Karpov Poikovsky Chess Tournament 2018 Betting Odds

–Chess is a surprisingly popular game among bettors–particularly in Europe.

–Emil Sutovsky is the defending champion

–The tournament runs May 26 through June 6 in Poikovsky, Russia.

There are two major international chess tournaments starting later this week. Of the two, this is the lower profile event and based on FIDE scores has the weaker field. The Karpov Poikovsky Chess Tournament is taking place in Russia beginning on Saturday. The other international tournament is the Altibox Norway Chess Tournament–we’ll cover that in a separate post.

The Karpov Poikovsky tournament is so named in honor of Russian chess great Anatoly Karpov. Karpov now exists in the shadow of Garry Kasparov who not only has a strong claim to being the best Russian chess player in history but the best chess player period in history. Karpov was no joke himself–won 160 tournaments during his career and had a peak FIDE rating of 2780. He spent 102 total months as the top ranked chess player in the world, second only to Kasparov. He first entered the upper echelons of world chess in the early 1970s and remained a formidable competitor well into the 1990s. A twenty year career in any type of competitive endeavor is extremely impressive. The tournament held in his honor began in 2000 and takes place annually in Poikovsky, Russia.

Emil Stuovsky is the defending champion but is only the #4 betting choice at +750. The tournament favorite is world #17 ranked Ian Nepomniachtchi and the field gets considerably weaker after that all the way down to Viktor Bologan, ranked #198 in the world.

2018 KARPOV POIKOVSKY CHESS TOURNAMENT BETTING ODDS

TO WIN 2018 KARPOV POIKOVSKY CHESS TOURNAMENT (MAY 26–JUNE 6)

Ian Nepomniachtchi: +250
Vladimor Fedoseev: +450
Boris Gelfand: +600
Emil Sutovsky: +750
Gujrathi Vidit Santosh: +750
Dmitry Jakovenko: +750
Vladislav Artemiev: +900
Anton Koroboc: +900
Vladislav Kovalev: +1500
Viktor Bologan: +2500

About the Author: Jim Murphy

For more than 25 years, Jim Murphy has written extensively on sports betting as well as handicapping theory and practice. Jim Murphy has been quoted in media from the Wall Street Journal to REASON Magazine. Murphy worked as a radio and podcasting host broadcasting to an international audience that depended on his expertise and advice. Murphy is an odds making consultant for sports and 'non-sport novelty bets' focused on the entertainment business, politics, technology, financial markets and more.