From Hong Kong with Chess!
Sagar talks about the World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships.
From the CEO
I am in Hong Kong for the World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships and I have so much to share with all of you:
1. Usually there is so much content during such events that I am working on the videos almost until the time the game begins. Abhyudaya (my team member) and I have to reach the stadium where the event takes place by 2 p.m. It’s a 7-8 minute walk. And so we leave at 1.40 p.m. I should leave earlier, but it never happens! :) And so when I take the elevator (I am in a hotel on the 16th floor), it takes a lot of time to come. This is the time when all the players are also going to the playing hall and a lot of them stay in my hotel. When the doors open, I feel good, but on our way down, the elevator once again stops at almost every single floor. The impatience within me starts to rise. Now of course, the solution to avoid all of this is to leave early. But there is also another phenomenon which I want to point out to - when the doors of the elevator opened for me on the 16th floor, I was so happy. But when they opened for others, I was impatient. This happens to us all the time because we have a goal in our head for ourselves that we want to reach.
This is the spectators view from the stands! Photo: FIDE/Michal Waluza
In thinking about reaching this goal, we forget that others also have goals. So when the elevator opens on the other floors, they get the same happiness that I got when the elevator opened for me. When you experience something in life, having the ability to then feel the same for others is a superpower. This makes us connected to human beings and humanity in general. We all have goals, we all have aims and we are all trying to reach them. Recognizing this and being compassionate and helpful towards each other would be wonderful.
2. Hong Kong as a chess country is growing. There are a lot of people working behind the scenes to power it. They do not have an IM or a GM yet from their country, but now they are very close. This tournament could very well be the huge shift that the country needed. You might ask - does hosting an event make such a huge difference? I feel it does! I saw it first hand in Chennai when the Chess Olympiad 2022 was held. It really helped Indian chess in a big way. And I guess it was also the point where Gukesh started his ascent to the top!
The Magnus Carlsen simul before the event! | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram/ChessBase India
3. There is a very cool technical innovation that the local organizing committee have made. Usually in team events with 6 boards, you need a scorecard to keep a track of every board. This becomes very important when some games have been completed and some are still going on. The players who are still playing get an idea whether they should fight for the full point, or a draw is enough, based on the score that is already displayed on these boards. Until now in chess these scoreboards have always been manually handled by the arbiters. They would put 1 against the person who won and 0 against the person who lost. But here we saw digital panels that showed the pairing and each arbiter was given a tablet. The moment the result was entered it would update on the panel. I am such a huge fan of this innovation. It was done by Chelsea from the Hong Kong Chess Federation and I have a feeling it will become the new standard going forward for all FIDE team events.
You can see the digital scorecards in the background! | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram/ChessBase India
4. Coming to the chess part of the event. Today is the final day of the blitz section. Until now I have thoroughly enjoyed Ding Liren’s presence in this event! He looks slowly coming back to his old self. He is smiling more, laughing more and is enjoying the task of playing chess! I feel the chess world is a better place with Ding in it! :) I have absolutely enjoyed Praggnanandhaa’s chess and his play at the event and also the camaraderie of the Chess Gurukul team. It feels like they are tight knit family! Team MGD1 has been so impressive. I think a huge credit for it goes to Srinath in the way he selects the members of his team, especially the below 2000 (Recreational board). Also love to see Vishy Anand playing still so well at the age of 56 years. He is an absolute inspiration. His game against Magnus Carlsen was just amazing.
It is a pleasure to see Ding Liren smile! | Photo: FIDE/Michal Walusza
5. I was in Bangkok and now in Hong Kong and after this intend to go to Peru and then eventually to USA for the Naroditsky Memorial, where I will play in a rated event (rapid and blitz after a long time). One thing that I have experienced being in Bangkok and Hong Kong is the fact that a lot of people follow chess here and a lot of people follow what we are doing at ChessBase India. In fact someone came forth to me and showed how they linked our channel to a Chinese app where each ChessBase India video is converted into with Chinese subtitles the moment we publish something! I was amazed to see this!
Just some of the top seeds for the Naroditsky Memorial! | Photo: Charlotte Chess Center
Ok folks, I will end this random thoughts here as I have to now edit some videos before the final day action begins! Thank you all for being on this wonderful journey together. See you all soon in the next newsletter! - Sagar Shah
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Thank you for your excellent reporting and insights Sagar Sir! The Chess world is indeed blessed to have you as a wonderful ambassador.