With an average rating of 2447 the fourth BDO Chess Tournament, held from 9 to 17 August 2008 in the center of the Dutch city of Haarlem, offers a strong competition. For the first time the organisation has managed to attract two grandmasters rated higher than 2600: Russian Vladimir Burmakin and Canadian Kevin Spraggett. The Dutch ladies' champion Zhaoqin Peng is the third grandmaster in the Premier Tournament.
Three international masters, Ruud Janssen and Robert Ris from the Netherlands and German Sebastian Siebrecht may score a GM norm if they manage to score 6.5 points in the nine-round event; the other participants are able to score an IM norm. One of the candidates to achieve this is the Italian youngster Axel Rombaldoni, born in 1992 and already rated 2374. The field is completed by another three Dutch players: Jeroen Willemze, Stefan Kuipers and Jeffrey van Vliet, who received an invitation after winning the previous edition of the Challenger Tournament.
One of the participants in this year's Challenger Tournament is Andrea Rombaldoni, Axel's father. The rest of the field consists of Dutch players, of whom Cor Croese holds the highest rating with 2363. Once again, the winner of the Challenger Tournament will be invited for next year's Premier Tournament.
Last year, main sponsor BDO Accountants & Adviseurs guaranteed the continuation of the tournament until at least 2010.
Tournament formula
Two round-robin events; the winner of the Challenger Tournament qualifies for next year's Premier Tournament.
Schedule
Play starts daily at 13.00 hrs. from Saturday 9 August (round 1) to Saturday 16 August (round 8).
The last round will start at 11.00 hrs. on Sunday 17 August.
