2008 WUC Chess: Day 4
March 8th, 2008
Day-off: Time to Relax, Have Fun and Learn
The first stage of the championship with its tough games is over. And March 7 was a day-off as the decisive chess clashes are coming. All the tired could have a good sleep, read books, stroll along the picturesque lake shore or through the forest near the Health Hotel Ozerny. And those who wanted to have a bit of recreation and learn something new set off on a bus excursion around the city. The first destination was the bowling club in the city centre. There was everything to have a good day -10 superb bowling alleys, energetic music, nice atmosphere, excitement of the game, crash after knocking down the pins with balls! So many wanted to loosen up after long hours at the chessboards.
After the nourishing meal there was a city sightseeing tour. The first place to visit was the Boulevard of Heroes. It was built to commemorate those people from the city who struggled against the fascists. Kuzbass and Ural were the major nation’s arsenals. Siberians, the word itself is suggestive. Thousands went to the front and those on the home front struggled together with the heroic soldiers. They made steel and backed the fighting soldiers in that trying hour. The people on the home front shared heavy defeats and glorious victories and capture of Berlin. Kuzbass provided the country with armoured steel, artillery shells, supplied power stations and railroads with coal. People of Novokuznetsk contributed enormously to the victory of the whole country. As the recognition the city has two orders. 50,000 tanks, 45,000 aircrafts, 100,000,000 shells were made of the local steel. It was almost a half of the country’s military output.
There is another picture on display. It is the Hodigitria Church where in 1857 the local resident Maria Isayeva and the outstanding Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky married. The last point to visit was Kuznetsk fortress. It is the real landmark in the history of military fortification in Southern Siberia. It was built in 1800-1820. Then the fortress was a part of fortifications that were built to protect Southern Siberia against any aggressive plans of China. The fortress gross area is about 2,5 acres. In 1846 the state borders were far from the fortress and it was transferred from the books of the War Department. Its territory was used as a prison for criminal offenders. “Kuznetsk Prison Castle” functioned until December 1919, when the prison buildings were destroyed during the Civil war. In 1998 the dilapidated fortress was renovated. The walls and the mirador were restored. Novokuznesk metallurgists founded new cannons and mortars using the ancient drawings. They were placed on the fortress walls. Nowadays the museum of history and architecture “Kuznetsk Fortress” boasts more than ten facilities of architecture and military fortification.
Fyodor Dostoevsky Museum made a great impression on the visitors. The famous Russian writer visited the town Kuznetsk three times in 1856-57. He came here from Semipalatinsk to see Maria Isayeva. It was here that he married her. Due to the wonderful atmosphere in the Museum it still seems to be a real house with its small yard where lilac has just blossomed and it even seems quite possible that Maria Dmitrievna herself has just been on the porch to meet her dear guest from Semipalatinsk… There are no things or articles that belonged to the writer left in the museum. But you can feel the special atmosphere created in the museum which is based on the symbols of this outstanding writer’s works. And there are photos on the walls. A man in a uniform. Broad face and harsh features. Persistent almost penetrating glance. It is Fyodor Dostoevsky. This man said about himself “I am a little man”, but at the same time “My name is worth a million!” The latter words are the words that are in full harmony with the image in the picture. It does not seem without reason that his contemporaries said, “This is a man who had a full faith in himself”. Another photo. A woman with a high forehead, intent and guarded look. There is something gloomy and worried about her. It is Maria Dmitreevna Isayeva, earlier Constant (of French origin). “… She was a beautiful blonde of average height, very passionate and ecstatic. Her cheeks were flushed with some ominous colour even then. Several years later she died of the consumption”, wrote A. Vrangel, a friend of Dostoevsky, about Maria Isayeva.
There is another picture on display. It is the Hodigitria Church where in 1857 the local resident Maria Isayeva and the outstanding Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky married. The last point to visit was Kuznetsk fortress. It is the real landmark in the history of military fortification in Southern Siberia. It was built in 1800-1820. Then the fortress was a part of fortifications that were built to protect Southern Siberia against any aggressive plans of China. The fortress gross area is about 2,5 acres. In 1846 the state borders were far from the fortress and it was transferred from the books of the War Department. Its territory was used as a prison for criminal offenders. “Kuznetsk Prison Castle” functioned until December 1919, when the prison buildings were destroyed during the Civil war. In 1998 the dilapidated fortress was renovated. The walls and the mirador were restored. Novokuznesk metallurgists founded new cannons and mortars using the ancient drawings. They were placed on the fortress walls. Nowadays the museum of history and architecture “Kuznetsk Fortress” boasts more than ten facilities of architecture and military fortification.
