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Schachgesellschaft Zurich - Jubilee
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200 Years Schachgesellschaft Zurich: Jubilee 2009Jubiläumsturnier
Jubilee 2009 – Living Chess History
The 2009 jubilee of the Schachgesellschaft Zürich is now almost history. The events that were kicked off at the 200th general assembly on 6 June 2009, will conclude with the final round of the national league A (Swiss Team Championship) on 17/18 October 2009. Falling between the two, and from 9-23 August, we had the pleasure of celebrating the venerable 200-year history of the oldest chess club in the world, with three highlights: the Jubilee-Open at the Kongresshaus Zürich and the Champions Simultan and the Champions Rapid, both held at Zurich Main Station. As we had hoped, each of the events was a success for chess enthusiasts: from the hobby player through to the current world champion, Viswanathan Anand; from the spectators enjoying the super atmosphere on site, through to the friends of chess who watched the tournaments as live coverage on the net from every part of the globe. If Garry Kasparov’s assessment is true, then the 2009 jubilee itself is but a small piece in the greater picture of chess history.
We were particularly pleased with the charged enthusiasm and atmosphere that marked all the events: seldom does the motto "gens una sumus", in fact, seem to take such real and meaningful shape. And the positive feedback has been overwhelming, whether received as personal notes, as press or as entries in our guestbook. We extend many thanks to all, for it was everyone – players, spectators and organisers alike – who together contributed measurably to making the jubilee such a success!
The organisers could count on the contributions of many volunteers – whose support was needed in everything from translations to the setting up the stage at Zurich Main Station. Again, we extend our heartfelt thanks to all of them. We are also greatly indebted to our sponsors and partners: Credit Suisse as main sponsor, with whose valuable support we have now staged a major chess event once again. We would be pleased to continue this fine cooperation in the future. Thanks go, too, to co-sponsor Swiss Re and our partners Accentus (Swiss Chess), Chessbase, The City of Zurich and the Alois Nagler Foundation. Our live transmission would not have been possible without the help of our Online Partners New Voice International AG, McKinsey, Hotel Savoy, livestream und Chess Olympiad Tromsö 2014.
Thanks to our jubilee website and the live website the jubilee 2009 should be readily accessible for future visitors. Both websites will stay online to enable the individual events to be followed again. Print documentation, including photos and games, should be available shortly.
In his jubilee book "Schachgesellschaft Zürich: 1809 bis 2009", author Richard Forster covers them all – Mr. Maurer, Escher, Spöndli, Ziegler, Carl Schulthess und Heinrich Schulthess, the men who founded the Schachgesellschaft Zürich in 1809. We expect these gentlemen would have taken great satisfaction in following the 2009 jubilee festivities. And we are sure that they would have been proud to know that from the modest beginnings of their young chess club, generation after generation of chess enthusiasts in Zurich would see it become the oldest chess club in the world. Perhaps just as we ourselves, fifty years on, would surely be pleased to see how our club members stage the festivities for 2059, the 250-year celebration of the Schachgesellschaft Zürich...
Organisation committee:
Dr. Christian Issler
Dr. William Wirth
Georg Kradolfer
Andreas Trümpler
Dr. Christian Rohrer
A Most Sincere Thanks to Our Supporters
The jubilee festivities would not have been possible without the commitment of many people who kindly supported us. We extend our heartfelt thanks to them!
Angst, Jesse (Tournament Organisation Jubilee-Open)
Batschelet, Sarah
Baumberger, Albert (Arbiter)
Bischoff, Klaus (Commentator)
Bühler, Willi (SBB/Railcity)
Deutschmann, Matthias (Moderator)
Eberle, Georg
Eberle, Petra
Emch, Hajo
Fehr, Dominik (Webmaster www.sgzurich2009-live.ch)
Hildebrandt, Betti
Hollmann, Bert
Ledergerber, Elmar
Meier, Henri (Graphic Arts)
Nemecek, Josef (Tournament Organisation Jubilee-Open)
Pauli, Kurt (Webmaster www.sgzurich2009.ch)
Rosenthal, David
Rosenthal, Rebekka
Schedler, Claude
Suter, Eliane
Umbach, Rahel (Tournament Organisation Jubilee-Open)
Vogt, Lothar (Commentator)
Votruba, Pavel (Arbiter)
Widmer, Andrea
Widmer, Gina
Widmer, Nico
Widmer, Pascal
Winkler, Daniel (OK Colorart, Zurich)
..as well as those contributors whose efforts may - in the heat of the moment - have gone unnoticed!
Posted on 31 August 2009 | 9:37 pmInterviews with Kramnik, Anand and Ponomariov
Courtesy of Europe Echecs! Thank you, Vijay Kumar and GM Robert Fontaine! Posted on 26 August 2009 | 7:47 am
A Most Sincere Thanks to Our Sponsors and Partners
The jubilee festivities would never have been possible without the support of our sponsors and partners. Our heartfelt thanks to each and all of them!
Main Sponsor 
Co-Sponsor
Partner
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Alois Nagler Stiftung |
Online Partner
Posted on 25 August 2009 | 6:14 pm
World-Class Chess – The Schachgesellschaft Zürich's Jubilee Delights Hordes of Spectators
Thousands of curious spectators in Zurich Main Station and countless Internet users around the world were riveted to jubilee events that marked the 200-year anniversary of the Schachgesellschaft Zürich. No fewer than eleven chess champions participated in the events on 22 and 23 August 2009. Vladimir Kramnik won the champions' rapid tournament ahead of the reigning World Champion Anand. The world's oldest chess club takes great satisfaction in having staged a first-class event, whose principal sponsor was Credit Suisse.
In the champions' simultaneous exhibition on Saturday, 22 August, 2009, 200 amateur chess players battled against eight chess grandmasters: Viswanathan Anand, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Viktor Korchnoi, Vladimir Kramnik, Boris Spassky, Ruslan Ponomariov and Veselin Topalov showed brilliant skill in their games. Of the 200 games played, the champions conceded only four wins to their tough challengers; 35 other games ended in a draw. The simultaneous event was expected to run through around 6 pm, but Kasparov und Karpov and their opponents duelled through 9 pm. Even that late – seven hours after the start – both champions were still surrounded by many chess enthusiats. At the beginning of the event thousands of curious onlookers were watching the champions' moves.
At the Champions Rapid on Sunday, 23 August, 2009, Viswanathan Anand, Werner Hug, Anatoly Karpov, Alexander Khalifman, Vladimir Kramnik, Judit Polgar, Ruslan Ponomariov und Veselin Topalov took on one another. After seven rounds and some seven hours, the former World Champion Kramnik pulled ahead of Anand. Topalov and Ponomariov shared the third place. Local hero Werner Hug of the Schachgesellschaft Zürich showed his skills and tied Karpov and Polgar as seventh. Countless chess enthusiasts followed the games' transmission and live stream pictures on the Internet, while in the packed event venue, the upbeat mood culminated in the final prize ceremony, where the public roared with applause for the champions.
On the heels of the Jubilee-Open 9-15 August, 2009, the festivities this weekend brought the 200-year anniversary of the Schachgesellschaft Zürich to an impressive and first-class finish. According to many spectators and to the champions themselves, the events staged in Zurich Main Station will go down in the annals of chess history.
Co-Sponsor
Partners
Patronage
Alois Nagler Stiftung