The Governor’s Dinner

Tournament chief sponsor Tradewise, Brain Callaghan and the staff of the Caleta Hotel pulled out all the stops for the 10th edition of The Gibraltar Chess Festival which was, as usual, a great success. To mark the anniversary Mickey and I were among the fortunate few to be invited to the Governor’s Dinner at the The Convent. Vice Admiral Sir Adrian Johns welcomed us all to the official residence and we were treated to a wonderful dinner that included the spectacle of the Ceremony of the keys where the Port Sergeant formally hands over the keys to the Governor before the start of the meal announcing “The fortress is secure!”. This was a wonderful piece of pageantry, very moving to witness. The keys themselves, positioned on a velvet cushion during the dinner, looked as if they must weigh well over 10lbs – hardly a set you could pop in your pocket! Happily this was one ‘post game’ engagement that didn’t succumb to the curse of the dinner plan and Mickey’s round 1 game did not run long so we were on time, though a couple of the other invitees including Nigel Short, weren’t so lucky and so were absent for the official photo. A very special event in honour of a very special tournament!