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)
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)
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