My visit to Corus

Recently, I visited the (currently still ongoing) Corus chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, together with a friend also listend on this site. Living in the Netherlands, I was curious to see these Grandmaster in real life.

The event was very accessible, and big screens displayed the games of the GM's as they were developing. I hadn't thought it would be so exciting or even thrilling to see them carry out their plans. Especially together, when you can work on the games yourself in the time between moves.

The two games I followed especially were Loek van Wely - Magnus Carlsen and the game Gata Kamsky - Daniel Stellwagen. I can say that my fellow dutchmen held themselves well and though they both drew the games were far from boring.

Most exciting on a personal note though, is that I had some six of the GM's present sign my chessboard: Magnus Carlsen, Vassily Ivanchuk, Gata Kamsky, Nigel Short, Loek van Wely and Daniel Stellwagen. 

Definitely improved the aesthetics of the board!