A team which stays together, eats together and most importantly travels together for almost 40 hours in a bus, naturally gels together!
A team which stays together, eats together and most importantly travels together for almost 40 hours in a bus, naturally gels together!
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| Right to left: Radoslav Wojtazjek, Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Aruna Anand,u00a0 Viswanathan Anand, Hans Walter Schmitt, Rustam Kasiimdzhanov, Eric van Reem, Peter Heiine Nielsen. (Back row standing L to R) Christian Bossert and Mark Lefler |
The volcanic eruption in Iceland disrupted Team Anand's travel schedule but somehow brought the team which was scattered all over, together at Frankfurt before they embarked on an adventurous journey from Frankfurt to Sofia in a hired bus travelling for 2000 kms, across five countries in 40 hours.
Anand and Aruna's flight was cancelled at Frankfurt.
Anand's long time second Peter Heine Nielsen drove from Denmark to Hamburg and then took a train to Frankfurt.
Poland's Radoslav Wojtazjek took a train from Warsaw to Frankfurt and travelled 12 hours by train to Frankfurt.
Former World Chess Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov, is based in Germany and so didn't have a problem reaching Frankfurt. Surya Shekhar Ganguly fortunately caught the last flight from India to Frankfurt before the eruption. Nielsen, Kasimdzhanov, Wojtazjek and Ganguly were also Anand's seconds at Bonn (2008).
Hans Walter Schmidt, the organiser of the Mainz Chess Classic and here, the chief of Team Anand and Christian had flown to Sofia a day before Anand was stranded in Frankurt to prepare for Team Anand's arrival.
Eric van Reem, based in Germany is a chess writer and press officer of the Mainz Chess Classic. He is also a chief officer in Lufthansa and had the tickets and boarding passes ready for the team every time it looked like a flight would take off. It was he who hired the bus that arrived all the way from Amsterdam. Mark Lefler, a researcher based in Sofia, helped the team settle in Bulgaria.
