3rd World School Championships 2007

27 April - 6 May, Halkidiki, Greece

Prologue – by That Went Hum

The flight arrangements have caused consternation, but there is little anyone can do about it. So what if we land at 3:30am and arrive at the hotel at 5am? It just means that the grumpy ones will be grumpier than usual, and the rest of us really bitchy. That clinches it, no reports for the pre-tourney day, it will be all we can manage just to stay friends. Well, maybe friends is pushing it anyway… acquaintances? Perhaps we can at least remain on nodding terms. Come to think of it, there are some in the travelling party that I’ve never been introduced to, so officially I can’t even nod to them. Hopefully Partridge Tunneller will do the necessary before too much of the trip has passed...

Packing has been protracted. Siblings have made suggestions (tennis balls was a good one, a washing machine was not quite in the same class) and the rules for what can go in hand luggage and what goes in the hold has already reduced at least one chessmaster to a gibbering wreck. Does a sharp knight line in the King’s Indian qualify as a potential weapon, in which case it has to go in the hold? If it is played with magnetic pieces does that make a difference? Check-in is going to be fun!

But what is this all about? I hear you ask. Chess. Comprising 32 pieces on a 64 square board, the number of possible positions after just 2 moves by each player is, well, quite a lot. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, about 200,000. Or say 197,742. Which explains why NCO pushes your baggage weight over the 1st class allowance, never mind economy class. Put it another way: if you start with a grain of rice on the first square and then double the number on the second square, double it again on the third square, double it again etc then by halfway across the board you’d have bought every grain of rice in all your local supermarkets combined and by the last square you’d probably prefer a baked potato. Whilst chess is not often played with grains of rice, I rest my case. [Actually, the smallest chess board in the world is painted on a single grain of rice. The pieces are atomically machined grains of sand. No game on this board has lasted more than the first move due to the “touch a piece, move a piece” rule – ed] And perhaps this explains why so many chess openings have foreign names: imagine 2 billion variations of the Four Knights opening after just 8 moves! It could be confusing, couldn’t it, unless you give each one a unique and memorable name, such as “Capablanca” (Here’s looking at you, kid)!

Stop press: first pedantic txt msgs have arrived already, mainly from My Own Player: okay, so technically there is no such thing as a Capablanca arising from the Four Knights Opening, but when have I ever let mere facts get in the way of a good story?

So chess is our particular vice, and this time the tournament is the 3rd World Schools Chess Championship in Halkidiki, Greece. Nearly 400 boys and girls, from as young as under 7 and up to under 17, from over 25 countries around the world, congregate in this delightful venue on the Kassandra peninsula to play 9 rounds of chess over 8 days, starting Saturday 28 April and ending with the final round at 10am (local time) on Saturday 5 May. The intrepid party from England, led again by Partridge Tunneller, comprises 12 players, 3 coaches, 1 reporter and assorted hangers on. The proud England players, for the record, are:

As for the coaches, I cannot yet reveal their names: I do not have permission under our Freedom Act for Revealing Trails, or the PCC and the Data Protection Act, nor have I got everyone’s NDA. Hopefully to be sorted out (however grumpily) in Gatwick, but rest assured you will be amongst the first I will tell. [He is ever hopeful that someone is actually reading this drivel. Don’t worry though, I have rigged up some automated txt msgs of encouragement to recreate that impression for him once he is actually in Greece – ed]. In the meantime, I believe I can provide the following clues: Calm Dandelion, Mad Haunt and Meander Sloth…

And so to Greece, land of … the Greeks. And viaducts. Or perhaps that was the Romans. Okay then, retsina and olives, love ‘em! See you there, ttfn!!

And now, introducing a brand new feature:

******** Great Chess Moments from History ********

And finally, Kids Korner!

Q: What’s the difference between a Grandmaster and a 12 inch pizza?
A: The pizza can feed a family of four…