The main series begins on the picturesque Baltic coast in Weissenhaus! A week full of freestyle action, paired with the breathtaking backdrop of the coast.
Details and episodes around the WEISSENHAUS chess arena
Behind the scenes with Sagar Shah
The ChessBase India tour along the Freestyle boards
Beware of the soundproof glass door that leads into the Weissenhaus chess arena. If you’re not looking closely or if your mind is wandering on the 64 squares, you might miss this transparent hurdle. That’s exactly what happened to Gukesh – bang! He was not injured, his chess did not suffer from the mishap, as Gukesh’s victory on the first day over co-host Magnus Carlsen clearly showed.
The Gukesh Glassdoor episode is one of many that Sagar Shah of ChessBase India recounts during his tour of the chess arena at Big Barn Studios. With the camera rolling, Sagar guides the audience around the four boards and the surrounding area.
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Speaking of boards: five cameras capture the action on each of the boards, including two mini-cameras at either end of the board, giving the audience the feeling of sitting directly opposite the players.
Sagar Shah is enthusiastic about the many details that can be discovered in Weissenhaus. One of these is the small hooks on the wooden pillars close to each board. This is where the players hang their tailored jackets instead of throwing them over their chairs.
The ChessBase India tour leads past the bookshelf to each player’s retreat in the soundproof „confession booth“. There, from the third day onwards, the players will reveal their thoughts and emotions during the ongoing games.
The tailormade jackets can be worn at the board of course. When they are not, players are asked to use the hooks near each board in order to hang them. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/chess.com
