2019 Northumbria Masters - August Update

Last month I posted a message from Tim Wall about the forthcoming Northumbria Masters chess tournament.

Here is Tim's latest message regarding the event.

Dear chess friends, 

First of all I would like to thank the local and national chess community for all its support for the 2019 Northumbria Masters. This has been quite a journey and it would not have been possible without your efforts.

We are almost ready to start the tournaments on Friday 23rd August, but before we do I would ask that you ask around one more time to ensure that we have a fantastic entry for this event. Maybe there are friends, clubmates and colleagues of yours that you could tell or remind about the event - which will give a fantastic opportunity to play top-class FIDE-rated chess over five days in a beautiful part of the world, North East England. 

There is still time to enter, but time pressure is upon us.

So far, as of Friday 9th August, we have a total of 84 entries in the three main events (Masters, Challengers U2050, and Major U1825). This includes six Grandmasters and seven International Masters, and a total of 26 England players in the Masters. We also have plenty of room for more entries in the one-day Junior Rapidplay (Under 11 & Under 14).

Thanks to the support of the John Robinson Youth Chess Trust in providing free junior entries, we are likely to have more than 20 Under 18 players from England. 

If we can have a final push and get over 100 players in the Northumbria Masters Congress, the event will have more than doubled in size since last year. 

Whether or not you can play, we would also welcome offers from a few more local players to put up a titled player in their home during the tournament. If this is something you could consider, please do drop me a line via the tournament website and I will let you know what is involved. (I can assure you that those local players who acted as hosts last year enjoyed the experience, and in several cases strong friendships were formed between Tyneside players the visiting GMs and IMs.) 

I know that you will wish me well with the Northumbria Masters, which is aimed at providing international title opportunities and top-class tournament experience for English players, particularly aspiring juniors and players from the North of England.

Please do share this message and encourage your friends and colleagues to consider joining us the Novotel Newcastle Airport for what promises to be one of most exciting International Open events in the UK this year.

With very best regards,
Tim Wall
Tournament Director