On Saturday, December 12th 2009, I decided to go along to the first London Chess Classic and watch Round 4 unfold. Even with the temperature barely above zero, it was a pleasant journey to Kensington Olympia Conference centre, being my first time there since I competed at Othello in the 1999 Mind Sports Olympiad (details of which can be found here: https://www.studiogiochi.com/files/studiogiochi.com/2018/07/MSO-1999-Brochure.pdf. Although I played alongside the current world champion (Murakami Takeshi) back then, who was of course Japanese, it was in fact Dennis Hassabis who won that event as I recalled, alongside many contiguous positive memories which carried me there.
Upon entering the event, I had to buy a ticket in the lobby, a huge spectacle itself and full of children and parents playing in the lobby on giant sized chess sets: it was a hub of activity with children of all ages running around and having fun. Inside the playing hall it was, of course a much quieter affair, and amongst the games being played, the one I took interest in the most, being a French Defence player for so long, was this one: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1565727.
Things that stood out which are worth recording:
1. I had already been working overseas for a decade and was only back in England to undertake a Masters Degree. I was not yet used to being back in blighty and snowed under with academia. But the whole thing; being in England, taking the train to London, going to watch some chess, fond memories of the location, felt like a trip down memory line if anything.
2. Whilst in the auditorium where the Masters played I saw GM Magnus Carlsen for the one and only time, well before play begun as I had arrived rather early. I then spent time reminiscing about my time there ten years previously and how a close friend and former playing partner Nick McBride bumped into me and introduced himself with a big smile on his face, telling me his name and who he used to play chess for, assuming I must have forgotten who he was. Nick and I both played chess for Luton in the 80s and 90s and draughts for England once down in Weymouth. Info provided by Draughts IM Dennis Pawlek, author of the following site. https://startcheckers.com/
In the chess section I remembered seeing a young David Howell defeat GM John Nunn, who stormed out upon defeat and pushed past many in the process, myself included. In the Cribbage section, I saw Bedford’s Ledger brothers (Dave & Andy) playing together in the doubles section. In the draughts section, Nick showed me who the big stars were, the main one being Ron King. I always remember lots of players from Bahrain participating. I saw GM Nick Pert there too, who I once played against in Hitchin and drew with when he was younger.
3. When not reminiscing, I felt heavily encumbered by the research I had to conduct that month, finding theories of vision and perception proposed in the 70’s tough to eschew and even tougher to digest. This set the tone for most of the day, and if truth be told, it wasn’t the greatest of days, as put – I was snowed under.
4. I found the Masters section rather boring and decided to wander around at some point. In doing so, I also saw GM Korchnoi for the first and only time. Being 78 then, he had quite some dificulty walking and had to use a cane to do so. I saw him expect someone to open a door for him…let’s just say his lack of manners was less than impressive and leave it there.
5. A major section was played also, and I spend quite some time there as much more chess going on. One player caught me by surprise, I thought something was wrong as she couldn’t possibly be a chess player even though she was playing on quite a high board. I went up to her table out of curiosity and some disbelief too. She picked up on this and got up out of her chair. It was WFM Arianne Caoli. I did not know who she was back then and thought she must be a model who just wanted to take part or something, and not a chess player, which the card by the table confirmed she was. As you may know, she went on to marry GM Lev Aronian before tragically losing her life in a car accident in his home nation Armenia. Never in my life have I seen someone so beautiful play chess. But not wanting to disturb her or anyone else for that matter, I continued to circulate.
Not too long after, and long before play finished, I wandered off towards the tube and back home I went. Upon reflection, I liked the nostalgic feel the day had but was so under the kosh from the Master’s Degree I was taking, it wasn’t possible to enjoy the spectacle I beheld. It was a short break from studies and not too much else really. I must have told many about it all though as Andy Perkins from Luton chess club came up to me months later and wanted to know more about it.
MJM, Latin America
McCreadyandChess 