Deep in the night after the last day, almost on Saturday morning, someone in the boathouse on the Baltic Sea beach said that there was something unreal about this chess tournament here in Weissenhaus, and so it is. The DJ has cranked up the pounding rhythm, the lights are flickering, the coattails and trouser legs are shaking under the bass, and while some are dancing exuberantly, others at a table have pushed aside the empty glasses and stained napkins to put two boards and clocks in the room To build semi-darkness.
They take their places: Vincent Keymer and Levon Aronian on one side of the boards, Pétér Léko and Gukesh on the other side, a German-Armenian double against a Hungarian-Indian one. They play tandem flash, also called bughouse. Pieces that are captured on one chessboard may be placed on the other board by the person sitting next to you. Thinking time: three minutes per game per player plus two seconds extra per move. The arms fly back and forth, the bishops, rooks and pawns change the board in the blink of an eye, and the four players are surrounded by party guests. If you don’t even know how chess works, you won’t be able to see through it at all, you’ll just be amazed at the pace, the choreography, the artistry.
