World Chess Championship to Be Played at South Street Seaport
Defending champion Magnus Carlsen will take on challenger Sergey Karjakin in November
After an exhaustive eight-month search, the organizers of the World Chess Championship have settled on a location for the title match of the tournament’s 2016 edition, which is scheduled to be played on American soil for the first time in 21 years.
From Nov. 11 to Nov. 30, defending champion Magnus Carlsen and challenger Sergey Karjakin will play the best-of-12 series at the South Street Seaport, The Wall Street Journal learned Monday.
Other Manhattan venues were considered, including one in Midtown, but match organizers ultimately chose South Street Seaport because of its foot traffic and commercial infrastructure, according to Ilya Merenzon, the CEO of Agon, the commercial partner of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and organizer of the event. Merenzon said he wants to make the site on the lower East side of Manhattan “the most visited chess destination in history.” To make that happen, he is promising various immersive attractions for fans to help make chess a “spectator sport.”
Full article here: http://www.wsj.com/articles/world-chess-championship-to-be-played-at-south-street-seaport-1470715206
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