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an Aris day at the WYCC
Hi again, as I'm settling into more of a routine now, it is time for another trip report! :)
I have finally settled into my third, and very likely final, hotel room for the duration of the stay. It is in a very new condo within 5 minutes walking distance of the playing hall, going by the moored yachts at the local marina, and then another 5 minutes walking distance to the main hotel, which is where we get our meals, meet people like the leaders of Team Canada, etc. The new paint smell has dissipated, and I have a decent cot, which is narrow, but thankfully has a thicker mattress than the one I had in the pullout bed I used in the second room I was in. As all meals are being provided, and as we are three youthful men who like the buffets, there is no use for the fridge, stove, etc. Therefore, I have taken over the kitchen, putting my clothes in the cupboards, etc! :)
The main bedroom with the best bed was given to Andreas, a young Greek IA acting as one of the deputy chief arbiters. This interesting man is so keen on his career as an International Arbiter, that he paid for Russian lessons for 4 years, and is acting as the Russian translator for the Greek Organizers/TDs. The third guy in the room is Ioannis, a young local arbiter, going for his FA title. He has the pullout bed in the living room, and we see a lot of each other, as he is my assistant for the Open U18 section, and we both attend the FA seminar, etc. He's a great arbiter buddy, and I'll cover our work more down below.
The food here is very pleasant for me! There are many unique Greek cooking tastes that I'm recalling from childhood, especially all of the various tomato flavours, like tomato-ed potatoes, mmmmmm, LOL! As I mentioned in a previous email, cheese is strikingly better since I arrived in Europe, and it is just phenomenal even at the buffets here. The even have this one creation, often beside the tzatziki, called tirosalata. In essence, it is a fresh creamy spread of multiple robust cheeses. It is so strong that it momentarily burns your mouth, but trust me on this one, it is one of humanity's great inventions, LOL! :)
The organization of this event is beyond anything I have ever experienced. Basically, they have leased the complete resort, every single hotel room, every building, all of the dedicated employees, etc. This makes it extraordinarily easier for everyone, and really adds to the experience. For example, you know that anyone you meet in the elevator is there for the chess tournament, so people find it easier to make small talk. There must also be savings in logistical expenses, like who is allowed to use the buffets. It is also impressive that even though the numbers swelled from an initial prediction of around 1000 to now almost 1500, everyone seems to have been accommodated, with two other playing areas, and extra lodging in the vicinity, like the condo I am in now.
I would put this hotel at 4.5 to 5 stars, but when you factor in the marina, it is obviously one of the most affluent spots in Greece. The locals tell me that it is the top resort in the country, and if the yachts are anything to go by, I believe it. Like seriously, these big boats are just awesome to walk by all the time! Also, there is a certain police presence here. They seem to be packing plastic lightweight Glocks, and they seem to be unduly good-looking, as if they were especially selected, like firemen who tour schools, LOL! I have only noticed one police woman amongst them, and she was wearing medium heels! All the locals also tell us how lucky we are, in that for the first time in many years, it rained for ten straight days we came, even leaking into the playing hall. However, it stopped just before the first national delegation arrived a few days ago, and it has been beautifully warm in the day, and refreshing at night.
My day consists of waking up before dawn when the last of my roommates comes back from partying, which so far, everyone is doing, and doing late! We get up for good around 8am, clean up for the day, hit the breakfast buffet, and make it to the FA seminar by 10am, which runs until at least 1pm. Then it is the lunch buffet, and Ioannis and I hit the playing hall by 3pm or so. I am the Main Arbiter for the Open (Boys) U18 section, and Ioannis is my Assistant Arbiter. The skill level of this top section is mind-boggling, in that over a third of the players are already FIDE titled: 5 Grandmasters, 12 International Masters, and 21 FIDE Masters! Ioannis and I work very well together, as we both like being precise, LOL! In our section, we start by checking that every young man is seated at exactly the right seat. That might sound unnecessary, but with so many languages here, some of the lads talk little before the game, and we already found a mixup before a round started, which is much better than an hour into the round! Every half-hour, for all the sections, the arbiters log the remaining times and moves played at each board, which are up to 54 in our section, as it is up to 109 players. Again, this might seem like overkill, as it takes a good 10-15 minutes each half-hour, but wouldn't you know it, some clocks have had sudden heart attacks, and the time logs saved us! In our section, after 60 or 90 minutes, I do some quick math to check that all of the clocks seem to be running at a decent speed. There should very rarely be such an issue with digital clocks, but wouldn't you know it, one clock was running weirdly slow, and we caught it in the 1st round! The round ends by 10pm, so we grab dinner then, as the supper buffet is open much later than in North America. Then a handful of us start our 2nd job, which is entering game scores for the daily tournament bulletin, which takes me to 3am-5am, varying wildly, unfortunately! On the other hand, it has kept me from unduly partying so far, LOL! The double-round day will be tough! So that pretty well summarizes a regular day of mine. It is crazy busy, but really such a rush! :)
Finally, as I was falling asleep early this morning, there was more evidence that more animals are gathering. This was hauntingly beautiful, but it might have spooked some tourists. I have no idea what sparked it, but a few hours before dawn, many wild cats started howling simultaneously. It is nothing like dogs or wolves howling. The closest thing I can think of would high-treble low-bass bagpipes, LOL! For people like me who love that sound, it soothed me! ;)
I have finally settled into my third, and very likely final, hotel room for the duration of the stay. It is in a very new condo within 5 minutes walking distance of the playing hall, going by the moored yachts at the local marina, and then another 5 minutes walking distance to the main hotel, which is where we get our meals, meet people like the leaders of Team Canada, etc. The new paint smell has dissipated, and I have a decent cot, which is narrow, but thankfully has a thicker mattress than the one I had in the pullout bed I used in the second room I was in. As all meals are being provided, and as we are three youthful men who like the buffets, there is no use for the fridge, stove, etc. Therefore, I have taken over the kitchen, putting my clothes in the cupboards, etc! :)
The main bedroom with the best bed was given to Andreas, a young Greek IA acting as one of the deputy chief arbiters. This interesting man is so keen on his career as an International Arbiter, that he paid for Russian lessons for 4 years, and is acting as the Russian translator for the Greek Organizers/TDs. The third guy in the room is Ioannis, a young local arbiter, going for his FA title. He has the pullout bed in the living room, and we see a lot of each other, as he is my assistant for the Open U18 section, and we both attend the FA seminar, etc. He's a great arbiter buddy, and I'll cover our work more down below.
The food here is very pleasant for me! There are many unique Greek cooking tastes that I'm recalling from childhood, especially all of the various tomato flavours, like tomato-ed potatoes, mmmmmm, LOL! As I mentioned in a previous email, cheese is strikingly better since I arrived in Europe, and it is just phenomenal even at the buffets here. The even have this one creation, often beside the tzatziki, called tirosalata. In essence, it is a fresh creamy spread of multiple robust cheeses. It is so strong that it momentarily burns your mouth, but trust me on this one, it is one of humanity's great inventions, LOL! :)
The organization of this event is beyond anything I have ever experienced. Basically, they have leased the complete resort, every single hotel room, every building, all of the dedicated employees, etc. This makes it extraordinarily easier for everyone, and really adds to the experience. For example, you know that anyone you meet in the elevator is there for the chess tournament, so people find it easier to make small talk. There must also be savings in logistical expenses, like who is allowed to use the buffets. It is also impressive that even though the numbers swelled from an initial prediction of around 1000 to now almost 1500, everyone seems to have been accommodated, with two other playing areas, and extra lodging in the vicinity, like the condo I am in now.
I would put this hotel at 4.5 to 5 stars, but when you factor in the marina, it is obviously one of the most affluent spots in Greece. The locals tell me that it is the top resort in the country, and if the yachts are anything to go by, I believe it. Like seriously, these big boats are just awesome to walk by all the time! Also, there is a certain police presence here. They seem to be packing plastic lightweight Glocks, and they seem to be unduly good-looking, as if they were especially selected, like firemen who tour schools, LOL! I have only noticed one police woman amongst them, and she was wearing medium heels! All the locals also tell us how lucky we are, in that for the first time in many years, it rained for ten straight days we came, even leaking into the playing hall. However, it stopped just before the first national delegation arrived a few days ago, and it has been beautifully warm in the day, and refreshing at night.
My day consists of waking up before dawn when the last of my roommates comes back from partying, which so far, everyone is doing, and doing late! We get up for good around 8am, clean up for the day, hit the breakfast buffet, and make it to the FA seminar by 10am, which runs until at least 1pm. Then it is the lunch buffet, and Ioannis and I hit the playing hall by 3pm or so. I am the Main Arbiter for the Open (Boys) U18 section, and Ioannis is my Assistant Arbiter. The skill level of this top section is mind-boggling, in that over a third of the players are already FIDE titled: 5 Grandmasters, 12 International Masters, and 21 FIDE Masters! Ioannis and I work very well together, as we both like being precise, LOL! In our section, we start by checking that every young man is seated at exactly the right seat. That might sound unnecessary, but with so many languages here, some of the lads talk little before the game, and we already found a mixup before a round started, which is much better than an hour into the round! Every half-hour, for all the sections, the arbiters log the remaining times and moves played at each board, which are up to 54 in our section, as it is up to 109 players. Again, this might seem like overkill, as it takes a good 10-15 minutes each half-hour, but wouldn't you know it, some clocks have had sudden heart attacks, and the time logs saved us! In our section, after 60 or 90 minutes, I do some quick math to check that all of the clocks seem to be running at a decent speed. There should very rarely be such an issue with digital clocks, but wouldn't you know it, one clock was running weirdly slow, and we caught it in the 1st round! The round ends by 10pm, so we grab dinner then, as the supper buffet is open much later than in North America. Then a handful of us start our 2nd job, which is entering game scores for the daily tournament bulletin, which takes me to 3am-5am, varying wildly, unfortunately! On the other hand, it has kept me from unduly partying so far, LOL! The double-round day will be tough! So that pretty well summarizes a regular day of mine. It is crazy busy, but really such a rush! :)
Finally, as I was falling asleep early this morning, there was more evidence that more animals are gathering. This was hauntingly beautiful, but it might have spooked some tourists. I have no idea what sparked it, but a few hours before dawn, many wild cats started howling simultaneously. It is nothing like dogs or wolves howling. The closest thing I can think of would high-treble low-bass bagpipes, LOL! For people like me who love that sound, it soothed me! ;)
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