The 20th edition of the 'International Chess Festival' in Benidorm

Next December, Benidorm will once again host a new edition of 'Gran Hotel Bali International Chess Festival', which reaches its twentieth anniversary and has become a global benchmark. Representatives of the organization of this championship presented the event to the Sports Councilor, Javier Jordá, during a meeting in which Luis Barona, president of Tossal de La Cala Chess Club and director of the sporting event, Alfonso Sánchez and the director of Gran Hotel Bali, the sponsoring entity where the event is celebrated, also participated in the meeting. The councilor congratulated the 20th anniversary of the event for "continuing to support its development in Benidorm for so many years" while offering all his "support for the local, regional, and international dissemination of this great sports event.”

During the meeting, all the details of the Festival, which will be held between December 1 and 10, were revealed. Registrations currently reach more than 400 players from 27 different countries, although the number is growing as the celebration date approaches. It is expected that the total participation will exceed 1,000 registered and that more than 40 different nationalities will be represented, according to the organization.

The 'XX Gran Hotel Bali International Chess Festival' is “one of the most important chess events in Europe”, as highlighted by the same sources, who have indicated that, not in vain, their figures support it. This is a long-term championship: 10 days; It contains 5 different competitions, some of them at the highest level; and has brought together more than 1,500 athletes in a record number. For this reason, Luis Barona highlighted that this event “had its uniqueness in its origins by offering important prizes for the amateur category, giving the same opportunity to men and women who were not elite athletes.”

The director of the 'Festival' also highlighted that the event “does not neglect excellence, as it has an important competition group in which the best players in the world will participate and struggle to be on the top of the podium, also competing for interesting prizes”, which in total exceeds 33,000 euros. Among its particularities, he also pointed out that the chess festival has two exclusive tests for young women, one of them about the promises of this sport (the New Generations tournament) and another for the clubs' youth teams (the Spanish Teams Cup), as well as "the open and inclusive participation of athletes, since it is celebrated without distinction by sex, age, nation, or a different ability, without the need for an adapted modality or differentiated category, one can compete in these chess tournaments."

For his part, Alfonso Sánchez stressed that the event “already had registrations from players of all ages, highlighting the confirmation of a player over 100 years old and a 7-year-old girl for this year” and highlighted that “everyone knows Benidorm and its great chess event at Gran Hotel Bali, the tourism-sports formula works very well, crosses borders easily, and people come with their families to play, so its economic impact on the municipality grows and is essential in the low season.”

The competition will be broadcast live on the Internet and can be followed from anywhere in the world, which benefits the Benidorm brand and the visibility of this sport.