The lobby of Hyatt Regency wore a deserted look on Monday, compared to the two previous days. Hardly surprising, as Monday was the first rest day of the World championship.
“Many people, including those staying with us, have been frequently coming to the lobby because of chess over the last two days,” says a receptionist at the lobby.
Spicing it up
Former women’s World champion Susan Polgar wears many hats. She gets considerable help from her husband Paul Truong for performing one of her many tasks, though.
He helps Susan run her Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) at the Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
“I had left chess when I was 17; Susan has brought me back into chess,” says Truong. “After marrying her, I’ve been helping her at SPICE, which has nine men Grandmasters, all trained by Susan.”
No hooligans here
The policeman looked rather relaxed, sitting in front of the ball room, the venue of the match, on Monday afternoon.
The last two days were hectic for the policemen in charge of the security. “There are 60 of us here for the championship,” he says. “Our duty is to control the crowd, both inside and outside the hall. But there have been no issues so far; the chess-watching public is well-behaved.”
Anand takes it easy
Unlike Magnus Carlsen, who had an active day at sports other than chess, Viswanathan Anand chose to spend a quiet day on Monday, the first free day of the championship.
He stayed indoors.
