Magnus Carlsen

Morelia is the capital of the Michoacan state in central Mexico. The historic centre of Morelia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morelia).
Hotel Los Juaninos is situated in the historic centre opposing the monumental baroque cathedral and it features in lots of traveller guides due to the location as well as the impressive style with wood-beam ceilings and stone arches.
The rooftop restaurant La Azotea offers excellent Mexican cuisine and a striking view to the cathedral.

Todays press conference was held next to the restaurant, and at least a dozen journalists and TV reporters participated in addition to all the players and host city dignitaries.   



Half of the players are fluent in Spanish, while Magnus, Radjabov, Leko and Aronian responded in English. 
Magnus mentioned that he of course was pleased with his result last year and that he would be satisfied if he can finish in the top half in the strong field this year.
Aronian hoped the quality of the play would be higher than last year, though he would have appreciated a few more days to adjust from the jetlag.
Radjabov was reminded of his victory against Kasparov with black five years ago. While still a very pleasant memory for him and his family he now tries to put emphasis on the games at hand.
Leko mentioned that he thought all players would be extremely motivated in this very strong top level (category 21) event. 

This morning Magnus participated a net meeting hosted by Nettavisen. He spent about an hour responding to various questions although he did not manage to cover everyone.

Tonight there is the opening ceremony and round 1 starts tomorrow at 15:30 local time (22:30 in Norway). 

Henrik Carlsen,
Morelia, February 14^th 2008