The World Chess Grand Prix series will then go on to Moscow for the Russian Grand Prix, Bangalore or Bombay in July, Croatia in August and finally Rio de Janeiro in September. Each part of the Grand Prix has an opening ceremony and a total of five play days finishing with a closing ceremony. A total of 32 players have qualified to play in each of the Grand Prix tournaments and were selected based on strict criteria.
The tournaments include many variations of chess, such as three-player chess, blind chess (in which you cannot see your opponent’s pieces) and speed chess. In speed chess, the clock is set for five minutes per side. Check is not called, but the first player to take the other player’s king, or declare the other player’s time to be expired, wins.
To help liven things up even further, Vari-Lite Europe is providing equipment for the whole tour including nine VL6 spot luminaires, eight ETC Source Fours, three Minuette fresnels and two Redheads, all run off an Avolites Pearl desk. The equipment has been specified by lighting cameraman Chris Dingley and is operated by Gerry Mott.
Vari-Lite Europe’s account manager Keith Duncan told us: "It was quite unusual being asked to provide equipment to the World Chess Grand Prix Series. A dramatic look was required to help build the tension but we also had to keep the amount of equipment down to make shipping manageable. I think that the design we settled on was very effective for its size, and created exactly the look the client was looking for."
(Lee Baldock)
