Panama Chess Open 2011

This event was staged by the National Chess Federation of Panama from November 3–7 in the Great Hall Portobello Atlapa Convention Center in Panama City. It was the first large international tournament since the 70s. It is the intention of the organisers to make this an annual event. The tournament was a nine round Swiss with over 130 players. Time controls: 90 minutes per player for the entire game, with the addition of 30 seconds per move from move one. First prize was US $2000, second $1300, third $1000, etc., with special prizes for the best players under Elo 2200, best players from Panama, etc.

Panamá City is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama, with a total population of around one million. The city has a dense skyline of mostly highrise buildings, and it is surrounded by a large belt of tropical rainforest. It has an advanced communications system; and Tocumen International Airport, the largest and busiest airport in Central America.

Naturally Panama is most famous for the Panama Canal (Canal de Panamá), a 77 kilometre (48 mile) ship canal that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. The canal was built from 1904 to 1914 in one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken (it has been named one of the seven modern wonders of the world by the American Society of Civil Engineers). It had an enormous impact on shipping between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, replacing the long and treacherous route via either the Strait of Magellan or Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America. A ship sailing from New York to San Francisco via the canal travels 9,500 km (5,900 miles), well under half the 22,500 km (14,000 miles) route around Cape Horn.

Panama Canal Puzzle

Top final standings of the Panama Chess Open 2011

• Full results of all 132 players are here – games are currently not available

Photo impressions by GM Sergei Tiviakov

Do not ask us how he does it – we have no idea. But the Dutch grandmaster somehow manages to (1) travel to the most exotic places, (2) win the tournament, and (3) send us a huge batch of photos he has taken during his stay. Here are his impressions of the Panama Chess Open and of Panama City.

Our GM reporter in front of the modern high-rise skyline of Panama City

The modern city with its skyscrapers, many still being built, contrasts with...

... the older parts of town, built in the 19th and 20th centuries, currently being restored

Houses decorated with pelicans and lizzards

The real thing: pelicans (and a turkey vulture) perched on a street light

Our GM reporter befriends a denizen of Panama City

It's a raccoon, Procyon lotor to biologists, a common mammal in these parts

A street vendor with colourful souvenirs for the locals and tourists

The "Metropolitan Cathedral" (Catedral Metropolitan) built in the 17th Century

A cargo ship in the locks

The maximum size of vessel that can use the canal, the "Panamax", is 65,000–80,000 tonnes DWT (deadweight tonnage), but its actual cargo is restricted to about 52,500 tonnes because of draft restrictions in the canal.

The tournament site – playing hall and hotel for the players

The tournament venue before the start of a round...

... and with play under way

Best female prize for WGM Oleiny Linares Napoles of Cuba, 6.5/9 with a 2426 performance

Second female prize for WGM Lisandra Teresa Ordaz of Cuba, 6.0/9, performance 2430

Third prize in the Open went to GM Aramis Alvarez Pedraza of Cuba with 7.0/9 points

Second prize for GM Walter Arencibia (checkered shirt), Cuba, with 7.0/9 points

First prize to the tournament photographer GM Sergei Tiviakov, with 7.5/9 points

Official tournament site

Copyright Tiviakov/ChessBase

Solution to our Panama Canal Quiz

Our question was: when you travel through the Panama Canal from east to west, i.e. from its eastern-most entrance to its western-most exit, which ocean do you end up in? Here's the correct answer:

Take a look at the above map of Panama with its neighboring countries and seas: Now let us zoom in to see where exactly the canal is located:

So this means that when you travel in a westerly direction, i.e. from the eastern-most entrance (at Balboa) to exit at the western-most part (Cristóbal) you end up in the Caribbean Sea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. You do not find yourself in the Pacific, as people would naturally assume. Tricky, right? You can explore it on the following Google map:

View Larger Map

Please note that you have to pay us a royalty if you use this puzzle in bars and at parties.