chess nation

 Some last-minute recruitment on the part of our tournament director secured the services of another very strong and interesting 2700+ player – Czech GM David Navara. 27-year-old David is a universally popular player who is definitely going to be a big hit with the Gibraltar audience. David has played several sponsored matches in Prague against strong opposition and has match wins against Nigel Short and Sergei Movsesian to his credit.

Alexei Shirov needs no little introduction. He could and should have had a match for the world title with Garry Kasparov in the late 1990s when he was one of the best four or five players in the world but lack of financial backing meant the match was never held and later he had to stand by and watch Vladimir Kramnik – the player whom he had beaten to earn the shot at Kasparov – not only get an invitation to a title match but win it. Since then Shirov has become one of the world’s most prolific players, playing and winning a whole host of events. He has been to Gibraltar three times, in 2005, 2006 and 2012, with scores of 7½/10 (five-way tie for first), 7/10 and 6½/10. Alexei represented Spain for many years but has recently re-registered for his native Latvia.
.