Last weekend I managed to pop over to Gib to visit Ga (Nils & Erik too). It was roughly a smooth 3 hour flight from Heathrow and lands on the peninsula itself. It was forecast to be a beautiful day and seeing the Atlas Mountains and the Rock itself from my seat on the plane was awesome. Once out of the airport, I got a taxi to the guys apartment and then taxi driver kindly waited for them to finish getting ready so we could head up to the venue. From Ocean Village to the Caleta Hotel is a good 30 minute walk (there are also buses and participants are able to travel on all Gib buses for free). The walk itself isn’t so pleasant but maybe in a few years time you’ll be able to walk along the coastline.
I was very tired but I wanted to hang around the chess. It’s always nice to see people and it’s got a great atmosphere. The main room was a bit stuffy (probably because they have so many players they are squeezing in as many boards as possible) but it was so cool to see all these names I recognize. It’s kind of like going to an Olympiad where you see all these strong players. I also chilled in the commentary room where Ginger GM Simon Williams & IM Liz Paehtz gave us the low down on the day’s games. When I was there for the weekend Ga managed 0.5/2 – unfortunately he lost that game to Maxime who of course is a very strong player. I was in Gib for about 26hours before I had to fly home.
While I was there I managed to snag a prize from the goodies bag. So if you would like to win please fill out the form below with the correct answer to this question. Entries 10th February 5pm GMT. Good luck! (N.B I thought I had taken a photo of the prize on my phone but I didn’t will update when I do but it’s a fancy Tradewise Gibralar Chess Festival Pen and comes in it’s own box)
Please name 3(was originally 5 but even I struggled with that number) couples who were married when they represented the same country at the same Olympiad. Name the couple, country and Olympiad. HINT: You really should know of at least one!
[contact_form email=”s.maroroa@gmail.com” subject=”Gibraltar Pen”]