Corus 2009 Opening Ceremony
Magnus, (his youngest sister Signe and myself) arrived in Wijk aan Zee at the coast of Holland after a pleasant flight with SAS from Oslo to Amsterdam yesterday for the first event of the Corus tournament; the traditional "Meet & Greet" and the drawing of lots for Grandmaster Group C in the Hotel Zeeduin.
Magnus was welcomed "home" by several of the organisers, and it should not be taken too lightly taking into account how his rise to chess fame kick-started back in 2004 with the C-group victory.
He's here for the sixth time in a row and will have spent nearly a third of a year in Wijk by the end of this tournament.
The opening ceremony of the 71st (!!) edition was held in the refurbished Chess Pavilion in the centre of Wijk today, as usually excellently hosted by organising committee chairman Dolf Vos, tournament director Jeroen van den Berg and Corus executive Theo Henrar (picture).
The drawing of lots was performed in a new and entertaining way.
On a computer chess board, 14 squares were highlighted by alternating lighting, each hiding a number from 1 to 14. The players in turn pressed a big red button after which the "spinning wheal" of lighted squares slowed down to stop at one of the 14 squares and the starting number was revealed.
The B-group is unusually strong this year with Sasikiran (2711) and Vallejo Pons above 2700 followed by many strong GrandMasters.
In the A group Ivanchuk started by drawing number 4.
Next Magnus went up and waited attentative for his "choice"....
The number 2 came up and he will have 7 games with the white pieces and 6 as black.
He'll be white against T.Radjabov in round 1 tomorrow at 13:30 followed by black against Stellwagen and white against Movsesian and Aronian before the first free day.
Before the opening ceremony sister Signe tasted the exquisite Corus 2009 Chess chocolate!
Due to the relatively large variance in rating within the A group this year, the tournament is a category 19 event with an average rating of 2716. This should not deceive anyone. With 5 of the world top-10 players present (based on the latest January 1st 2009 FIDE rating list) and several other strong contenders, it will be a very tough tournament.
The weather in Wijk aan Zee is very good. A few degrees about zero, light clouds and not too windy. We will certainly enjoy our stay.
Henrik Carlsen
Wijk aan Zee, January 16th, 2009
Magnus was welcomed "home" by several of the organisers, and it should not be taken too lightly taking into account how his rise to chess fame kick-started back in 2004 with the C-group victory.
He's here for the sixth time in a row and will have spent nearly a third of a year in Wijk by the end of this tournament.
The opening ceremony of the 71st (!!) edition was held in the refurbished Chess Pavilion in the centre of Wijk today, as usually excellently hosted by organising committee chairman Dolf Vos, tournament director Jeroen van den Berg and Corus executive Theo Henrar (picture).
The drawing of lots was performed in a new and entertaining way.
On a computer chess board, 14 squares were highlighted by alternating lighting, each hiding a number from 1 to 14. The players in turn pressed a big red button after which the "spinning wheal" of lighted squares slowed down to stop at one of the 14 squares and the starting number was revealed.
The B-group is unusually strong this year with Sasikiran (2711) and Vallejo Pons above 2700 followed by many strong GrandMasters.
In the A group Ivanchuk started by drawing number 4.
Next Magnus went up and waited attentative for his "choice"....
The number 2 came up and he will have 7 games with the white pieces and 6 as black.
He'll be white against T.Radjabov in round 1 tomorrow at 13:30 followed by black against Stellwagen and white against Movsesian and Aronian before the first free day.
Before the opening ceremony sister Signe tasted the exquisite Corus 2009 Chess chocolate!
Due to the relatively large variance in rating within the A group this year, the tournament is a category 19 event with an average rating of 2716. This should not deceive anyone. With 5 of the world top-10 players present (based on the latest January 1st 2009 FIDE rating list) and several other strong contenders, it will be a very tough tournament.
The weather in Wijk aan Zee is very good. A few degrees about zero, light clouds and not too windy. We will certainly enjoy our stay.
Henrik Carlsen
Wijk aan Zee, January 16th, 2009
Comments:
Posted by: Nina
Takk for oppdateringen Henrik!
Lykke til Magnus!!!
Lykke til Magnus!!!
Trackback
Trackback-URL for this entry:
http://blogsoft.no/trackback/ping/7085107
http://blogsoft.no/trackback/ping/7085107