World Chess Championship - the Arena

A spacious auditorium

The match is held at the south hall of the gigantic Dubai Exhibition Centre, a 45,000 square metre space with an auditorium, multi-purpose halls, suites and meeting rooms.

The south hall is a large high-roofed plaza, where the world championship arena comes up after a walk of about 50 metres, beyond the coffee shop.

To the right of the foyer are the giant chess board, the entrance to the auditorium, the FIDE room, room for Team Nepo etc., while the left side has the VIP room, commentary area and the press room. As can be seen, the ‘rooms’ are actually temporary cubicles, markedly small in size, built exclusively for the event. They have good detailing and branding, with the theme of the event printed all over and eyes of the protagonists staring down on the onlookers.

One enters the playing hall through a short queue next to the ticket counters, placed just behind the giant chess board of about 12 feet length and breadth.

The tickets are priced at 95 UAE Dirhams (23 Euros / 26 US Dollars approx) for the general and accessible category, whereas the VIP tickets are priced at a whopping 1900 Dirhams (457.50 Euros / 517 US Dollars). The ticket prices also include complimentary audio system with earphones to hear the official commentary which can be carried inside the auditorium, and access to ‘standing room inside the commentators area’. The VIP tickets also gives the additional access to ‘8 reserved seats in front row of the Commentators area’, and to VIP Area in the Foyer, with complimentary ‘VIP-level catering’.

The actual match venue is the stage of the spacious auditorium of about 3000 square meter arena, with a seating capacity of about 800, but only 500 spectators allowed to watch the match due to Covid restrictions. The comfortably cushioned single sofas for four rows on the floor just below the stage are reserved for those with VIP passes / tickets. The chairs in the auditorium for the ‘general’ ticket holders are of a typical arena design, comfortable with a good view of the stage. Among them too, the first two rows have been reserved for media persons. The VIP area also serves as the place for the ‘accessible’ ticket holders, thoughtfully offered to people of disability on wheelchairs.

Sitting inside the auditorium is an enjoyable experience for the spectators. The lights on spectators get completely switched off, and watching the players battling it out on the stage is an enjoyable experience. The soundproof ‘Fish-tank’ on the stage has been built for the occasion where Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi are battling out, in total view whenever they are in the playing arena.

The actual playing area is spacious enough for the players, watched over by about five remote-controlled Panasonic AW-UE150W cameras watching their every move and gesture, producing a brilliant live video-feed merged with live commentary at the official website.

Talking of the first five minutes, it does occasionally get a little too full, when there are dignitaries present to inaugurate the first move, and the posse of photographers to capture the occasion. At the beginning of the sixth round, Chief Arbiter Mahdi Abdul Rahim - the first non-european arbiter to preside over at a world championship - makes the first move watched over by the mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin, the host GM Maurice Ashley, president of FIDE Arkady Dvorkovich, and Governor of Khanty-Mansisk Natalya Komarova

Away from the stage and out of the spectators’ gaze, both players have private areas for rest, contemplation, nutrition and even a small nap, with the inevitable monitor relaying the position on the board:

Talking of private areas, both the teams of Carlsen and Nepo have their own individual rooms in the vicinity. Nepo’s team has a cubicle on the ground floor next to the FIDE office, while Carlsen’s team occupies a spacious room on the first floor dubbed as the Chess24 suite:

And somewhere beyond those areas is the place where the live relay is produced, from a complicated conundrum of video feeds, monitors, audio-video mixers, laptops, production machines and more complicated men.

There are two curious points to be considered about the entry for the match: 1) It is prohibited for children under 8 years of age and 2) The ticket prices are only for the world championship part of the entry, not including the tickets of the Expo 2020, which should be bought separately at the actual outer entrance to the expo.

Such reality of clubbing the world championship with a global event of a gigantic magnitude has also resulted in an inconvenience for the media center, as the cubicle could not accommodate all the 78 journalists who had accredited themselves in advance for the event. Thus, entry to the media center has been restricted only to the photo / videographers for the event, whereas the writing press journalists have been forced to take their spots at the Expo Media Centre, a further 300 metre away.

It isn’t much of a distance, but considering that one had to walk multiple times between the venue and the working arena, and all the way from the entrance of the Expo to the Media Centre - about 500 metre - and back occasionally, I did get my average of 5 km of walk a day!

But, it is also a thrilling experience to be in such a mega extravaganza, for the sights as well as the mind. Once in a while, your eyes come across events of such global importance in the south hall that it opens your eyes and intellect to the place and importance of the occasion.

Or when you realise that it is the John Kerry (American Presidential candidate for 2004, Secretary of State from 2013 to 2017, and the current ‘special presidential envoy for climate’) attending the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS 2021) at the Expo.

The foyer is also the place where you encounter one of the depths to which the expo organisation has planned to make it a unique event, when you encounter one of these little fellas aptly named ‘Opti’, roaming around the place just being pleasant and creative:

Unable to resist the temptation of talking to the fella, I approach him - he stops as he senses me to be on his pathway - and pose a random question:

“Where can I find some food around here?!”

After about five seconds of reception and processing, he comes up with: “I can offer a lot of electricity myself, but for other stuff you have to consult the guides!”

Opti is just one of the 50 robots of its kind roaming around the expo among a grand total of 152, developed by the Terminus group, a Chinese digital transformation company.  According to the organisers, this is the first international event where AI-powered machines perform different kinds of daily functions. There are robots involved in security, being concierge-style attendants, for delivery of maps, drinks and free ice (!) as well as being kiosks. Obviously, they are a great attraction for the children, but even for grown-ups when no one’s looking...

And the foyer of the south hall is also the place very popular in the whole event: the commentary booth where ex-world champion Vishy Anand and Anna Muzychuk hold court, providing commentary. (Almira Skripchenko was the initial choice of host for Anand, but ‘unfortunately couldn’t make it to Dubai’ as FIDE stated). This is the second assignment on a trot for Anand - after Tata Steel Rapid & Blitz 2021 - engaging in a commentating role, and the former world champion seems to be relishing it, ably hosted by Anna Muzychuk. Two most important aspects of Anand’s commentary stand out: 1) not using chess engines, Anand brings enormous human commonsense and depth into the position, and 2) often questioned aptly by Muzychuk about his own world championship matches, Anand’s perspectives of decisions of either players throughout the game adds special weight to the commentary.

The end of the games are a bit of a comic run everyday for the journalists, photographers and organising staff, as the press conferences are once again held in 15 minutes after the end of every game at the 300-metre-long (remember?!) Media Centre. They are regularly 10-15 minutes affairs held in a large hall, with a beginning session by Maurice Ashley, followed by questions from the chess media present at the event. These sessions themselves have a lot to talk about, but let us keep them for another day :-)

Thus, at the end of the day, what makes the World Chess Championship being held at Dubai during the Expo 2020 makes it uniquely special?

As I reflect on the curious question, it suddenly hits me - it lies at the fag end of the day. As the games get over and all the journalists and photographers go on a rushed run to the press centre, one encounters a unique spectacle on the way:

Apart from its symbolism, the dome has multiple connotations, its shape resembling the logo of the expo and its name of ‘Al Wasl’ being the ancient name for Dubai. Understandably, the plaza is dubbed as ‘the beating heart of expo 2020’ by the organisers, with colourful events and shows throughout the day, the onset of the darkness bringing in exceptional colour to the place:

It is simply impossible to bring out the grandeur of the structure with just still photographs, and even the following video only brings reasonable justification for the creation:

It is spectacles such as this - and a lot more - which bring out the inspiration of the place, serving as a justified background to the world chess championship at Dubai.

About the Author

Venkatachalam Saravanan is an International Master and has been an active chess player in the Indian circuit, and has been consistently writing on chess since late 1980s. He turned complete chess professional in 2012, actively playing and being a second and a trainer to a handful of Indian players. He reports on chess tournaments, occasionally being a correspondent to national newspapers and news channels. Apart from chess, he is also interested in Tamil and English literature, music and photography.

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