Gawain’s heading over to Gib for this year’s Tradewise Gibraltar Festival from the 21st-31st of January. Entries for the Masters are now closed as it has reach it’s capacity. If you haven’t heard of this tournament it’s one of the Must Do Tournaments (along with Reykjavik, Queenstown,Bangkok e.t.c).Gib is at the Southern tip of Spain but very English perhaps even more so than England. While there you could visit the “Rock” and see the famous Barbary Macaques and the seafood is very good. On a clear day, I think you can see the start of Africa.
Gawain is currently ranked 17th on the list.
There are huge prizes in this tournament, 1st prize is £20,000 and there are special women’s prizes as the organizers are keen to sponsor women’s chess. If you are female you could also win £12,000. As well as the main tournaments, there are two Challengers sections for players Under 2250 the 1st prize is £2000 – same as Hastings and the Amateurs Under 1900 1st Prize is £1000!
