Opening night, I didn’t now what to expect. It was a very fashionable affair (to my knowledge) and everything ran smoothly. If this is anything to go by, I believe the chess world is in very good hands. In the crowd, I even spotted some celebs Sophie Ellis Bextor (murder on the dance floor fame) and Lily Cole (supermodel and Cambridge graduate). I got all very flustered when I saw Ms. Cole out of the corner of my eye. I wouldn’t say I’m a celeb stalker but I am definetly more interested than my husband. I just like to think I’ve got a better memory 🙂
The evening was filled with champange, raspberry and peppercorn juice(not as weird as it sounds) and water.There were also very posh nibbles to enjoy and petite they were.
There was also some blitz with the GMs paired with each other. Though I think the star of the night was 8year old Joshua Altman. Beating Luke McShane was very impressive and he did nearly hold a draw against Gawain but to be fair Gawain realising how young Joshua was thought that the endgame would be his safest bet for a win, killing any counter play with a Caro. But boy did he play well, this is one to watch!
The event was filled mostly with media and other associates of Andrew Paulson and the ratio of chess to non chess people would be 1:10 .
You can check out good photos of the event room Ray Morris Hill’s website. Gawain hopes to visit the event in Simpson but it seems to be closed to the public, if he makes it. I’ll be sure to get him yo write an update.