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