Pokerstars Isle of Man International Chess Tournament to Bring Global Chess Competition to Villa Marina in October

ONCHAN, Isle of Man, March 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Competitive chess and world-ranked players will return to the Isle of Man in October when the PokerStars Isle of Man International Chess Tournament takes place in the Villa Marina in Douglas.

The top Grandmaster in the UK - Michael Adams - is scheduled to play, guaranteeing that the chess world's attention will be fixed on the event. Adams, once a World Championship runner-up, is currently among the world's top 20 players.

"It's good to see the Isle of Man returning to the international chess circuit and I'm looking forward to playing there for the first time," Adams said.

The PokerStars Isle of Man International Chess Tournament will take place from 4 - 12 October, 2014. PokerStars has supported Isle of Man chess for many years and has a history of sponsoring chess globally, noting similarities in the strategic thinking and skills demonstrated by poker players and chess players.

"It's great to see PokerStars sponsoring this tournament, helping to bring international chess back to the Isle of Man," said Alan Ormsby, Chairman of the IOM International Chess Committee. "We expect to attract a number of grandmasters from around the world, putting the Isle of Man back in the chess spotlight after an absence of seven years. With the backing of PokerStars, we aim to make the tournament an annual event on the international chess calendar."

In addition to the Masters event, there will be two subsidiary chess tournaments (the Major and the Minor) encouraging participation from amateur players.

PokerStars has a long history of sponsoring chess, reflecting the shared mindset of poker and chess champions. Both games are considered mind sports, which reward thoughtful strategy and highly skilled players.  

The synergies between chess and poker will be on display in October as the PokerStars Isle of Man International Chess Tournament will overlap with the return of the PokerStars UK & Ireland Poker Tour to Isle of Man, which is scheduled to run from 2 - 6 October, 2014 at the Villa Marina.  

"We're very excited to be sponsoring chess and poker simultaneously and demonstrating the skills and strategies that make these games so competitive and exciting," said Eric Hollreiser, Head of Corporate Communications at PokerStars. "And we're thrilled to bring hundreds of players of both games to the Isle of Man in October."

PokerStars Isle of Man Chess Tournament organizers Alan Ormsby and Brian Woodard anticipate the IOM International to be one of the biggest open chess tournaments to be held in the British Isles this year.

Find more details on the chess tournament at http://www.iominternationalchess.com and the poker festival at http://www.ukipt.com.

About PokerStars

PokerStars operates the world's most popular online poker sites, serving a global poker community of more than 62 million registeredmembers. Since it launched in 2001, PokerStars has become the first choice of the world's top players, with more daily tournaments than anywhere else and with the best security online. More than 110 billion hands have been dealt on PokerStars.com, which is more than any other site.

PokerStars.com and PokerStars.eu operate globally under licenses from the Isle of Man and Malta governments, respectively. PokerStars also holds separate government licenses in Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Bulgaria.

PokerStars is a member of The Rational Group, which operates gaming-related businesses and brands, including PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and the European Poker Tour. Rational Group entities in the UK and Isle of Man were collectively recognised as one of the UK's best workplaces when they were awarded a top 25 position by the Great Place to Work Institute in its UK's Best Workplaces - Large category in both 2012 and 2013.