See, I told you.

Hello again. My recent days of silence were related to finishing my trip, getting home, and having a chance to blog from my own computer. I will have more to post in the coming week, including more pics.

For now I just want to offer proof that I really was at Corus in the press room. Here I am giving analysis of what went horribly wrong in my own first round game. :)

Corus: Jan 20th Part II

Meeting the GM's:

There I am walking through the media control room for ICC when I come across Nigel Short and Jonathan Speelman watching games and doing some analysis. I am star struck and just stand next to them and listen in, barely laughing along with Short's prattle of jokes and quips. He likes to not take things too seriously. His friend Mr. Speelman meanwhile keeps asking Nigel for his insights. Eventually, Nigel says "Why don't you think that one through yourself, John? You can do that, yeah? I just got off work today."

Nigel moves along to the room I am in now, where the laptops and display boards are. I gave him a few minutes before I follow and when I came in, he and Vassily Ivanchuk are now watching the boards and chatting. I listen in:

VI: Why isn't Garry (Kasparov) playing any more, Nigel. Be real.
NS: Because he's bored. Vassily, you are about the whole breadth of the game. He is into other things.
VI: No really...
NS: It takes a lot to prepare (for tournaments). And Gary is all about getting results. He's into big things.

Vassiliy, or "Chuckie" as Nigel calls him, stops talking. I am there once again listening in, petrified to say anything. (I am so startstruck!) But I chime in with a impromptu casual conversation.

PF: So do you still talk with Kaspaprov?
NS: Oh yes, we stay in pretty regular communication.
PF: How often is that?
NS: Once or twice a month maybe. But it's not like he is calling me up asking me for some of my novelties. Like I am not going to just up and share with him my TWO novelties! Ha! ... Hey Chuckie, do you miss playing Garry? Is that it? Well I don't. I wouldn't have missed playing him 20 years ago either! I've had quite enough of that.

Chuckie just smirks and eventually leaves the room.

PF: So what does Garry say about how it is going in Russia (politically)?
NS: Oh, pretty pessimistic stuff.

And Nigel realizes there is a dinner he is to attend and he gets ready to go. I summon up the courage to actual BE a reporter and formally ask him a question. He says “okay what’s your question?” I honestly had one prepared:

PF: Nigel, you certainly have a good sense of humor. What other top players have a great sense of humor?

NS: Well that’s an interesting question. (The other media guys agreed. Score one for me!)

NS: Lots of players. Hmmm. Certainly NOT Leko! Ha! But don’t quote me on that.” (Sorry, I am.)

NS: Chuckie is really a funny guy. He has a good sense of humor. You know he really has come around over the years. He used to be, well, pretty strange. But he really has become a good guy. He’s very approachable, too. (Too bad I didn’t take a chance to talk with him, I had a lot of opportunities.)

NS: Aronian has a good sense of humor. But Radjabov is VERY serious. Really. He was like that even when he was 12. You know last year Radja was the only one who didn’t know about my Cheparinov (sp?) incident! Even Anand got up from his game to find out what happened but Radja just stayed right at his board staring at his game. Very serious!

PF: Thank you very much Mr. Short, this has been my honor.

Booyah!

And later I was able to watch Aronian and Carlsen get interviewed briefly for the internet about their game. It was pretty dull.

I tried to take some digital pics today to share but that didn’t work out. They are blurred. Rats! I took many more film pics. Hopefully I will have something ready for posting by the end of January.

I may post more. But for now I think I will bask in all that happened today and go enjoy a dinner.

Till next time… this is Phil Ferguson, Live from Corus, for ENYCA

(I get a kick just writing that! Ha!)

Corus: Jan 20th

Today is my first full day in Wijk aan Zee and as one emboldened as a member of the press corps! I woke up refreshed from the very quiet night in this very quiet town, then went to walk to the beach. Along the way I met the Team Captain for the Chinese players Wang Yue and Hou Yifan. I didn't catch her name but we had already met twice yesterday and we walked and talked about chess in China and the USA. She had heard that chess was not doing well in the USA, I confirmed that. She also said the US government made a mistake by not supporting Bobby Fischer and subsequent chess clubs that sprung up like weeds in the US. In China, the government pays the coaches and I believe subsidizes the players. This woman's paid full time job was to manage the team on all international trips. (I didn't ask what that involved.) You is 15 years old and I asked if she has fun playing at these events or does she take it seriously. She said she enjoys herself up until the game starts and then she gets very serious. And she said that Hou is very smart and acts very adult already. I need to speak with her again because I gotta ask about those hair clips!

After my walk, I stopped for brunch at a hotel. There was Alexander Morozevich and his second four tables away. They are very relaxed, joking, and speaking French! (Later I learned that for most Russians, French is their second language due to their long historical roots.) As they finish their food, they go off for a seaside walk about an hour before the game today. As I am leaving, I see that Rustam Masimdzhanov is sitting alone just behind me, very deep in thought sipping some tea.

This is a cozy little town, eh?

At the tournament, I basically tossed my personal game away so I could enjoy the top grandmasters at work. Of course, for the first three hours, they ALL sit, stretch, pace around, stare, make faces, ... stare some more, pace, sip something ... and occassionally they make a move. I took a bunch of pictures but so far they are on film and they will be posted a bit after I get home. Maybe I'll get a couple in today before my last battery dies.

So these installments of my reports, as you might guess, will be lacking information about the actual chess playing. I am not good enough to do that justice. And I will be doing installments as I don't know how often and for how long I'll be able to grab an internet connection in the press room. When I do report, I want to convey the personal side of being here, whatevr that may be. So enjoy that if it appeals to you.

Here are my first impressions of some of the players:

Vasily Ivanchuk is a tall and impressive person, dressed in black suits each day. He walks around most of the time, making a variety of faces, and tetering back and forth as he walks.

Teymour Radjabov reminds me of a young Paul Simon. He might be 5’4” and is not skinny (like many other players are here I have noticed).

David Navara appears to be a very timid soul. He walks around looking down, cautiously moving past people. He also is squinting most of the time.

Fabiano Caruana is simply looks a skinny kid with glasses.

Similar to Ivanchuk, Nigel Short does a lot of walking, looking around, and contorting his face. He is tall and slightly hunched over, even as he walks.

Krishnan Sasikiran, the top player in the B group, dresses in traditional Indian clothing. With such regal looking clothing and penetrating eyes, he leaves a very strong first impression.

Magnus Carlsen and Gata Kamsky have been disappointing for me - they sit at their boards a lot and stare, and haven’t done anything worth commenting on thus far. Yawn.

Levon Aronian on the other hand is dressed in a WILD shirt and he is very animated in his facial expression, yet he also looks so bored or aloof. In his game today with Carlsen, he sacrificed a knight for 2 pawns and that drew a large crowd of the other GM’s to check it out.

Let me leave this instalment at this. More to come.

This is Phil Ferguson, Live From Corus, for ENYCA

Live from Corus!

Hello ENYCA chess fans!

Your intrepid reporter, moi, made it here today at Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands for the Corus Tournament. Some of you have heard me speak about attending this world class event and, well, THIS IS IT!

I am playing in one of their three day events and today played my first game and lost to a very strong Dutch player. It was a Benko that I played badly but what the heck. It was fun.

But it is incredible to get that I am actually here, in the playing hall that I have seen on the internet for the past years. It is really happening, I am here and so are some of the top players in the world. Today was Day 3 of the Grandmasters tournament. And there they are ... Kamsky outplayed Morozevich, Ivanchuk lost to Radjabov, and draws occurred with Carlesen - Movsesian, Adams - Dominguez, and there were other results I won't spend time on here.

Because I am actually in the press room right now - SNAP! ... with Ivanchuk and what seems like his second nearby presumably going over the game he lost and using a computer. It is very quiet and when they do speak it is in Russian or something. And the press don't speak to the players, just let them be. It's all good - I am in the gosh darn press room with him! Wow!

Yes, this isn't much of a news report. I missed any analysis of the GM games while I was playing my own game. I am hoping to sit in on the analysis ofm Karjakin - Yue when it is over. It is a wild looking game on the monitor before me and they are still playing. Hopefully they will do some analysis but this place is empty so probably not happening.

So why I am soooooo excited is that I heard that no regular players were allowed to attend the news conferences. I informed them I am from the USA and a reporter for ENYCA. They allowed me in!!!! I got a 2 day pass!

Tomorrow I play again and the GM's as well. I am already starting to plan on playing blitz speed, losing my game in all likelihood, just so I can attend as many press briefings as possible and then report back to this blog. My last round, on Wednesday, will be my serious game as the GM's have that day off.

So for now chess fans, let me wrap up with whatever else I can think of that is kinda cool about being here. I'll report on GM analysis and what that is like once I get myself oriented and do that. Hmmm...

The weather today was just what I expected: NASTY! Wind whipped rain and cold. VERY dark and gloomy. I am having trouble even photographing outdoors with my 400 ASA film. I went to the store before the start of the round and had to change into dry pants to go back and play. The town is right by the sea and not much happening here outside of the tournament.

The hall itself has a bar for meeting, eating and consuming beverages before and after the chess. Inside the hall, there is a snack bar. I had an old fashioned glass bottle of Coke and later some tasty Dutch cookie and a coffee. All while I played. And the amateurs play in their sections broken down into quads. So I have met the other two Dutch players I will face in the next two days.

Haaaaaaaaaaaa! I just talked with McCauley Peterson from USCF and ICC fame (RIGHT?). He was sitting behind me this whole time. He had to get to the grocery store before it closed and we'll talk more tomorrow. How coool!

And I learned how the tech people and the software work for ICC purposes. I'll get back to that another time.

I am going back to watch Karjakin finish his game and see who else is around. More to come!!! Yea baby!

Phil Ferguson

6th Williams College Open

Mark Bourque won the Williams College Open on Saturday with 3 wins. The door was open in the second round when the top four seeds all drew. 2nd place was shared by Williams College alum Arthur Xanthos, Williams College student Dan Grossman, and Michael Corrigan. Seven people shared 3rd place including Williams College faculty member Steven Gerrard, and Williams College staff member and alum John Germanowski. The prize fund was $650 for 28 players. Thanks to Williams College Alumni who donated to the prize fund.