Mar del Plata 2012 : A midnight football mob

7th Continental Chess Tournament / Mar del Plata 2012 Tourney type: Eleven-round swiss open Time control: 90 minutes for 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game and a 30 second increment as of move one. Location: Mar del Plata, Argentina Dates: October 12-21, 2012 Prizes: 1st - US$5000, 2nd - US$3400, 3rd - US$2400, 20 prizes in all, not including prizes per category. Special: Event is considered a world championship qualifier thus all norms earned are worth double.

Mar del Plata 2012 : A midnight football mob

Report and pictures by Albert Silver

The title might sound like hyperbole at its worst, but it is in fact quite accurate. It started with a classic game of football being organized by the players. In most events this takes place on a rest day, but with eleven rounds of non-stop action, there was no rest day to speak of, so they made do.

The teams are organized

The game was setup by the king of football nuts: Grandmaster Julio Granda Zuniga, and the time set was 10:30 PM. Since the games started at 4PM, and no one wanted to tire themselves before the matches, this was the only choice. Usually, this sort of informal affair is lightly attended, but it bears remembering this is South America, and here football is as much religion as it is sport. As a result, two fields were required to allow the 30-40 players who turned up.

And the game starts!

The action soon gets underway...

... where energy and legs go a long way.

This bore some consequences the next day, and I do not mean sore legs and bruised bodies. The football games, which had teams alternating every 20 mins or so, went on until roughly 2 AM! This is not an exagerration.

GM Krikor Mekhitarian (yellow) joined the second leg when the players first alternated teams

This is not going to end well

While the players ran and played, others waited on the sidelines for their turn. Even
though two fields were being used!

It wasn't just guys though

And the girls weren't there to cheerlead...

...They were there to score!

Don't think they were given a break either. It was very competitive.

Tournament organizer GM Andrés Rodriguez played his heart out, despite being a bit
out of form...

...nevertheless he scored the best goal of the night with a spectacular juggle and then
spinning mid-volley kick.

Finally, the players are swapped and they rest

Some friendly banter while they wait their next turn

GM Flores (left), Bacallao, and Iturrizaga in the foreground

A fearless goalie!

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