# Pearl Spring chess tournament

The Pearl Spring Chess Tournament (simplified Chinese: 中国（南京）国际象棋超级大赛; traditional Chinese: 中國（南京）國際象棋超級大賽; pinyin: Zhōngguó（Nánjīng）guójì xiàngqí chāojí dà sài) was a double round robin chess tournament event featuring six super-GM players that took place in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. The first edition in December 2008 was won by Veselin Topalov. According to ChessVibes website, Silvio Danailov - the manager and coach of Topalov - said the Pearl Spring tournament has been "guaranteed for five years and will enter in Grand Slam [in 2009]." The second and third tournaments in 2009 and 2010 were both won by Magnus Carlsen, with his first win being rated as one of the best performances in chess history.
Together with Corus Chess Tournament in the Netherlands, Linares Chess Tournament in Spain, M-Tel Masters in Bulgaria, and Grand Slam Masters Final in Spain, Nanjing Pearl Spring Chess Tournament became one of the five Grand Slam Tournaments in the world. It was the first in Asia and the only one in China.

## Venue

The tournament was named after the venue, the Mingfa Pearl Spring Hotel located in Pukou District of Nanjing.

## Organization

The tournament was organized by the Municipal People's Government of Nanjing and Chess & Cards Administration Center of General Administration of Sport of China, and the People's Government of Pukou District, Nanjing, and Nanjing Administration of Sport
* Tournament Director: Wang Yonghong
* Chief arbiter: Casto Abundo
* Arbiters: Tang Jianming, Feng Zhe, Zhang Jilin
The organization web site did not disclose the player invitation criteria or protocol. In each of the first three years, one participant was of Chinese nationality.

## Sponsorship

The tournament was sponsored by Jiangsu Kanion Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Yangzi Evening News, and Mundell International University of Entrepreneurship. The total prize fund was €250,000 with a first prize of €80,000.

## Support

The tournament has received support from FIDE, the European Chess Union (ECU) and the Asian Chess Federation.

## Guests

Guests invited to the opening ceremony included Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, President of the World Chess Federation; Boris Kutin, President of ECU; Sheikh Sultan, President of ACU and Liang Zhirong, Secretary-General of FIDE, Xu Jialu, Vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and Nobel Prize winner, Robert A. Mundell.

## Results
### 2008

10-22 December
The six players were Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria (Elo rating 2791, ranked first in the world); Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine (Elo rating 2786, ranked third in the world); Levon Aronian of Armenia (Elo rating 2757, ranked seventh in the world); Sergei Movsesian of Slovakia (Elo rating 2732, ranked thirteenth in the world); Peter Svidler of Russia (Elo rating 2727, ranked seventeenth in the world); Bu Xiangzhi of China (Elo rating 2714, ranked twenty-sixth in the world). With at least an Elo rating average of 2751.6, it was a category 21 tournament making it the strongest chess tournament ever held in China.
    1st Pearl Spring, 11–21 December 2008, Nanjing, China, Category XXI (2751) PlayerRating123456PointsTPRPlace 1 Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) 2791½ 1½ ½1 1½ 1½ ½728921 2 Levon Aronian (Armenia)2757½ 0Does not appear½ ½½ ½1 1½ ½5½27862 3 Bu Xiangzhi (China)2714½ ½½ ½Does not appear½ 0½ 01 1527583 4 Peter Svidler (Russia)27270 0½ ½½ 1Does not appear½ ½0 14½27204 5 Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine)2786½ 00 0½ 1½ ½Does not appear½ ½426725–6 6 Sergei Movsesian (Slovakia)2732½ ½½ ½0 01 0½ ½Does not appear426835–6

### 2009

September 27 - October 9 (Category 21, 2764)
First tournament of the Grand Slam series 2009-2010.
    2nd Pearl Spring, 28 September – 9 October 2009, Nanjing, China, Category XXI (2764) PlayerRating123456PointsSBTPR 1 Magnus Carlsen (Norway) 27721 ½½ 11 ½1 ½1 183002 2 Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria)28130 ½Does not appear½ ½½ ½½ 1½ 15½2789 3 Wang Yue (China)2736½ 0½ ½Does not appear½ ½½ ½½ ½4½2733 4 Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan)27570 ½½ ½½ ½Does not appear½ ½½ 0420.002693 5 Peter Leko (Hungary)27620 ½½ 0½ ½½ ½Does not appear½ ½419.252692 6 Dmitry Jakovenko (Russia)27420 0½ 0½ ½½ 1½ ½Does not appear417.252696

### 2010

The 3rd edition of the tournament took place from October 19 to October 30; with at least an Elo rating average of 2766, it was a category 21 tournament.
    3rd Pearl Spring, 20–30 October 2010, Nanjing, China, Category XXI (2766) PlayerRating123456PointsSBTPR 1 Magnus Carlsen (Norway) 2826½ ½1 ½½ ½1 11 ½72903 2 Viswanathan Anand (India)2800½ ½Does not appear0 1½ ½1 ½½ 162831 3 Étienne Bacrot (France)27160 ½1 0Does not appear1 ½½ 01 ½52776 4 Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan)2719½ ½½ ½0 ½Does not appear½ ½½ ½4½23.002739 5 Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria)28030 00 ½½ 1½ ½Does not appear½ 14½19.502722 6 Wang Yue (China)27320 ½½ 00 ½½ ½½ 0Does not appear32623