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I left the Dresden Olympiad expecting to be in Sofia on Thursday ,February 12. As it turned out the organizers were expecting me on the 15th, so I arrived a day early – leaving on Friday the 13th for good luck. The simplest flight plan involved a connection in Vienna with only a 2 hour stop there. Red Car airport service showed up ten minutes early again but I was ready, thanks to my wife Jo-Anne. (PS – Jo-Anne, I cannot send email yet, only receive. I will try calling you tonite (between 4-5 your time) to reacquire the webmail password – something we should add to our checklist for next time.)
The flight to Vienna was completely full. During check in at Pearson we were advised that any luggage exceeding 23kg was subject to a surcharge of $170, and no repacking was permitted. They offered a scale at one of the idle counters, so I was pleased to confirm that I was just under 40 lbs. Others were more frantic. It always amazes me how much people think they can take on a plane trip – both checked luggage and particularly the carry on. I guess it is human nature to test limits.
The seats in economy class were equipped with monitors and a remote handset. They offered games, music and movies. I tried their chess game on medium and mated it in 12 moves. I moved up to “hard and mated it in 12 moves with the same stupid variation. They had an option to play others on the plane, which I attempted several times without success. So I started coughing up my Queen to see if the games could capture my interest. Argh. Time would not pass, yet I aged.
I was met at the Sophia airport right on cue, at about 1pm local time. We FIDE dudes are staying at the Central Park Hotel which is directly across the road from the playing venue. Soon after I checked in I was invited to meet with the organizers at the playing hall for a preliminary inspection. Nothing was as it will be at show time but it was a useful orientation exercise. Soon after my return to the hotel , Chief Arbiter Ignatious Leong arrived. Mr. Leong’s flight itinerary was dreadful – a 12 hour flight from Singapore to Istanbul followed by a 12 hour lay over. This morning I invited him to join me for a meeting with Kamsky’s manager Emil Sutovsky at the venue. Emil is very thorough. He arrived on Feb. 12 and had already voiced a number of concerns before I arrived in Sofia. This morning’s meeting was quite productive. The official inspection will occur tonite upon the arrival of Deputy President Makropoulos and the rest of the FIDE entourage. Tomorrow we have the players meeting, press conference and opening ceremonies where the lots will be drawn. Feb 17 will feature the first round.
The flight to Vienna was completely full. During check in at Pearson we were advised that any luggage exceeding 23kg was subject to a surcharge of $170, and no repacking was permitted. They offered a scale at one of the idle counters, so I was pleased to confirm that I was just under 40 lbs. Others were more frantic. It always amazes me how much people think they can take on a plane trip – both checked luggage and particularly the carry on. I guess it is human nature to test limits.
The seats in economy class were equipped with monitors and a remote handset. They offered games, music and movies. I tried their chess game on medium and mated it in 12 moves. I moved up to “hard and mated it in 12 moves with the same stupid variation. They had an option to play others on the plane, which I attempted several times without success. So I started coughing up my Queen to see if the games could capture my interest. Argh. Time would not pass, yet I aged.
I was met at the Sophia airport right on cue, at about 1pm local time. We FIDE dudes are staying at the Central Park Hotel which is directly across the road from the playing venue. Soon after I checked in I was invited to meet with the organizers at the playing hall for a preliminary inspection. Nothing was as it will be at show time but it was a useful orientation exercise. Soon after my return to the hotel , Chief Arbiter Ignatious Leong arrived. Mr. Leong’s flight itinerary was dreadful – a 12 hour flight from Singapore to Istanbul followed by a 12 hour lay over. This morning I invited him to join me for a meeting with Kamsky’s manager Emil Sutovsky at the venue. Emil is very thorough. He arrived on Feb. 12 and had already voiced a number of concerns before I arrived in Sofia. This morning’s meeting was quite productive. The official inspection will occur tonite upon the arrival of Deputy President Makropoulos and the rest of the FIDE entourage. Tomorrow we have the players meeting, press conference and opening ceremonies where the lots will be drawn. Feb 17 will feature the first round.
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