No Ordinary Venue

Time flies - doesn't seem a minute
Since the Tirolean spa had the chess boys in it
All change - don't you know that when you
Play at this level there's no ordinary venue

One Night In Bangkok (from the musical Chess)

The World Chess Championships have had some fascinating venues over more than a century with the latest clash being held in Bonn, Germany.

Bonn is located on the river Rhine and was the capital of West Germany prior to re-unification with East Germany in 1990.  This relatively small city (population approx 315k) was also capital of the re-united Germany from 1990 to 1999, by which time the former capital Berlin was reinstated.

Despite this, Bonn is still a major administrative centre for the political and commercial worlds, and an attractive tourist destination with a mix of modern and ancient architecture (Bonn Cathedral pictured above).  The city is also the birthplace of the great composer Beethoven.

So this is the setting for the World Chess Championship between Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik.  The venue for the games is the Forum of the Art and Exhibition Hall (pictured).  The Forum is a 300-seat auditorium with a large electronic screen, which displays the position for the audience during the games.

The internet is a wonderful medium to follow the games of a chess match, but it's a shame that more fans aren't able to visit the actual venue to see the players in the flesh.  Fortunately the journalist, chess fan and Chess.com member, Dario Mione, visited Bonn recently to see the 7th match game and his pictures* are used in this news item with his kind permission.

The Entrance Hall

The Commentary Room

The Players At The Start Of The 7th Game

The Scene At The Press Conference After Game 7

Kramnik At The Press Conference

Anand At The Press Conference

* Actually, all the pictures (apart from the empty Forum) were taken by Dario's newlywed wife, Giulia Russo, who is an accredited photographer for the event.  Many thanks!