Sochi, Day 8. Shirtsleeves

Our correspondent Marie Boyard visited Zug and concluded that the venue of third stage of the FIDE Grand Prix is almost ideal.

(Translated from Russian by Andrey Deviatkin)

My impressions of the first playing day in Sochi can be summed up in one sentence: great fuss about a single game of chess. It seems to me that's not the way it should be, ideally.

More photos from our correspondent Dmitry Ostanin from Stavanger. 

An unusual situation: two world team championships starting on the same day in different corners of the world. The best women's teams are in China, and the best men's in Armenia. What distinguished the opening ceremonies of these two events? Which was shorter, which was prettier? Judge for yourselves, with the aid of photos we have taken from the official sites: chengdu2015.fide.com (author - Anastasia Karlovich) and tsaghkadzor2015.fide.com (author unknown).

The leaders face each other in Round 4 of WWTC: Russia - China.

While the first free day of the European Championship saw the tours to the Dead Sea and the fortress of Masada, the second day-off gave the participants the opportunity to enjoy the Old City of Jerusalem.

(Translated from Russian by Andrey Deviatkin)

Norway has sent many journalists to cover the match. In fact, the Norwegian delegation is the largest here in Sochi.