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The Ciudad de Linares-Morelia International Chess Tournament, as it is officially called, started on Friday with a spectacular opening ceremony. This was held in the Teatro Ocampo, just a stone's throw away from the playing venue and the players's hotel (everything is just a stone's throw away in the center of this town).
20:00h: crowds start entering the theatre for the opening ceremony...
... with a line streching all the way down the street
The theatre is packed, with every last place taken
It is very moving to see the number of people who crowd to attend the ceremony, and to experience the incredible enthusiasm they display for the game and its players.
Players in the theatre. Front: Sylvio Danialov (Topalov's manager), Ivan Cheparinov
(Topalov's second), Vladimir Potkin (Aronian's second). Back row: Peter Leko,
Peter Svidler, Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Etienne Bacrot and Teimour Radjabov.
Leko, Svidler, Topalov, Aronian, Bacrot, Radjabov, Francisco Vallejo
Vassily Ivanchuk and his wife
Photographers and fans mob the players in the theatre
Before the start of the festivities photographers and fans surrounded the players, took hundreds of pictures, chatted with them, asked for autographs and dedications in chess books they had brought with them. The press too was out in force, with half a dozen professional TV teams and a score of serious photographers.
The ceremony can begin...
A mexican band with guitarres, base, brass and violins
Music and dance, Mexican style
Fascinating costumes and masks
The white queen (we assume)
And the awe-inspiring king
The drawing of colours: Etienne Bacrot gets the number three
The players lined up after the drawings
... and together with the organisers and dignitaries for a group photo.
Just the players lined up for a group portrait: Ivanchuk, Svidler, Leko,
Vallejo, Topalov, Radjabov, Aronian and Bacrot.
What followed at the end of the opening ceremony had to be seen to be believed. Hundreds of fans crowded outside the theatre, waiting for the participants to emerge. There was loud cheering as each chess star was recognised. The more patient of the grandmasters spent half an hour giving autographs and posing for private pictures with chess enthusiasts.
The crowd waiting at the entrance for the players to emerge
They are simply mobbed by the fans. We have marked three players with red dots:
Francisco Vallejo, Peter Leko and Etienne Bacrot.
Leko and Vallejo struggling in a sea of fans
This is how they treat a chess star like Paco Vallejo in this country
Posing for a photo with some really nice Mexican fans
A final reception given by the Mayor in the ayuntamiento (town hall)
Report and photos: Frederic Friedel
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