His USCF rating of 2596 places him among the top 20 players in the United States. GM Rohde is 39 years old and lives with his wife and family in Manhattan. Former National Junior High Champion, National High School Champion, US Junior Champion, and US Open Champion. Not all questions can be answered, but selected questions and answers will be posted here each day. Mark, I think that GMs generally look at the playing conditions at the start of a game and determine then whether they are satisfactory.
Some GMs have greater tolerance than others for aberrant conditions.
I do not think differences in shading of the light squares on the board is a major problem and I assume that the Championship players agree, or there would have been objections. In any event, once the game starts, I think most GMs, being so experienced, start seeing the board in their minds and pay no attention to things which may distract less experienced competitors. Karpov, for example, has opted recently for the latter. Qg4 seems to me to be critical. I would welcome your opinion.