GM Georg Meier
One of the newer signups is German GM Georg Meier, who just took part in the prestigious Spice Cup A group. With him, along with GM Tiviakov, the tournament will now boast two players around 2650 FIDE - another rather rare thing in American events. With the two of them, along with GMs Shankland, Margvelashvili, Friedel, and Boros, the competition should be extremely fierce.
The relaxing schedule of the tournament, with five of seven days having only one round, should also provide players a much less tiring event than usual along with giving them an opportunity to see one of the US's premier touristic cities, San Francisco. The city will be a great place to visit during the event around New Year's time, both for the many attractions and for the nice weather that is rare in January around the US. There are also many fine accommodations available to players for the event within easy walking distance of the tournament site.
Anyone interested in taking part in this event should contact the organizers Arun Sharma and Ted Castro. The deadline to receive the advance entry fee is November 1 so those who wish to take advantage of that should contact organizers very soon!