Why don´t they just organize everything in Elista from the start? Anyway most chess events organized by FIDE end up happening there, or close... I really think it could make things much easier for everybody, the media etc. could even deal getting discount packs for flights with the air companies.

After Baku, Sochi and Elista, where the first three Grand Prix tournaments were held, the participants still won’t be leaving the Caucasus region.

And after Nalchik: Yerevan!

Yep, there must be something about Caucasus and chess. Gaprindashvili, Chiburdanidze, Kasparov, Kramnik, Aronian, Radjabov and a huge pile of lesser stars.

After Baku, Sochi and Elista, where the first three Grand Prix tournaments were held, the participants still won’t be leaving the Caucasus region.

:)))

Chessgirl,
I´m not a fan of kasmky....actually i´ve always liked topalov´s style but still as a chess fan i wanna see a close match.
it would be so boring if the match were over after 5 games.....don´t u think?
A WCC Anand vs Topalov would be a great one 2 OF THE BEST ATTACKERS!!!! the number 1 and two on the raitings.....still kamsky has become a phoenix.....getting back to world class chess from his ashes......after losing to karpov on 96 for the FIDE crown (beating anand a few months later for the FIDE championship cycle) and now, 13 years later with a chance to get back to a championship match.

you gotta love chess,
you gotta love history,
with underdog stories,
and some surprises,
surprises make life worth living!!!!

greetings chessfans!!!

ChessGirl, interesting suggestion .... but there are one or two problems:
1) Elista has only a small airport, which doesn't seem to have many (if any) flights. Otherwise - from what I heard or read - it seems to be a quite tiring bus or taxi ride from the next-closest airports.
2) It is apparently not the most interesting place anyway - so in the past direct onsite media coverage was rather limited (even for the Kramnik-Topalov match).

I was just kidding Thomas, hehe, I know that Elista is, as we say in Spanish, "in the ass of the world" (well in Spanish it sounds much better anyway), but for me it´s funny to see that all FIDE´s lack of organization and/or compromise in contracts usually results in the tournament being celebrated in Elista or its whereabouts... looking at things positively, maybe soon they will have already earned enough money from chess to get a proper airport and who knows, maybe even roads ;)

From what I remember, they already have toilets :). And what is the original Spanish version for "in the ass of the world"? I will probably understand, but couldn't pronounce it properly ... .

for all those people that topalov would win the challenge easily.......KASMKY HAS WON GAME 4TH.

as a fan of the underdog i could not be happier!!!
score is 2-2 nad its halfime already

Well Mauricio, of course it´s always great to see your fave winning, especially if it happens when you least expect it (ok he´s not winning but he´s not losing either!) :)

Thomas, when we want to say something like "that is so apart from civilization!" we say "¬°Eso est?° en el culo del mundo!"

Thanks ChessGirl, maybe this can be useful for me one day in the future !? On Mig Greengard's Dailydirt site, i only learnt sophisticated English words (from some fellow posters with literary ambitions) :)