Florence’s Giardino dell’Orticultura served as the unconventional venue for the 2014 Florence Move chess tournament. 200 chess players from around the world gathered in the garden’s greenhouse, the Tepidarium del Roster, over the weekend of October 24-26. 110 chessboards were set up for a series of four tournaments, broken down into five shifts, with each game lasting approximately 90 minutes.
Given that the event was an official championship of the FIDE (World Chess Federation), the participants were from a wide range of backgrounds. Evaluators used the Elo rating system to determine the winners. Elo ratings—numbers that increase or decrease based on individual match outcomes— are determined relative to other participants, and only after the eighth game. Ranking categories range from novice (1015-1200) to Grandmaster (2600 and up). The final results were determined Sunday evening, and the following participants were ranked at the top of their respective categories:
Master—Duilio Collutiis with an Elo ranking of 2480
Open A—Matteo Brizzi, Elo 1950
Open B—Filippo Madiai, Elo 1636
Open C—Antonio Gatto, Elo 1407
