Olympiad begins today!

by kevinspraggettonchess · September 21, 2010

SPRAGGETT ON CHESS

[blip.tv http://blip.tv/play/hPUsgf6JQgI]

After a lot of preparation and hard work by enthusiastic local Khanty Mansiysk leaders , the participants of more than 150 countries–including Canada– are to start playing in the 39th Chess Olympiad tomorrow! There were internal security concerns about bringing in more than 2,000 foreigners to this small destination in Russia, and as a result the charter flights organized by FIDE from European destinations were randomly changed by the Russian security services until the final day. With Sochi 2014 just around the corner, and the hopes of bringing in the world of soccer in 2018, the Russian government does not want any embarrassements with lesser events.

In the end, however, everything went so smoothly that even those anticipating the worse were surprised. ”I am surprised with how smoothly everything has gone…” wrote Canadian representative Mark Bluvshtein on his new chess blog: http://markbluvshtein.wordpress.com/

It should be no surprise to anyone that Ilyumzhinov has guaranteed his re-election once more by this awesome spectacle!