On October 16 and 17 the eleventh edition of the traditional Chess Tournament, “Torneo de la Amistad” or Friendship Tournament will be happening in Ciudad Acuña Coah. México. The event congregates chess players from most of the state of Coahuila and is one of the most attended tournaments on the state.
The play is G-60 with a delay of 5 seconds if one of the players has a digital chess clock that supports delay. There will be 5 rounds played on the swiss system. The first round will begin after the inauguration on saturday, october 16 at 4:00 pm. There will be a second round at 7:00 pm. The remaining three rounds will be played on sunday, october 17 starting the third round at 10:00 am.
Cash prizes will be awarded to the first four players and other cash prizes will be awarded to the best local player, best out of city player and best U-18. Certificates of the places achieved and trophies will also be awarded to the winners. There will be also a separate tournament for kids under 14 years that will be played on sunday with medals and certificates awarded for the first three places.
Admission cost is $8 US Dollars or $100 pesos for the open. The kids play for free on the kids tournament but can elect to play in the open if they feel up to the challenge.
Cd. Acuña is the city on the Mexican side of the border of Del Rio Texas. It is a mid-sized city with nice and warm people accustomed to the american tourists. The chess tournament is in fact, one of the annual events that celebrates the friendship between the two border cities.
You can find more information (in Spanish, but you can always use Google Translate) about the tournament by downloading the formal invitation from this page (the previous post to this one) or by going to the organizer Chess Blog. There you will find up to the minute updates and, later on, the partial and final results of the competition.
Be aware that, although not required by the mexican authority, customs in the US requires that you to carry your passport to return to the US. Prizes will be awarded in pesos but you can easily turn them into dollars at any of the exchange businesses on your way to Del Rio.