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World Chess Championships 1999

"Vegas Views"

by Hanon W. Russell

 

It has been nine years since the United States hosted a world chess championship. The first half of the Kasparov-Karpov 1990 title bout took place in New York City. This year, at the end of July, the world championship tournament began in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Las Vegas may be one of the most unique - some would even say bizarre - cities in the world. It was nothing more than a two-horse town until the early 1930s, when it became a regular stop on railroad routes. Then in the 1950s gambling came to town, with glitz, razzle dazzle and hype like the world had never seen. The casinos resemble opulent palaces and world-renowned entertainment is available nightly. The city is always bustling and traffic jams at 2 a.m. are not uncommon.

Given the possibilities, expectations were high for the second knock-out format world championship tournament that began July 29. Even before it got underway, however, it was clear that things might not go according to Hoyle...

The last championship tournament had been held in Holland, except for the finals, which had taken place in Switzerland. At that time, in January 1998, a fatigued Anand had lost a close match to Karpov. The venue for this year's tournament was the famous Caesars Palace, second to none in extravagance - or, in some people's opinion, bad taste. Hans Ree's latest column describes the scene quite well.

Caesars Palace is located on Las Vegas Boulevard, which is known simply as "The Strip". Flanked on one side by Vegas' newest hotel, the Bellagio, and on the other by the Mirage, it occupies a prominent, high-profile spot on The Strip. It had been the Bellagio, with its stunning hourly waterworks, that had been the original hotel of choice for this tournament, but schedule changes required the move to Caesars.

Anyone trying to find the tournament is faced with the first challenge. There is little mention of it anywhere in the hotel. We could only find two small signs pointing us in the right direction. When the tournament hall, the Emperor's Ballroom, was finally located, it was something of a surprise. For the finals, a room seating approximately 50-75 and a small stage for the playing area were the basic accommodations for the match. A far cry from the setting we remember when the two Ks did battle in New York in front of packed crowds in a full Broadway theater.

Each spectator that tendered the $10 admission was given a tournament program. And there, on the front cover, was an artistically altered photograph of - another hotel! The newly opened New York, New York, a competitor of Caesars Palace and an hotel that had absolutely no connection with the tournament, appeared in all its glory. It is reported that when the management of Caesars Palace saw what had happened, it threatened to cancel the tournament. Unbelievable

This publicity gaffe seemed to set the stage for the organization of the tournament. Conflicts and misunderstandings with the hotel convention department were commonplace. Regular confusion with the room set-ups, work assignments and support were overcome, if at all, only through the extra efforts of certain dedicated individuals such as Geurt Gijssen, the tournament's Chief Arbiter (and Chess Cafe columnist) and Tim Hanke in the Press Room.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, there was chess to be played. And some exciting chess there was indeed. By the time the finals arrived, all the pre-tournament favorites had been eliminated. The title match shaped up between Armenian Vladimir Akopian and Russian Alexander Khalifman. The interested reader may refer to other sources for the games themselves. In their first game, Akopian essayed an unsound piece sacrifice, Khalifman accepted, consolidated and eventually brought home the full point.

Akopian had won the right to have white in the first game at the drawing of lots held the evening before the first round. The first game was preceded by a very quick, informal opening ceremony. It was most surprising that the U.S. Chess Federation failed to have any representative at either the drawing of lots or the opening ceremony. With the exception of a badly creased banner hung high to one side of the playing area and some fluff (an overview of the history of chess in the U.S. fails to make any mention of Paul Morphy) in the tournament program, there was hardly any evidence of USCF support or participation. Although it was reliably reported to us that the USCF had received upwards of $60,000 for promotion and publicity (e.g., the press room and its facilities) it is hard to see where that kind of money could have gone. The hard working crew in the press room had been compelled to buy basic office supplies with their own funds - not all of which had yet to be reimbursed - and, as of August 22, some had not even received any payment for their work at all, despite having been on the job since the end of July.

When all is said and done, however, there can be no doubt that this has been world class tournament, if only by virtue of the strength of the competition. Of all who could be considered in the world's elite, only Kasparov, Karpov and Anand were missing from the players' ranks. This made it all the more surprising to see only about two dozen spectators at the first game of the finals. Perhaps it was the $10 admission, the lack of a coherent promotional and publicity plan or the fact that this one just one of the best kept secrets at Caesars Palace - or anywhere else. Judit Polgar reportedly commented when she was at the tournament that Las Vegas was not good for chess and that chess was not good for Las Vegas. She may have been right...