GMs Tiviakov & Shankland to play in Northern California International
By Arun Sharma   
August 11, 2011
tivi200.jpgWith still five months until the Northern California International takes place, there are already four GMs and thirteen IMs slated to play. View the current complete player list here. Some of the notables who will be taking part in the event are:

GM Sergey Tiviakov (left):  Dutch superstar and former 2700, GM Tiviakov has played in the US only one time before, back in 1998, and after this thirteen year absence will finally be appearing once again at an American event.

GM Sam Shankland:  Coming off a third place finish at the recent US Championship, the newly minted GM now has some high expectations upon him, but if that result was any indication of things to come, he should prove to be a major force in this tournament.

IM Greg Shahade:  After a more than five year absence from the game, this event will be one of the first for the recently unretired IM and should prove to be a very interesting challenge given how strong this event is likely to be. 

Also notable are the large number of young super-talents who will be taking part. In addition, IM Marc Arnold who has been having strong results in Europe this summer and recently adorned IM Darwin Yang will also be taking part and both of them should also be major threats to achieve GM norms. 

In addition, two visitors from across the Atlantic, IM Sam Collins of Ireland and IM Adam Hunt of England, will both be going for the final GM-norms - in all there should be plenty of interesting action as well as a good deal of high quality chess.

For more information, contact organizers Arun Sharma and Ted Castro.  For those who are certain they want to play, the deadline to receive the advanced entry fee is August 20 so plan soon!