I had originally planned my summer to include the Continental Championship in Brazil (which begins in San Paulo on the 25th of this month), but with the swine flu spreading quickly in South America I decided to not take any risks and instead to stay in Europe. I contacted the Brazilian organizer, Darcy Lima (a friend of mine) and carefully explained my worries and made sure that no slight to the organization was felt.
Andorra is also known as the Principality of the Valleys of Andor, a small landlocked country in the Spanish Pyrenees. The principal language is Catalan, but everyone also speak French and Spanish (castellano).
Having just 84,000 inhabitants, Andorra is best known for its tax haven status and tourism. Andorra also has the world's highest life expectancy: 85 years. Curiously, 19,000 Portuguese live and work in Andorra!
Tradition holds that Charles the Great (Charlemagne) granted a charter to the Andorran people in return for fighting against the Moors. But it was only in 1278 that the principality gained a stable political form.
Yours truly
What to play? So far the tournament has not started for me: I have had 3 draws in a row! Today I must start winning!
My coffee mug strategically placed before the start of the game
Andorra is very international in every sense of the word, and the tournament brings together players from many countries. Here is a picture of some of my long-time friends. On the extreme right is Sabrina Vega, the current Champion of Spain (I played her the first time when she was just 10 years old, and I needed 80 moves to win!). Her sister Belinda is on the extreme left, sitting beside her father. Belinda is a master level player! The couple in between are family friends.
Here I am substituting the father!
The organizational team in Andorra is one of the most competent in Europe!
A bird's eye view of the playing hall from the entrance
5 minutes into the playing session. Not everyone has arrived yet. The tournament organizers have decided not to adopt the ridiculous FIDE rule about declaring the game forfeit if the players are not present at the start of the round.
My friend Artur Kogan (Israel, but living in Spain), who is one of the best trainers in the world, and is here in Andorra with his wife and child, as well as 10 students! Some of his pupils have more points than him!
Mr. Siebrecht, always in a good mood!
GM Damljanovic, the national team trainer of Serbia. A friend of mine. He arranged for me to play in the Vrsac tournament in 2006 and 2008
There are many females playing in this tournament, and they all play well!
GM Narcisso playing against Kogan's pupil Lisa Schut. The grandmaster was crushed! The round before he was also crushed by another female, Belinda Vega.
GM Karen Movsziszian, the only pupil of Kasparian to have become a grandmaster. Karen lives in Spain.
The playing hall before the game at the Hotel Sant Gothard
The official hotel also houses the players.
A photo of the hotel amid the mountains. No wonder the life expectancy is so high...
The hotel pool, right beside the playing hall
Part of the Indian delegation. The woman on the right was my first round opponent, Anuprita.
We are surrounded by mountains.
On Sunday morning an open air blitz tournament was organized in Andorra La Vella (the capital)
The mountains dwarf everything.
The Angolan team: Alex Nascimento and Alberto Manuel. I know Alex from 1989 when I visited Angola with my wife.
The Portuguese Team
Sopiko Guramishvili
Sophie Lam
Nascimento deep in thought
Belinda Vega
Veronika Schneider. Not only are all the female players very pretty, but they are also very strong players!
The female Champion of Spain, Sabrina Vega
