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By Casto Abundo, Chief Arbiter, 15th Asian Games, Doha 2006

India and China kept pace with each other with identical 2.5-0.5 wins over Vietnam and Indonesia, respectively in the 4th round, to maintain their 1-2 pole positions and set the stage for their exciting showdown at the halfway mark of the Asian Games Chess Team Championship in Doha, Qatar. India leads with 10 points followed by China only a point behind with 9, Qatar 8.5 and Vietnam 7.5. Bunched together with 7 points each are Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Iran.

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Earning full points for India were GM Krishnan Sasikiran who beat GM Dao Tien Hai, and GM Humpy Koneru who crushed WGM Nguyen Thi Thanh An. On second board for India, GM Pentala Hariskrishna held GM Nguyen Anh Dung to a draw, a pawn down in a Rook and Pawn endgame.

China is hoping to stop the Indian juggernaut in tomorrow`s 5th round. Today Wang Yue beat GM Susanto Megaranto while Zhao Xue beat Sukandar Irine Kharisma. Chinese top board Bu Xiangzhi and Indonesian spearhead Utut Adianto played to a draw.

Qatar beat Uzbekistan 2:1 on wins by IM Al Sayed over GM Alexei Barsov and Zhu Chen against WIM Olga Sabirova. Former world champion Rustam Kasimjanov beat Mohammed Al Modiahki to prevent a shutout.

Excellent Organization

Being part of something bigger gives the organization of a chess tournament more resources while sacrificing flexibility.

There are a great number of sports in the Asian Games aside from the mandatory athletics and swimming. And there are various departments such as marketing, information, security, facilities and equipment, venue department, etc.

We were instructed on the first day that advertisements on jackets, hats and t-shirts were not allowed in the playing venue. Neither were labeled drinks on the tables. The Marketing Department explained that commerical products should not get a free ride when TV cameras and photographers take shots of teams in action. We called a captains` meeting and taped over jackets and T-shirts. We had a good laugh when we saw that all athletes of host Qatar had the Adidas brand on their apparel. That dampened the zeal of the Marketing Department to chase after chess players with Nike, Reebok or FILA logos on their jackets.

In the first round, someone in the electrical department decided to switch to generator power. We had to stop the chess clocks and interrupt play for a few minutes while the mercury lights came back on to full brightness. Players found it humuorous that oil-rich Qatar would have electricity blackouts.

Security is tight in all official venues and quarters of the Games. Everyone goes through scanners before boarding the bus. Then the bus is thoroughly inspected, underbody checked with mirrors, before being allowed into the Khalifa complex. Then before entering the playing venue, players are screened and mobile phones checked in at the desk.

The hall is well lit. Flags of participating countries adorn the walls. There is a giant screen which features four games live. Problem was that projectors work best in the dark. Voila, they added another expensive projector to superimpose two images over each other and increase the contrast. Amazing how money can solve problems.

All games are played on electronic boards, but live coverage was not possible due to security concerns on the official website. The Elista team which managed the live broadcast of all games in Olympiads since 1998 except Calvia (which had only a few boards), World Championships, World Cups, etc. were limited to showing live games in the hall.

The info-system of the Games is superb. While the procedure is bureaucratic (we can only give results and pairings to the Information department and to nobody else), the intranet allows them to broadcast results and pairings for the next round even before the bus returns to the athlete`s village. Computers for the info system are everywhere. But technology is only as good as the people who use them. Sri Lanka Chess Federation president Luxman Wijesuriya complained that the Sports Info desk at the athletes village could not show them how to find the pairings in the system until I spoke with the charming lady and told her how over the phone.

Competition Manager (known in chess as Tournament Director) Yousif Ahmed Ali of Qatar is on top of the chess organization here. A Major in the Army, he runs the show with a firm hand and tries to get the best facilities for the chess event, fighting hard to get two huge flat screen TV`s for the VIP`s when the image on the projectors was poor.

FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Asian Chess Federation president Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan were in Doha for the openings of the Rapid and Team events. They were treated by the Doha Asian Games Organizing Committee (DAGOC) to suites at deluxe hotels and private cars for their use. The Games provided them a good opportunity to lobby for chess in future Games. Kirsan met with IOC Executive Director for Olympic Games Gilbert Felli, the GAISF Chairman and Chairman of the Coordinating Commission for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad Hein Verbruggen. Sheikh Sultan met with the Organizing Committee of the next Asian Games 2010 in Guangzhou, China.

For athletes and the rest of us without chauferred cars, the shuttle bus system is excellent, coming and going on schedule every half hour. Access to the athlete`s village is restricted and guests or Arbiters need a Day Pass to enter. Recreation facilities at the athlete`s village are ideal. There even is a cinema for athletes and the restaurant is open 24 hours.