Khanti Mansiysk Wins Olympiad 2010 Bid!
It was a hotly contested bidding. Each of the five cities vying for the Chess Olympiad 2010, namely Riga (Latvia), Poznan (Poland), Budva (Serbia and Montenegro), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Khanti Mansiysk (Russia) hosted cocktails and gave video presentations.
Khanty Mansiysk and Poznan both had exhibition booths for the duration of the Turin Olympiad, showcasing the attractions of their cities.
For the first time in a Chess Olympiad, Budva offered cash prizes for the winners if they won the bid. Khanty Mansiysk did likewise and more. Governor Alexander Filipenko packaged two FIDE World Cup tournaments in 2007 and 2009 as a run-up to their Olympiad if they won the bid.
In the first round of voting, Khanti Mansiysk led with 45 votes, Buenos Aires 39, Budva 36, Riga 13 and Poznan 12.
Then in the second round of voting, Khanti Mansiysk had 53 followed by Budva with 46 and Buenos Aires with 38. The final round saw Khanty Mansiysk garner 71 votes while Budva got 64 votes.
I have been to the last 2 Olympiads. Calvia was in a rather nasty holiday resort, but on a beautiful island, Turin (where I still am today), is a wonderful city to visit, and we have had a wonderful time here.
I also look forward to visiting Dresden in 2008.
I am hoping my initial impression of Khanti Mansiysk is wrong. I saw many pictures from the recent tournament there, and I can’t say I feel that enthusiastic about going there.
As a spectator, the area around the Olympiad is very important too. I was hoping for Tallin or Poznan to win, both interesting cities in their own right. It would also have been great to have an excuse to visit South America again.
I am very disappointed by this choice, I am not sure I want to visit one town in this area for a whole week, let alone two. I have been to Siberia in the past, so I do have an idea of what to expect.
To me, this is a great example of what to expect of FIDE in its current form.
I’m wondering how many countries will feel unsafe about sending players to Dresden. They always seem to hold events where some group or ethnicity is unsafe traveling to.
I don’t understand who is at risk in Dresden?
Dresden is a modern European city, and I would think the risk to any ethnic group there would be less than many other places.
Please tell me what problems you anticpate…