The city of Hamburg is famous for the Alster, a tributary of the river Elbe, which flows directly through the city. The stream was dammed in 1190, originally to power a watermill. In 1235 a further dam was built for a second mill, which changed the form of the river to be like a lake. Today the Alster forms two artificial lakes which, together with the surrounding parks, serve as an important recreational area in the heart of the city.
The Hamburg Congress Center just before the start of the chess match
Every year for the last 51 years there has been a traditional chess tournament between schools located to the left and to the right of the Alster. It has now become the biggest tournament of its kind in the world. This year the match between the two sides was played on 1352 boards, with the students from the left of the river and lake winning by 680½ to 671½, a difference of just nine points! Here are some impressions from this mammoth event.
The biggest team championship in the world
Children of all ages take part in this incredible event
Triumph: the left side of the Alster beat the right by a score of 680.5 to 671.5
During the giant chess event there were a number of subsidiary activities, most notably Internet matches, carried out on the Playchess server, between schools in Hamburg and schools in other parts of the world.
TV watching: students of the Hamburg Genslerstrasse Elementary played against...
...students of the I. E. S. Duque de Rivas school in Madrid, Spain, who
won the match
While 2700 students played in the hall, this group played across continents
The students of the Hamburg Genslerstrasse Elementary also played against the students of the same age in Durban, South Africa. From there we have received the following charming photos and a short report by the initiator.
The Sharks: Nonjabulo Ndaba, Thube Cele, Sanele Hlongwane (pointing out
a tactical subtlety), Muqobi Sabelo (disagreeing with Sanele). Durban Eagles
in the back.
Work in progress: grandmasters under construction
The Eagles: Cebo Mkhize operating the mouse, wonders if material deficit
is overrated?
He recalls Andersson once sac'd two rooks, a bishop, and a queen and still won.
Prof Peter Dankelmann watching the Sharks
Peter Dankelmann, got his doctorate in mathematics (1993) from the Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen (RWTH Aachen University). His thesis was on "Mittlere Entfernung in Graphen" or "Average distance in graphs". Peter is an expert at chess, and President of the Durban Chess Club, former club champion and former provincial champion. He currently lectures mathematics at the University of Kwazulu-Natal. While Peter hails from Germany, he was supporting both the Eagles and the Sharks all the way!
Desmond Rooplal, team manager and match coordinator watches the Sharks
Durban Metro Chess Academy Vice Chairman Roopal speaks to reporter Sinegugu
Ndlovu about the advantages of chess in schools, also showing her ChessBase
articles on Will Smith and GM Maurice Ashley
Rooplal vs Dankelmann – Desmond was lucky Peter had to rush off to
lecture
The 2010 World Cup stadium under construction – cars on the road give
a perspective of its size
Stadium at the beginning of construction
Durban's new stadium three days ago
A helicopter view of Durban
University of Kwazulu-Natal, Westville campus, School
of Information Systems and Technology hosted the Durban teams, Eagles and
Sharks, in their computer labs with Apple iMacs
