Tension Mounts at World Champs: A Spectator’s Perspective

Photo Maria Yassakova courtesy Agon

We traveled from South Florida to New York City to visit the World Chess Championship underway at the Fulton Market Building in downtown Manhattan. Excitement overcame us as we waited in line for the first round with more than 200 other chess fans and professionals from around the world. We heard and saw Russian, Norwegian, French, Spanish, German, Chinese and English chess conversations and spectators from infant to 90+ years old all waiting for the same experience we hoped for. Media walked down the line asking questions and children played skittles games in the courtyard while they waited for the doors to open. The doors opened about 1:15pm and the line scrambled into the entry room where security checked our bags and scanned our tickets. We traveled up an escalator to the main floor of the event. To the left we found the Chess Shop, Café, and a reasonably large sitting area to play blitz games or analyze the World Championship games themselves. TVs speckled the venue with Judit Polgar already preparing herself for the day’s commentary. We then visited the “spectators” lounge areas where benches were set up for fans to watch live commentary or just relax while seeing Judit (through glass) doing the game analysis.

steve-meeting-judit

The main attraction was seeing the players themselves. We walked into a dark cave-like room to see an aquarium-type view of World Champion Magnus Carlsen and challenger Sergey Karjakin. We managed to find ourselves in the front of the room and though the one-way glass did hinder our view somewhat, it was incredible to be within 10 feet of the board the players would soon sit at for the majority of the next month. First the arbiters entered the room, then media, and finally the players. To our disappointment, the media piled in, in front of the spectators’ view; however we could still see famed actor Woody Harrelson make the ceremonial first move. The remainder of the day we enjoyed traveling between the different spaces and following the game. For Round 2 on Saturday we had the privilege of accessing the VIP Lounge. The lounge featured an open Vodka Bar, passed hors d’oeuvres prepared by a “Master Chef” contestant, comfortable furniture, a special viewing area of the players, and of course, a plethora of VIPs. We had the privilege of meeting many famous chess personalities including WIM Beatriz Marinello (FIDE Vice President); Dr. Frank Brady (writer of Profile of a Prodigy among other wonderful books); GM William Lombardy (former coach of Bobby Fischer); FM Sunil Weeramantry (chess professional and stepfather of Hikaru Nakamura); and of course, Team Magnus and Team Karjakin were in and out of their private rooms in the VIP area. Henrik Carlsen (Magnus’ father) and Ingrid Carlsen (Magnus’ sister), posed for pictures with fans and seemed very happy with the venue events of the day. The next two rounds saw continued excitement. Though the games themselves were long draws (combined 172 moves!), the atmosphere in the building was of pure excitement as we saw Magnus try to press for a win in both battles.

[pgn] [Event "World Chess Championship 2016"] [Site "New York"] [Date "2016.11.14"] [Round "?"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2857"] [BlackElo "2769"] [PlyCount "156"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re2 b6 11. Re1 Re8 12. Bf4 Rxe1 13. Qxe1 Qe7 14. Nc3 Bb7 15. Qxe7 Bxe7 16. a4 a6 17. g3 g5 18. Bxd6 Bxd6 19. Bg2 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 f5 21. Nd5 Kf7 22. Ne3 Kf6 23. Nc4 Bf8 24. Re1 Rd8 25. f4 gxf4 26. gxf4 b5 27. axb5 axb5 28. Ne3 c6 29. Kf3 Ra8 30. Rg1 Ra2 31. b3 c5 32. Rg8 Kf7 33. Rg2 cxd4 34. Nxf5 d3 35. cxd3 Ra1 36. Nd4 b4 37. Rg5 Rb1 38. Rf5+ Ke8 39. Rb5 Rf1+ 40. Ke4 Re1+ 41. Kf5 Rd1 42. Re5+ Kf7 43. Rd5 Rxd3 44. Rxd7+ Ke8 45. Rd5 Rh3 46. Re5+ Kf7 47. Re2 Bg7 48. Nc6 Rh5+ 49. Kg4 Rc5 50. Nd8+ Kg6 51. Ne6 h5+ 52. Kf3 Rc3+ 53. Ke4 Bf6 54. Re3 h4 55. h3 Rc1 56. Nf8+ Kf7 57. Nd7 Ke6 58. Nb6 Rd1 59. f5+ Kf7 60. Nc4 Rd4+ 61. Kf3 Bg5 62. Re4 Rd3+ 63. Kg4 Rg3+ 64. Kh5 Be7 65. Ne5+ Kf6 66. Ng4+ Kf7 67. Re6 Rxh3 68. Ne5+ Kg7 69. Rxe7+ Kf6 70. Nc6 Kxf5 71. Na5 Rh1 72. Rb7 Ra1 73. Rb5+ Kf4 74. Rxb4+ Kg3 75. Rg4+ Kf2 76. Nc4 h3 77. Rh4 Kg3 78. Rg4+ Kf2 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

[pgn] [Event "World Chess Championship 2016"] [Site "New York"] [Date "2016.11.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2769"] [BlackElo "2857"] [PlyCount "187"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3 Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. a3 Qd7 11. Nbd2 Rfe8 12. c3 Bf8 13. Nf1 h6 14. N3h2 d5 15. Qf3 Na5 16. Ba2 dxe4 17. dxe4 Nc4 18. Bxh6 Qc6 19. Bxc4 bxc4 20. Be3 Nxe4 21. Ng3 Nd6 22. Rad1 Rab8 23. Bc1 f6 24. Qxc6 Bxc6 25. Ng4 Rb5 26. f3 f5 27. Nf2 Be7 28. f4 Bh4 29. fxe5 Bxg3 30. exd6 Rxe1+ 31. Rxe1 cxd6 32. Rd1 Kf7 33. Rd4 Re5 34. Kf1 Rd5 35. Rxd5 Bxd5 36. Bg5 Kg6 37. h4 Kh5 38. Nh3 Bf7 39. Be7 Bxh4 40. Bxd6 Bd8 41. Ke2 g5 42. Nf2 Kg6 43. g4 Bb6 44. Be5 a5 45. Nd1 f4 46. Bd4 Bc7 47. Nf2 Be6 48. Kf3 Bd5+ 49. Ke2 Bg2 50. Kd2 Kf7 51. Kc2 Bd5 52. Kd2 Bd8 53. Kc2 Ke6 54. Kd2 Kd7 55. Kc2 Kc6 56. Kd2 Kb5 57. Kc1 Ka4 58. Kc2 Bf7 59. Kc1 Bg6 60. Kd2 Kb3 61. Kc1 Bd3 62. Nh3 Ka2 63. Bc5 Be2 64. Nf2 Bf3 65. Kc2 Bc6 66. Bd4 Bd7 67. Bc5 Bc7 68. Bd4 Be6 69. Bc5 f3 70. Be3 Bd7 71. Kc1 Bc8 72. Kc2 Bd7 73. Kc1 Bf4 74. Bxf4 gxf4 75. Kc2 Be6 76. Kc1 Bc8 77. Kc2 Be6 78. Kc1 Kb3 79. Kb1 Ka4 80. Kc2 Kb5 81. Kd2 Kc6 82. Ke1 Kd5 83. Kf1 Ke5 84. Kg1 Kf6 85. Ne4+ Kg6 86. Kf2 Bxg4 87. Nd2 Be6 88. Kxf3 Kf5 89. a4 Bd5+ 90. Kf2 Kg4 91. Nf1 Kg5 92. Nd2 Kf5 93. Ke2 Kg4 94. Kf2 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

Honestly impressive defense. Not every day that Carlsen fails to win 2 clearly better positions in a row #CarlsenKarjakin
— Fabiano Caruana (@FabianoCaruana) November 16, 2016