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Chess seeks to shake off geeky image as world's best arrive in UK Chess seeks to shake off geeky image as world's best arrive in UK
(7 months later)
There weren't any touts on Victoria Embankment in London on Friday – chess can't quite claim to be Cheltenham yet – but there was a frisson of excitement and a decent-sized gathering of middle-aged aficionados as eight of the world's best players began their three-week quest to reach the world championship final.There weren't any touts on Victoria Embankment in London on Friday – chess can't quite claim to be Cheltenham yet – but there was a frisson of excitement and a decent-sized gathering of middle-aged aficionados as eight of the world's best players began their three-week quest to reach the world championship final.
The Candidates Tournament is the strongest chess event ever held in the UK and pits Norwegian wunderkind Magnus Carlsen against former world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, the Armenian Levon Aronian and five other grandmasters. The winner will play the Indian world champion, Viswanathan Anand, for the title, probably in India in November.The Candidates Tournament is the strongest chess event ever held in the UK and pits Norwegian wunderkind Magnus Carlsen against former world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, the Armenian Levon Aronian and five other grandmasters. The winner will play the Indian world champion, Viswanathan Anand, for the title, probably in India in November.
"Chess is better than sex," the great US world champion Bobby Fischer once said. A dubious claim, yet, for chess-lovers, to have this tournament in London is truly orgasmic. "This is the biggest tournament in British chess history – the equivalent of the Olympics in the rest of sport – so we wanted to be here on day one," said club player Peter Windows, who had come down from Staffordshire with another sixtysomething."Chess is better than sex," the great US world champion Bobby Fischer once said. A dubious claim, yet, for chess-lovers, to have this tournament in London is truly orgasmic. "This is the biggest tournament in British chess history – the equivalent of the Olympics in the rest of sport – so we wanted to be here on day one," said club player Peter Windows, who had come down from Staffordshire with another sixtysomething.
In the UK, chess is played largely by retired blokes and schoolchildren. The workaday world is more reluctant to join in. In Russia and the countries of the old Soviet Union, chess is in the bloodstream – all the players in the tournament except Carlsen come from the old eastern bloc – but in the UK it has traditionally been a coffee-house activity rather than a religion, a pursuit not a passion.In the UK, chess is played largely by retired blokes and schoolchildren. The workaday world is more reluctant to join in. In Russia and the countries of the old Soviet Union, chess is in the bloodstream – all the players in the tournament except Carlsen come from the old eastern bloc – but in the UK it has traditionally been a coffee-house activity rather than a religion, a pursuit not a passion.
The Candidates Tournament is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to evangelise.The Candidates Tournament is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to evangelise.
"Chess is still seen as a bit geeky," said British grandmaster Daniel King. "But anyone who enters the chess world will realise there are as many personality types in chess as in any other sport. You don't have to wear glasses and have spots to enjoy chess.""Chess is still seen as a bit geeky," said British grandmaster Daniel King. "But anyone who enters the chess world will realise there are as many personality types in chess as in any other sport. You don't have to wear glasses and have spots to enjoy chess."
Carlsen and Aronian, the two tournament favourites who played out a careful draw in the first round, demonstrate King's point. They are young, dynamic and worldly, especially the jazz-loving Aronian; the new face of a sport that wants to shake off its stuffy, church hall image.Carlsen and Aronian, the two tournament favourites who played out a careful draw in the first round, demonstrate King's point. They are young, dynamic and worldly, especially the jazz-loving Aronian; the new face of a sport that wants to shake off its stuffy, church hall image.
The tournament is taking place in a darkened auditorium at the Institution of Engineering and Technology. It's a highly theatrical setting chosen by US chess entrepreneur Andrew Paulson, who brought the event to London. He has the rights to market the world chess championship and wants to bring back the glory days of the 1970s and 80s, when the matches between Fischer and Boris Spassky and Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov captured the world.The tournament is taking place in a darkened auditorium at the Institution of Engineering and Technology. It's a highly theatrical setting chosen by US chess entrepreneur Andrew Paulson, who brought the event to London. He has the rights to market the world chess championship and wants to bring back the glory days of the 1970s and 80s, when the matches between Fischer and Boris Spassky and Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov captured the world.
Paulson was keen to wire up the players to heart monitors as they played, to show how stressful a six-hour game of chess could be. That was resisted by some of the players, but he has not given up on his desire to revolutionise the sport. "This is one of the great tournaments and the last thing we want to do is ruffle any feathers today," he said. "We may ruffle feathers in the future, but the only feathers that will be ruffled are the feathers of habit."Paulson was keen to wire up the players to heart monitors as they played, to show how stressful a six-hour game of chess could be. That was resisted by some of the players, but he has not given up on his desire to revolutionise the sport. "This is one of the great tournaments and the last thing we want to do is ruffle any feathers today," he said. "We may ruffle feathers in the future, but the only feathers that will be ruffled are the feathers of habit."
The players made a largely cautious beginning. "This tournament is a middle-distance race, not a sprint," said Observer chess correspondent Jonathan Speelman. "If somebody starts scoring heavily, then the players will have to take risks." For the moment, they are trying to avoid falling. But soon the race will be on in earnest, and by week three chess's equivalent of the Cheltenham hill will start to loom.The players made a largely cautious beginning. "This tournament is a middle-distance race, not a sprint," said Observer chess correspondent Jonathan Speelman. "If somebody starts scoring heavily, then the players will have to take risks." For the moment, they are trying to avoid falling. But soon the race will be on in earnest, and by week three chess's equivalent of the Cheltenham hill will start to loom.
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