MEXICO CITY CHESS EXTRAVAGANZA!

This past weekend in the sprawling metropolis of Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, some notable chess records were set.

First, there were 13,500 chessplayers participating in simultaneous exhibitions, in one place (see the picture), with hundreds of masters giving the exhibitions. This was an extraordinary event, and it could be seen from outer space!

Then the 12th World Champion, Anatoly Karpov, set a record of his own by signing 1,951 copies of the book Karpov, el camino de una volunta, by David Llada. Karpov got very tired doing six hours' autographs without stopping to take a rest, and said that it is harder than playing a long chess game! Karpov chose to stop at 1951 because this is the year in which he was born. The author had to sign the remaining 800 copies.

Later on, there were exhibition matches featuring GM Sergey Karjakin (who holds the record for becoming the youngest grandmaster ever) and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (the third-highest ranked woman in the world). The legendary GM Viktor Korchnoi also participated.

This can all be viewed as a warmup for the frenzy that will hit the chess world early next year when the Mexico 2007 supertournament takes place. This tournament is currently planned to decide the next World Champion.