Paleohora

[Alex Ferreira]

Sometimes also written as Paleochora.
It was an awesome tournament as well as vacation.
My report to anyone interested.


Tournament:

It took place at a municipal building, somewhat of a theatre where the top 10 boards were on a stage. There were 237 players and we ranked around or a little below the halfway mark. Incredibly professional event. Between two arbiters and two assistants, gamescores would be collected as games finished and regularly updated on their website (http://www.chaniachess.gr/Internatio.../index_en.html) or on http://www.chess-results.com/tnr36301.aspx?lan=1

Pairings were done and posted within about 15 minutes of the last game had finished, and several of the top boards gamescores posted on the website. It was a treat to watch so many professional players fighting out all kinds of positions. Participation was a combination of invited elite players and a wave of Greek juniors, with some tourists like ourselves in the mix (Italians, Spanish and Dutch were there in visible numbers, or maybe were just the more lively crowds).

This 9-round event with 1 game a day provided the opportunity for a true vacation. The organizers not only did a spectacular job with the tournament details, but offered all kinds of extra programs and activities. They also provided free bus rides to all participants to and from the nearest seaport (2 hours away through Cretan mountains).

Skittles was done outdoors on the street from 7pm (rounds started 5:30) until... whenever. At times there were still people there at 2am looking at lines or playing blitz. In the 9 games, I played representatives of 6 different federations, 7 games were FIDE rated.


Elite Players & Norm Seekers:

Of the 237 players, 19 were GMs and 14 were IMs, not to mention all the chessbase.com celebrities, most of them also titled. Players rated over 2450 (or ladies rated above 2350) had hotel & meals provided, while everyone else above 2300 had some hotel discount rate, plus free entry.
IM Misa Pap got a GM norm with one round to go, and one other IM was in contention but did not win his last round game. IM norms were not mentioned but I'd be surprised if there weren't any.

Several of the elite players were on some sort of Chess Tournament Circuit, although I don't think there's a direct connection between these tournaments.
Some that I heard about from players who came from or were going to tournaments included: (chess-results page and then official site)

July 13-20 - 2nd International Rethymno Open 2010 - http://www.chess-results.com/tnr36082.aspx?lan=1 - http://www.daor.gr/index.php?chessen

July 22 - 29 - 3rd International Paleochora Open 2010 - http://www.chess-results.com/tnr36301.aspx?lan=1 - http://www.chaniachess.gr/Internatio.../index_en.html

July 30 - Aug 7 - 19TH OPEN INTERNATIONAL KAVALA CHESS TOURNAMENT A GROUP - http://www.chess-results.com/tnr36513.aspx?lan=1 - http://www.chesskavala.gr/open/

Aug 9 - 17 - 1st INTERNATIONAL CHESS TOURNAMENT "NEGROPONTE 2010" - http://www.chess-results.com/tnr33842.aspx?lan=1 - http://www.negroponte2010.gr/

Hospitality conditions were equal for Rethymno & Paleohora. I don't know about the two tournaments after.

The hardest stretch for a person willing to play in all of the above would be going from Paleohora (Southwest Crete) to Kavala in 24 hours (Northeast mainland Greece). The other tournaments had 2 days in between them. I don't know how it'll be next year, but these tournaments seem to be gaining momentum and here to stay.


Side Events:

The tournament organizers had a blitz event, as well as excursions to 3 different beaches on 4 days (Elafonissos was done twice). Excursions were free to all participants and included bus or boat rides as well as free stay at the sombreros with lawn chairs (they'd cost 7 euro otherwise to beach-goers).

The blitz tournament was run in teams fashion, like Pan-Ams and Canadian Universities Championships. It was outdoors, in the middle of the main street in Paleohora, and it started at 11pm after the regular round had finished. There were no entry fees and no monetary prizes. 21 teams of 4 participated. After each team match win (5 rounds total), all winners were entitled to walk across the street to a bar and get a free shot of Ouzo, a Greek schnapps. Soda for the juniors as well as someone I know.
Even though the elite players did not participate, it was quite the multicultural tournament all things considered, as most players were local juniors or visiting tourists. We teamed up with a couple of older Italian guys, and we ended up playing a team of Spanish players and a team of Dutch ladies. Not walking entirely straight by the end, a team of local masters in their late teens / early 20s, swept the field 5-0.

We went to two of the three beach excursions:
- Krios was a pebble beach, isolated from the world, although it had a small chapel at the top of a nearby hill which was abandoned before it was finished.
What striked me about Krios was how clear the water was. One could be 100m from the coast and 10metres + above the ocean floor and see the rocks beneath with perfection.
- Elafonissos was paradise. It had everything: Sand, pebbles, an island with a small memorial space, a lighthouse, nudists & vegetation.
Separating Crete from this island with the same name as the beach, was a 4 metre stretch of water at the narrowest part, but its depth here was 1.5m -- To walk 'dry' across to the island one would have to walk across around some 30 metres away, where the water was ankle-deep connecting the two land masses.
There were mini-beaches within Elafonissos, there were puddles and lagoon-like formations. The sea had plenty of space to swim yet there were rock-islands extending out to sea.


(I had to cut the report in two)

[Alex Ferreira]

Re: Paleohora

(continued...)


Paleohora:

This town of 2,500 habitants is apparently the only one in Crete that has tourism all-year around (according to locals), and easily doubles in size in the Summer. Paleohora is situated on a peninsula in SW Crete, pointing towards North Africa. This stretch of land can't be more than about 1km by 3km, and one can-walk at the shortest east-west distance of about 700m right through the centre of the town. On either side there's a beach, pebbles on one side and sand on the other. According to our german neighbours (most tourists come here from Germany and Austria) at the european-style motel (tallest building in Paleohora was 3 floors), there are never waves / wind on both sides of the island at the same time. Our neighbours first discovered the place 22 years ago and return every Summer.

The Paleohora we saw in the morning was difficult to recognize at night. There's little traffic during the day and family motorcycles are common, carrying 3 people at times. Streets are narrow and the main arteries could be any street, apart from having a few more shops. However after about 6pm, everything changes. Restaurants seem quiet during the day but invade the streets at night. Automobile access is completely restricted and the main streets become a patio stretch. Some restaurants go to the extreme of putting ALL their tables outdoors on the street. Some souvenir shops also put some displays out. I figured out the working schedule to be something like... 10am - 1pm and then 5pm - midnight, with bars and bakeries varying some. By the pebbles coast, where rocks separate the sea from the town, it's flooded with street vendors, music, and people walking along the shore. A huge contrast from the deserted mornings when I jump off the rocks for a swim.
All in all it seems very families' friendly, as Paleohora still seems a bit too small to have nightclubs that would attract youngsters from other cities. Xania (or Chania) seems to be the place for that. Paleohora is definitely the place to relax.


Crete:

We didn't have the opportunity to explore Xania or Rethymno due to a very tight schedule, but spent a day in Iraklion, the island's capital, and even took a couple of hours to see the palace of Knossos. On our bus ride between Paleohora - Xania - Rethymno - Iraklion, it became clear that the northern coast is incomparably more populated than the south. From the bus, Rethymno looked worth visiting. For some reason as we entered Iraklion at night, it reminded me of Miami, with its wide avenue by the shore and lines of palm trees. However, instead of modern mansions, Iraklion was decorated with well-preserved venetian ruins, rich in architecture. During the day, we followed flea markets in the narrowest of streets through the city, which is (at least in part) on a hill. The palace of Knossos was interesting but not particularly impressive, perhaps my expectations were too high. The guided tour does not teach anymore than you can read in plaques or in advance before visiting.
In Crete, people were friendly and most spoke enough English. Trying to learn only a few Greek words was a difficult and rough experience. On another note, if a group of scientists decides to get together and create / clone the perfect supermodel, I recommend the use of some genetic code from this island.


Expenses:

Sure, it wasn't cheap for someone going from Canada who is weak at chess. But it really wasn't so bad. Here are the mains (not including Portugal):
- Euro is about $1.3 to $1.4
- I did a triangle, so I spent more money than a round-trip from here
- $420 Toronto-Athens, $311 Athens-Lisbon (stop-over Rome), $704 Lisbon-Toronto (stop-over Ponta Delgada, Azores)--- not bad at all in high season
- 48 euros / night for hotel in Paleohora, 24 per person = 192E = $270 for the 8 days
- 19 euro ferry ride to and out of Crete
- We got ripped off (got ourselves to blame) and ended up at a luxury hotel in Iraklion that one day, but 70 euros is a reasonable price for city rates
- Food: true that at a coast-line patio you pay about 10 euros per meal (comparable to a modest meal in Toronto, minus the patio), but you can eat healthily and well for 3-5 euros a meal easily


Random Observations on my trip to Greece:

- Bakeries: aawww man! Some of the best stuff we don't even have here on Danforth (Greek community in Toronto).
- Bottled water prices seem to be government controlled. The same bottle costs 1 euro / 1.5L in the supermarket, at the beach or at a restaurant. Same seems to be for base ferry ride tickets (on deck), regardless of the luxury of the boat.
- Traveling on deck through the night on this 9-hour trip from the mainland to Crete is the way to do it. You get the full atmosphere. While exploring the 10-deck ferry, parts looked like a luxury ship of refugees, as regulars bring their sleeping bags and just pass out. Others play all kinds of games on-deck.
- BackGammon, a game I rarelly see played in Portugal or Canada, and when I see it's done by older gentlemen, is alive and well in Greece. It seems to be everyone's board game choice, including the younger generation's.
- At the Acropolis, an interesting tour for the blind, with about 20-25 people
- 10 metres away from a main artery in Athens, out in the open, an addict pumping it in the vein
- A couple of guys couldn't get enough chess at the tournament and would bring a chess board to every beach excursion, one of them finishing with 7.0 (the secret to success perhaps...)
- Found this site - http://www.e-radio.gr/ - while at a netcafe in Paleohora. Why don't we have something like this?
- Four waiters at a restautant in Paleohora, shamelessly hitting on the Mamedjarova sisters who were sitting at the next table
- Cats in Paleohora are a different species, in behavior if nothing else. They're everywhere, free but not stray, minimum one per household. Out on the streets, they are peaceful animals with egos: they don't meow, purr or brush up against us, let alone beg for food. Occasionally we find one sitting beside our dinner table on the floor, looking away...
- At the foot of the hill to the Acropolis, possibly the best gelato I've ever had, at "Mattonella Gelataria Pasticceria"
- Sea water in Crete seems to be an awesome 22-24 degrees and I didn't detect an ocean current, even when there were waves
- It never rains in the Summer
- Everybody smokes and drinks, anywhere


Alex Ferreira

[Hans Jung]

Re: Paleohora

Thanks Alex for the great report. Definitely worth a visit. I think soon enough I am going to start attending these European Swisses. Spain is another excellent place to play. Many tournaments with at least 10 GMs and many IM's and an entry fee of from $40 to $60 Canadian dollars (30 to 50 Euros)! and the tournaments are all excellently run with as you say many free side benefits for participants.