Now in Vung Tau, Vietnam helping out in the World Youth Chess Championship 2008. One of the banes of a programmer is not having a camera when in an important event. I wish I had time to replace my faulty one before I came.

At least there are other bloggers whom I can 'steal' some photos from.

This is how the playing hall looks like:-

It's a Gmnastic stadium and will house a total of 885 young players from Under 8 to Under 18 age groups. Of course this does not include the parents and coaches accompanying the children to the tournament.

The opening ceremony was pretty grand for a mere "Chess tournament".

The opening event was even broadcasted live on Vietnamese television - something that I don't think will ever happen if this was in Malaysia.

It's truly an International event with over 70 countries taking part.

Vung Tau is a small town shaped like a peninsula surrounded by beach so it's a natural tourist attraction. For me I like the fresh sea food that they have.

At the opening reception I took lots of fish and prawns !! :)