International Impressions – Part I

International Impressions – Part I
By International Arbiter Sevan Muradian

The 2010 World School Individual Chess Championships has been underway for the past 3 days in the beautiful city of Kayseri, Turkey. At this well executed event (more on this later), I have been fulfilling the role of Deputy Chief Arbiter for the Girls U7, U9, U11, U13, U15, and U17 sections. I was invited to this event back in May by the President of the Turkish Chess Federation (TCF), Mr. Ali Nihat Yazici, who is also running a campaign for the post of European Chess Federation President.

I began my trip in my hometown of Chicago, IL on Monday evening with a late night flight to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines. I met a local Chicago family who spends the summers in Istanbul with one set of the grandparents so the children can experience their Turkish heritage. When they asked me why I was going and I told them about the chess tournament they were jazzed about it and I informed them of the great Chicago chess community that exists and how it would be great to get their girls involved.

Now this was my first trip to Turkey and the first time on Turkish Airlines but I have to say, of any of the trans-Atlantic flights I’ve been on with a variety of different airlines, they can all learn a lot about customer service and how to provide a fantastic customer experience from Turkish Airlines. During my flight I was able to catch up on a couple of movies that I had missed out on during the past few months, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Ninja Assassin (2 thumbs up for Percy Jackson, 2 thumbs down for Ninja Assassin).

I reached Istanbul in the afternoon (Turkish time) and had to get through Passport Security quickly as there was only 90 minutes between flight times. Luckily I had received my Turkish visa in Chicago and didn’t have to stand in line to get an on-ground visa which Turkey allows. The line for Passport Security was massive as Istanbul is a popular travel destination from all corners of the globe but I got through it in only 25 minutes. My next flight to Kayseri was on-time for departure and very quickly I found myself waiting for my luggage and getting picked up by the shuttle service that the TCF had arranged. We were whisked away and in 15 minutes were at the Hilton Kayseri.

On the same evening as my arrival we had both the technical meeting which outlined all of the rules of the event to the different country delegation heads and also the arbiters meeting to go over assignments, introduce one another to the team, and get the layout of the venue. The event is not held at the Hilton Kayseri but instead is being held at the Kadir Has Spor Salonu, which will also play host to the 2010 FIBA World Championships a few days after the end of the World School Individual Chess Championships.

Here is the full article.