FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 6, 1999
Press Release #10
SHIROV OF SPAIN LEADS THE WAY AT WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP
Today Alexei Shirov of Spain, the #2 seed, won a tremendous fight
against Gilberto Milos of Brazil in Round 3 of the World Chess
Championship in Las Vegas. Milos will have a chance to even the
score tomorrow.
The #1 seed, Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, could only draw today
against venerable Viktor Korchnoi, who is by far the oldest
player at 68. Korchnoi defected from the Soviet Union in 1976 and
now plays for Switzerland.
The 1999 World Chess Championship, with a $3 million prize fund,
is taking place at Caesars Palace from July 30 to August 29. The
starting field of 100 top chessplayers from around the world has
now been winnowed to 32.
A player's prize money approximately doubles for each round that
he (or she) advances. The tournament winner, who will be crowned
the 14th World Chess Champion in a line stretching back to
Wilhelm Steinitz in 1866, gets $660,000.
The seven-round knockout event is sponsored by the World Chess
Federation, known as FIDE.
Most games today went according to form. Vasily Ivanchuk of the
Ukraine, a brilliant player whose results are sometimes erratic,
won an attractive game against Sergei Shipov of Russia.
The Englishman Nigel Short, who lost a match for the world title
against Russian Garry Kasparov in 1993, notched a win against
Alexander Beliavsky of Slovenia.
It was a fine day for Bulgarian chess fans. Veselin Topalov
defeated Lev Psakhis of Israel, while Kiril Georgiev upset Peter
Svidler, three times champion of Russia.
Judith Polgar of Hungary, 23, the top female chessplayer in the
world, made a draw in her game today.
Chess fans around the globe are following the moves live on the
U.S. Chess Federation Web site, uschess.org.
CONTACT: Timothy Hanke, Press Officer for the World Chess
Championship, at 702-697-5800. Or call Caesars Palace at
702-731-7110, and ask for extensions 5913 to 5927.