As Colin said, four draws by really strong players. I mentioned short draws earlier, but none of these were that, it seems that the players matched up really well in terms of maintaining equality, though the human side came through as I watched four of them struggle in time trouble like mere mortals.
I was there from the start today, and jotted down a few thoughts, some of which I'm going to post here. Part of the reason I wrote about my impressions of the venue and the opening moments and the first round is because cameras, mobile phones, and other electronic equipment are not allowed in the playing hall. So I was forced to actually observe and watch, rather than being lazy and taking photos!
I did end up with seven pages of notebook scribbles, so I'll try and shorten it a bit here. Some bits may be useful to those travelling to the venue later in the event.
Travelling by train, I took the scenic route from London Waterloo, a 10-minute walk across the Thames over Waterloo Bridge (the road bridge). The playing venue, the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) in Savoy Place is right beside the north bank end of the bridge, on the left, down steps and across a road. I arrived around 10 minutes before the round was due to start (2pm), and took pictures of the outside and of the Michael Faraday statue, doing my best to ignore the fact that Vladimir Kramnik was walking past at just that moment. These would turn out to be the only photos I took that day, as inside I was told that cameras and mobile phones and bags had to be deposited in the cloakroom.
I then collected my ticket from the tournament shop (just behind the main reception) and proceeded to the playing hall, the room called the Lecture Theatre. Both this hall and the commentary room are on the ground floor, all very close together. The security for the playing hall is airport-style, with a walk-through gate scanner and handheld scanners used to check those entering the playing hall. The room itself is surprisingly intimate, with about 300 seats arranged in a U-shape around a central area where the four chess tables and boards are located on the same level as the seating (i.e. not up on a stage). It is also relatively dimly lit, with each board having its own overhead light, making for a more serious atmosphere compared to other events I've attended. This is understandable, given that this is part of the World Championship Cycle.
When I entered, a few minutes before play started, the central area was bustling and full of press, dignitaries, and tournament officials, all circling around the players who were seated at the boards. I took my seat (you can sit anywhere within the seating area) and took the opportunity to gaze around the room. The audience was a mix of the paying public, guests, presumably friends and family of the players, and journalists, though many of the latter later went off to the press room. The arbiters included David Sedgwick, and there seemed to be one arbiter for each game. There were just over 100 people in the audience, with a capacity of around 300, so around one-third full. Large event posters at the front of the room were either side of the central display screen that shows the positions in each game. The ceiling had an intriguing display, presumably some engineering diagram/artwork, and gravitas was provided by portraits around the room of eminent engineers.
All attention soon turned though to the contest that was about to get underway. Small cameras trained on the boards relayed the view of the players to the watching worldwide audience, with other cameras on the upper balconies. In the front left corner, technical staff kept things under control. The arrangement of the boards meant that depending on where you chose to sit, you saw different angles of each board. To see all four boards, sitting in the middle section is best. AGON, FIDE, SOCAR, and Samsung logos were present. The players were identified by cards below and on the sides of the tables, emblazoned with name and country flags.
Those at the opening were a mix of chess journalists and photographers. The opening round was started by someone who I did not recognise, but who was presumably the Chief Arbiter.[1] Kirsan Ilyumzhinov (FIDE President) and someone else whose name I didn't catch (possibly a SOCAR representative)[2] made the first moves in Radjabov's game. There was a slightly awkward moment when it seemed there was some confusion over a name, and there was a chuckle from the audience.[3] That chuckle seemed to pick up on the underlying tension, as the players seemed to be more on edge here than at other events, understandable considering what is at stake. All the players were formally attired, with suits and blazers and some wearing ties as well. The body language was fascinating to watch, both at the board and while they strolled around the central area between moves.
One annoying quirk was that the display used lagged noticeably behind the players' moves. This wasn't too bad in the sedate phases of play, but during the two time trouble scrambles later it became difficult to follow what was actually happening in the game, and rather frustrating. Returning to the start of the games, after one hour's play, there were no obvious advantages on any boards. Some in the audience were beginning to doze off. Just after 3pm, moves 12, 11, 13 and 13 had been made for Black on each board. In the Svidler-Kramnik game, the queens and a pair of knights had been traded, while all the other games still had lots of material on the boards.
At this point, I decided to go to the commentary room. Inside, there was an interesting set up, more as a social and gathering point than an audience for commentary. Chairs were around the side of the room, with nine tables and chess sets in the centre of the room for people to play chess while standing and partaking of the refreshments that were on sale. The commentators in action at the time were Lawrence Trent and Malcolm Pein. Around 15 people were there, with those online and in the audience also listening. These headphones came with the tablet computers to be found in the playing hall. There were not enough of these tablet computers for all the spectators, so it appears to be a case of getting there early enough and sitting in the right place. The tablet computers provided analysis in the form of 'advantage bars' (the same Chess Casting output was available online, I think), and video broadcasts and commentary. There was also a 'crowdsourcing analysis' option where you could analyse with (presumably) other audience members, though I'm not sure how popular this was. No sign of the 'eye-following' technology, which was a disappointment to me personally as I had been looking forward to that.
Back with the games, it was by now clear that Aronian-Carlsen was heading swiftly for a very symmetrical draw. At this point I discovered that re-entering the playing hall involved another search, which could get tedious after a while, but again it is understandable given the prize being played for here. Svidler-Kramnik also ended in a draw, but the audience that waited until 6pm were treated to not one, but two time scrambles, with Ivanchuk making his last 6 moves in less than a minute. However, both games (Gelfand-Radjabov and Ivanchuk-Grischuk) were still drawn.
Having just read what David Blower posted about his thoughts on attending, I agree that this is not an 'autograph' type of tournament. It was probably a bit naive of me to say that earlier. It is clear that all the players are treating this very seriously (as you would expect), and the tension is palpable. I'm just enjoying having the chance to see them playing live. The commentary room was perhaps the most disappointing part of the day, though maybe I should spend more time there on another day. My visit ended with a short walk up to the Strand in light rain, to get a bus to Victoria to, funnily enough, a chess club!
[1] Werner Stubenvoll of Austria.
[2] The person accompanying the FIDE President was his assistant Berik Balgabaev, not a SOCAR representative as I had thought.
[3] The story behind this is related
here.
EDIT: With thanks to David Sedgwick for later additions and corrections.