Welcome to Budapest! Many reunions
By Vlad Ghita
After a 4 hour trip by train, I arrived in Budapest. Smooth check-in at the apartment, a copious lunch, and lots of walking…
Being a first-time journalist at the Chess Olympiad has its perks, but also its growing pains. First of all, I went into the wrong building for obtaining my accreditation badge. Instead of writing about chess today, I could have told you everything about the draw Hungary 0-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina. How does one make such a rookie mistake? Well, the Ferenc Puskas stadium is next to the playing hall of the Chess Olympiad, and for someone who is running low on sleep, following arrows and signs is a task more difficult than remembering lines from a Lifetime Repertoire.
In any case, mission accomplished, got the badge. The grand Opening Ceremony was set to begin in a bit over an hour and a half, on the other side of Budapest. How to get there on time, while still returning to the apartment for an outfit change? Some of the organizational flaws have been well-documented across social media, with Ivan Sokolov (team captain of Romania) giving a particularly egregious example of being overcharged by the hotel. Relying on organizer-supplied logistics, such as buses departing from the official hotels at 5 pm seemed risky, so I decided to rely on Google Maps. Thankfully, this step was easy enough, especially since I was quite familiar with the area. Nearby Hotel Bara and the ALDI supermarket have been mainstays of my yearly Hungarian chess excursion between 2021 and 2023, where by my account a grand total of +160 Elo was “farmed” across 4 events.
See: Chess Olympiad board pairings round 1 / Women Chess Olympiad board pairings round 1
Many reunions
“Fake it till you make it”
“Act like you’ve been there before”
Except…I have not, and this a dream come true. ‘Many reunions’ is the motto of the Opening Ceremony through my eyes. Right off the bat, I cordially greet GM Gergely Szabo (team captain and coach of Romania women’s) and WIM Miruna Lehaci (board 4 player). Then I exchange some friendly remarks with several of the arbiters present at the Opening Ceremony, and move on to catch up with two members of team Moldova. Fiona Steil-Antoni sits in front of me and waves enthusiastically to David Howell, situated on the far side of the right bleachers. People who had not seen each other for a while enthusiastically bond together in an atmosphere of anticipation. The energy is palpable, and I am glad to be a part of it.
The MCs arrive on the stage, but quickly depart to leave room for the speeches. First, a local politician talks about the history of Hungary’s involvement with chess and is received with lukewarm applause. Then, a musical moment, where the combination of piano and voice transports chess players into a world where the stress of losing the decisive game for your team is not going to lead to the overnight appearance of yet another 100 gray hairs, seemingly out of nowhere.
Then, Arkady Dvorkovich comes to the podium and opens by challenging the MCs assessment that one has to be “born to play chess”, insisting on its social benefits and inclusion. Dvorkovich, if not dubiously associated to the current Russian regime, could even pass as a good ambassador for the game of chess. Sadly, his ties to the Skolkovo Foundation and Dmitry Medvedev will forever taint his legacy.
More alarmingly, after campaigning for a two-term maximum limit as the FIDE President, he has walked back on his pledge, losing a lot of credibility in the face of delegates who don’t depend on FIDE’s financial support. It will be intriguing to watch what happens with the current exclusion of the Russian and Belarusian federations from sending teams to the Olympiad. The Kyrgyz Chess Federation has put up a motion that seeks to reinstate the two federations. Its proponent and federation president, Babur Tolbaev, is running for the Chairman position of the FIDE Ethics and Discipline Commission. This is the same exact commission that has publicly reprimanded Dvorkovich in a landmark decision earlier this year. The entire situation seems ironic, funny, and straight out of a Kafka novel.
Another few musical moments follow, with some players lighting up their smartphone flashlights to accompany the artists. Then, Judit Polgar enters the arena and completes the FIDE torch relay. Her sisters, Susan and Sofia, are invited to the stage alongside Chief Arbiter Ivan Syrovy to conduct the drawing of lots. Both pick black, so team USA in the open and team India in the women’s section will both start with black on their board 1.
Finally, the president of the Hungarian Chess Federation, Dr. Zoltan Polyanszky coins a quote that’s sure to stick. Wondering whether chess is art, sport, or science, he deftly quips:
“I went to the venue of the Olympiad and saw all those chess tables set there. I imagined that approximately 1,500 people would sit there in silence and full concentration, ready to give their all, and this was when I was convinced that chess is, in fact, a religion!”
The audience is clapping and tapping their feet on the rhythms of the premiere of Trojan War, the official song of the 45th Chess Olympiad performed by Rose May and Raul. The flag ceremony closes the book on the ceremony, with participants whistling and hollering when their flag is displayed on the big screen. This has been thoroughly enjoyable, but people are rushing to the exits to catch the bus that takes them back to their hotels. It’s dinner time, and then pairings for round 1.
Lots of teams remain unpaired, mostly due to visa refusals. In any case, round 1 is still under the guise of “many reunions” due to the lopsided affair that’s going to ease participants into the Olympic atmosphere. Games are on starting Sept 11th at 3 pm CEST. You can follow them right here on Chessdom!
More live (Open): Chess Olympiad 2024 live / Matches 1-26 live / Matches 26-50 live / Matches 51-75 live / Matches 75+ live / TCEC live / TCEC live 2
More live (Women): Matches 1-26 live / Matches 26-50 live / Matches 51-75 live / Matches 75+ live
More about Chess Olympaid 2024 : Participants open / Participants women / All news about Chess Olympiad 2024
This report from Budapest is brought to you by Vlad Ghita. Vlad is a chess player, coach, content creator, and chess promoter from Romania. Since 2020 he has been involved prominently in the chess world