Annual Open Youth Chess Tournament to Include International Grandmaster

The annual San Diego-Baku Youth Chess Tournament will be held 9:30 am-2:30 pm, May 3 at the Coronado Public Library.

A series of exhibition matches between an international chess grandmaster and three selected American youth players in the Winn Room of the library will be a feature of the tourney. A special guest will be Grandmaster Vasif Durarbayli, an Azerbaijani based in St. Louis. His appearance will include a chess clinic open to all who attend.

Durarbayli, who started playing chess at the age of six, became an international master at the age of 15 in 2007, and three years later became a grandmaster. He is a native of Azerbaijan, which he represented in several Chess Olympiads. The grandmaster designation is the highest designation in chess. Chess titles are awarded by the International Chess Federation. There are 1,850 grandmasters worldwide.

There is no charge to participate in the event, open to players age eight to 18. A catered lunch from Panera Bread will be provided to registered players. The tournament is limited to 40 competitors from San Diego County.

To register: coronado.librarycalendar.com/event/open-youth-chess-tournament-34435

This is the seventh annual San Diego-Baku Youth Chess Tournament, sponsored by the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Global Neighborhood Project. GNP is a grassroots nonprofit cultural outreach program linking San Diego’s Switzer Highland with the peoples of Azerbaijan as well as Botswana, Latvia, Mongolia, Morocco, Scotland and Uzbekistan.