 2010.

You will be joined by many of the world's top Grandmasters in an exclusive online qualifier — open only to ICC members — to the tournament.  The winner of this package will be determined in a two-stage blitz tournament on ICC; the 4 qualifier tournaments running the weekend of Friday 26th and Saturday 27th February, with the 16-player knockout final to be held on Sunday, February 28th. The time control throughout the tournament (both qualifiers and knockout stage) will be 3,0. Each qualifier has 9 rounds. Latejoining is possible, but 1/2 bye points will only be awarded for the first three rounds.

The winner of the blitz qualifier will receive a round trip ticket, USD 350 prize money, paid entry fee, accommodation and automatic invite to the "Bosna2010" tournament. The USD 350 prize money will only be paid on arrival at the "Bosna2010" tournament.

In case the winner cannot travel, the first prize will be awarded to the runner up. In case also the runner up cannot travel, the first prize will be offered to the player who lost to the later winner in the semifinals, and after that to the other semifinalist. In those cases, the winner will only receive the cash prize which the player who eventually travels to "Bosna2010" originally won.

Second place will receive USD 250 in cash. Third and fourth place will receive USD 150 in cash each.

In addition, there will be prizes raffled between all participants who finish a qualifier, for EVERY qualifier. Ten 1-month ICC extensions per qualifier, giving a total of 40 months just for playing. Note that in order to be eligible for the raffle, (a) the qualifier must be finished orderly (not forfeited), (b) the player did not qualify for the finals, and (c) the account used is a paid one.

On top of this, there will be prizes for the players who score the most points over ALL qualifiers but who do not win through to the finals:

• 1st: 18 months ICC extension
• 2nd: 12 months ICC extension
• 3rd: 6 months ICC extensions
• 4th-10th: 3 months ICC extensions
• 11th-20th: 1 months ICC extensions

Should GM/IMs win membership extensions, they can donate those extensions to other players of their choice. Non GM/IM receive 18 months if they reach the finals.


You can see the standings in this most-points competition by typing

tell pear ser b bosna2010

Cash prizes other than first prize will be paid by check or bank wire transfer. Other payment methods require the approval of ICC.

Tournament Times

Please note that ICC has recently introduced a new Flexiable Lag Compensation System. Currently we are working alongside members, helpers, administrators and tournament managers on what the standard lag will be set to for normal day-to-day play on ICC.

However please note that allowable lag will be more strictly limited to 300ms during  major prize tournaments in order to avoid perceptions of unfairness to other players competing in a true prize-tournament environment.  This new lag limit of 300ms will be in-force during the Bosna2010 ICC Qualifier.

For further information: http://www.chessclub.com/news/1935.

The top two players from each of the four qualifiers will automatically advance to the knockout finals. In case of a tie, the usual tiebreaks of Tomato tournaments will apply. They are described in detail in "tell tomato help tie". Another four seats will go to the players who scores the most cumulative points over ALL qualifiers. In case of a tie in overall points, placings in the best qualifier of each respective player determines who enters the finals. In order to see overall point standings, type "tell pear ser b bosna2010".

Finalists will be sorted by the ICC Blitz rating they had when they played their qualifier. For wildcard players, the rating they have on February 27 will be used. The grid will display the following pairings (top to bottom) and qualifiers who go through to the next round will be paired accordingly: 1-16, 8-9, 5-12, 4-13, 3-14, 6-11, 7-10, 2-15.

In the knockout finals, "mini-matches" of four games will be played and if a tie occurs after that, two more games will be played. If still tied after that, another two games at a reduced time control of 2 0 follow, and in case it is 4-4 then, another pair of games at a time control of 1 0 will be played, and so on, until a decision is reached. In the final of the last two, the match will have six games. After that in the case it is 3-3, tiebreaker pairs of games will be played as above.

A match in the finals ends before four (six) games are played, if one player has 2.5 points or more (3.5 or more in the final of the last two).

Players can take part in all qualifiers if they want to. In case a player who is already qualified reaches the top two in the other qualifiers, his/her seat will be awarded to the next best player.

No preregistration is necessary for this tournament. Show up about 10 minutes before the scheduled start and type "tell pear join" or click on the entry button in your event list. Disconnecting before the start will remove you from the tournament. If you disconnect after the start, you will not be removed automatically, but you need to return as soon as possible, or the manager will forfeit you. You can follow the tournament in channel 227. Participants will automatically be placed in this channel.

You need to have a full ICC membership to take part in this tournament. Free trials cannot play. As the real names of the finalists will be made public, players who own free GM/WGM/IM/WIM accounts on ICC are required to use their public handles in this tournament, as opposed to anonymous accounts.

You need to use the most recent version of Blitzin (2.7) or Dasher (1.3) to play in this tournament.

Other Rules