The pieces are all in place for city’s International Chess Open

Sep 4 2007 by Paula Owens, Liverpool Daily Post

The pieces are all in place for city’s International Chess Open

THE Liverpool International Chess Open got underway yesterday in the elegant concert room at St George’s Hall.

Players from more than 20 countries, including Iran, Brunei and the USA, will take part in the seven-day contest, which is one of two major chess competitions taking place in the city this week.

Today sees the start of the UK-China Summit Match, which features Hou Yifan, who at 12-years-old was the youngest ever female chess Grandmaster.

The first game will see Yifan, now 13, take on 16-year-old David Howell, Britain’s youngest ever Grandmaster, at 3pm with the first move being made by Liverpool’s Lord Mayor Paul Clark. Yesterday, Yifan, who lives in Jiangsu, a small coastal city near Shanghai, said she was confident of putting in a good performance.

She said: “ I will try my very best to play each game well and score high.” The UK team includes Nigel Short, who won last year’s event, held at Liverpool’s World Museum.

The International Open and UK-China Summit Match both run to Sunday, September 9.