When the Red Lion Inn in Bellevue, Washington, opens on November 25, chess players from Washington and British Columbia meet to stage a three day chess tournament. A lush prize fund of US-$ 5000 is guaranteed by the Washington Chess Federation and special prizes are awarded to ranked players and juniors alike.

Ex-World-Chess-Champion Bobby Fischer plays a Chess960 game against Susan Polgar in Hungary

The Red Lion Inn may witness a novelty in the chess history of the Pacific Northwest as a special Chess Festival Event, the Quick Chess960 Tournament will be held at the same time. The tournament comprises a four-round Swiss tourney in three sections. Time control will use additive time where a number of seconds are added to the remaining playing time for every move executed by a player.

The canadian chess friends from just north of the US border are also invited to participate in the tournament. Using their usual common sense the organisers have set up a little currency union of their own: Canadian Dollars are accepted on a par value - but no coins please.

Chess960 goes west - an innovative way of playing the game of kings and queens without the burden of thousands of opening variations is finally coming home. Former World-Chess-Champion Bobby Fischer who invented this way of playing chess along with the new concept of additive time, would be proud to see his ideas gaining acceptance in various corners of the world. Hungary, Germany, the Netherlands and now his native USA are the locations where Chess960 tournaments are organised.

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