GM Rogers on Hits and Misses at the Olympiad
By GM Ian Rogers
November 16, 2008
Dresden is a great place for a Chess Olympiad. Dresden is large enough to offer a wide variety of nightlife and small enough to make it seem as if the town has been overrun by chessplayers, with their large Olympiad identity cards swinging proudly from their necks.
Reminders of Dresden’s recent communist past as part of East Germany are everywhere – from the massive grey apartment blocks to the old man in Pragerstrasse waving a Soviet flag, hoping to chat with passers-by about the class struggle.
However these Dresden landmarks are as much relics as the glorious old buildings, which somehow survived the fire-bombing of the Second World War.
Nowadays Dresden is a very modern town, with a bustling city centre. The Dresden Convention Centre, where the Olympiad is being held, is just outside the centre – walking distance, though most teams staying in town arrive by tram.
Over the weekend the Convention Centre has been almost overrun by visitors, especially German and Czech fans – Prague is just a couple of hours from Dresden.
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I like his hair.