There were several ways of watching the games. Ticket holders could sit in the main auditorium and watch the action unfold‘ live’ for themselves. Elsewhere, the commentary room offered the entertaining spectacle of two of the event’ s expert pundits dipping into the games as they happened, explaining what was going on, answering questions and speculating on what might happen next. These sessions were streamed live online and were dangerously addictive.( I hate to think how much work I didn’ t get done during the week of the Classic.) Out in the main lobby, more screens gave further opportunities for spectators and ad hoc commentary.
Garry Kasparov four games. Thanks to the generosity of the Classic’ s driving force, Malcolm Pein, I was able to infiltrate this area with my magic VIP pass. Always conscious that I was probably the weakest player in the room, it was nevertheless a joy to listen to the comments and banter of so many( to me) household names, such as John Nunn and Jon Speelman.( The latter’ s flights of fancy were particularly wondrous to a pedestrian woodshifter such as me.)
Throughout the entire afternoon, unmoving in the front row, just a couple of feet away from me, one figure sat absorbed in the moves as they unfolded on the screens. Even if the figure had not been instantly recognisable to me, the frequent calls from Julian Hodgson of“ What do you think, Victor?” would have pointed to the presence of none other than Mr Korchnoi himself.
As the games finished, the players would come into the commentary room and spend anything up to half an hour talking through the key moments of their game. What an amazing opportunity this was, and the packed room spoke volumes for the appreciation everyone felt for the players’ willingness to give of their time in this way. Kramnik and Anand particularly impressed me with their authoritative but accessible comments, while Short’ s irrepressible humour clearly made him an audience favourite.
For those lucky enough to have VIP tickets, there was a second room set aside in which a more informal running commentary was given by Julian Hodgson and others. Here, various grandmasters mingled and chatted, while keeping a watchful eye on proceedings in the
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At 79 years of age, the veteran grandmaster could easily be forgiven for a lack of attention at times – he must have seen it all before, after all – and yet there was no one in the room more focused on the chess throughout the entire afternoon. The energy and force of personality which had so drawn me nearly 35 years ago were still very much in evidence, and one can only marvel at the depth of the man’ s love for chess that he remained driven to follow the on-screen events with such unswerving concentration. Sitting close enough to hear Victor Korchnoi passing comment on the games in progress was an experience I shall never forget.
As the day drew to a close, the results were in: Adams and McShane had drawn, while Short and Howell had lost. The Rest of the World bested England by 3-1. Despite this, I came away full of admiration for the hard work of everyone involved in the event – to whom English chess owes an enormous debt of gratitude – and for the stars who grace our game today. The London Chess Classic is a highlight in the chess calendar, and long may it continue.
But I’ m sorry, Messrs Anand, Carlsen, Short and Co., if I had to name the undoubted highlight of the entire experience, I should have no hesitation...
It was the close-up view of the back of Victor Korchnoi’ s head.
- Andrew Farthing