Khanty!

Woaaah, how time flies! The Norwegian team will be leaving Gardermoen airport tomorrow with Russia and Khanty-Mansiysk as our final destination after a pit stop in Munich. I checked the weather forecast today. It’s depressing to say the least. I was supposed to get my new sunglasses this week, but never did – luckily(?) it seems that I won’t be missing them in Khanty!

I’ve been checking some internet forums, and have noticed that people have great expectations for the Norwegian team! While I’m very flattered by the faith in us, it’s only realistic that our ambitious goal will be to upset some of the big gun countries and leave the top 15-hunting to the other chess superpowers. But we have many strong individuals, so other minor goals will be Magnus hitting 2850, myself hitting 2666, Elsness making his GM-title and Urkedal his IM-title! As for Hansen, people in Norwegian chess know that he’s capable of anything, as proven by his two earlier GM-norms.

Hopefully Tromsø 2014 will succeed in their bid to host the Olympiad in four years. If we spend resources on the Norwegian team, we might be able to field a spectacular lineup at home field in the midnight sun. World Champion Carlsen with an appropriate mix of blossoming youngsters and motivated veterans to complete the team? I’ll certainly keep my fingers crossed. It’s all a matter of priorities.

Our star player Magnus has been busy in NYC this last week. He’ll be fit and ready to make new headlines with his performance for the team – but before he does, you should not miss this video! Chess and Norway in the limelight!

I doubt I’ll be writing too much in Khanty, as hopefully I’ll be busy having the time of my life (and – you know – playing chess), but I hope to keep the blog updated with some pictures (if the internet connection allows) and tweets. How modern am I? Tweeting like a bird 🙂

Wish us luck!