Media comments on chess

Discuss anything you like about chess related matters in this forum.
Alistair Campbell
Posts: 379
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2010 12:53 pm

Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Alistair Campbell » Fri Dec 05, 2014 1:42 pm

I note one participant describes trying to get agreement in the Smith Commission as being like “a five dimensional game of chess played with pieces made from bars of soap”.

here

User avatar
JustinHorton
Posts: 10364
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:06 am
Location: Somewhere you're not

Re: Media comments on chess

Post by JustinHorton » Sun Dec 07, 2014 11:11 am

El País: "Otro jaque mate de CR".

(Another checkmate from Cristiano Ronaldo.)
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

Mike Gunn
Posts: 1022
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 4:45 pm

Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Mike Gunn » Mon Dec 08, 2014 11:15 am

Further to the reminiscences of Short/ Kasparov Channel 4 broadcasts above there was one game where no move was played for about 40 minutes during the first hour and the commentary eventually ran out of steam having discussed the players' sartorial choices (ties) and what they might have eaten for breakfast. I found this rather amusing but I suspect less devoted chess fans just turned off. (As Stewart says above) it was the wrong format.

Roger de Coverly
Posts: 21301
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:51 pm

Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Roger de Coverly » Mon Dec 08, 2014 11:43 am

Mike Gunn wrote:Further to the reminiscences of Short/ Kasparov Channel 4 broadcasts above there was one game where no move was played for about 40 minutes
It occurred to me that if you really wanted to modify the tournament rules of chess for television and show the whole first hour of play, that you needed a move rate (for the first forty or sixty moves anyway) of something like 20 minutes plus an increment of 2 and a half minutes. If you were prepared to live with the prospect of a late arrival meaning no play at all, then just 3 minutes a move.

Stewart Reuben
Posts: 4542
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:04 pm
Location: writer

Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Stewart Reuben » Mon Dec 08, 2014 12:22 pm

I have long thought the only rate of play suitable for live TV is blitz. There were several good rapidplay events on TV, e.g. The London Docklands Kasparov Short Challenge Match. But the material was all edited to a 25 minute programme. If it is going to be edited, it might as well be standardplay, as with the Master Game.
But does it make for better TV if there are more blunders?

User avatar
Anthony Higgs
Posts: 74
Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:31 pm
Location: Cloud Nine

Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Anthony Higgs » Mon Dec 08, 2014 7:43 pm

Kasparov being interviewed on Channel 4 News right now...
http://www.horshamchessclub.org.uk - ECF Club of the Year 2010

NickFaulks
Posts: 8453
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 1:28 pm

Re: Media comments on chess

Post by NickFaulks » Mon Dec 08, 2014 9:32 pm

Roger de Coverly wrote: If you were prepared to live with the prospect of a late arrival meaning no play at all, then just 3 minutes a move.
Surely even you would accept that for a game being played specifically for live television, it's reasonable to demand that the players get there in time for the start.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a QR code stamped on a human face — forever.

Angus French
Posts: 2151
Joined: Thu May 15, 2008 1:37 am

Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Angus French » Mon Dec 08, 2014 9:44 pm

Anthony Higgs wrote:Kasparov being interviewed on Channel 4 News right now...
about what?

Roger de Coverly
Posts: 21301
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:51 pm

Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Roger de Coverly » Mon Dec 08, 2014 11:52 pm

NickFaulks wrote: Surely even you would accept that for a game being played specifically for live television, it's reasonable to demand that the players get there in time for the start.
Not a point that's accepted where TV coverage is taken as given. At Wimbledon the match starts when both players are present, similarly with the teams for football games.

At Wimbledon not so many years ago, one of the Williams sisters was playing on an outside court, in its way a bit like Kramnik's board in round 3 at Qatar. The match wasn't started until she found the relevant court.

NickFaulks
Posts: 8453
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 1:28 pm

Re: Media comments on chess

Post by NickFaulks » Tue Dec 09, 2014 12:11 am

Roger de Coverly wrote:
NickFaulks wrote: Surely even you would accept that for a game being played specifically for live television, it's reasonable to demand that the players get there in time for the start.
Not a point that's accepted where TV coverage is taken as given. At Wimbledon the match starts when both players are present, similarly with the teams for football games.

At Wimbledon not so many years ago, one of the Williams sisters was playing on an outside court, in its way a bit like Kramnik's board in round 3 at Qatar. The match wasn't started until she found the relevant court.
This is a ridiculous discussion. Your examples are completely different from giving players the blanket right to wander in fifteen minutes late because they've been drinking up at the pub.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a QR code stamped on a human face — forever.

Roger de Coverly
Posts: 21301
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:51 pm

Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Roger de Coverly » Tue Dec 09, 2014 12:19 am

NickFaulks wrote: This is a ridiculous discussion. Your examples are completely different from giving players the blanket right to wander in fifteen minutes late because they've been drinking up at the pub.
Is FIDE in the business of promoting or discouraging chess? Players have long had the right to be up to an hour late because they've been in the pub, delayed on the motorway etc. Why would you want to deny this? A zero time default rule in 1972 could have given Spassky a 13-0 win.

NickFaulks
Posts: 8453
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 1:28 pm

Re: Media comments on chess

Post by NickFaulks » Tue Dec 09, 2014 2:45 am

Roger de Coverly wrote:
NickFaulks wrote: This is a ridiculous discussion. Your examples are completely different from giving players the blanket right to wander in fifteen minutes late because they've been drinking up at the pub.
Is FIDE in the business of promoting or discouraging chess? Players have long had the right to be up to an hour late because they've been in the pub, delayed on the motorway etc. Why would you want to deny this? A zero time default rule in 1972 could have given Spassky a 13-0 win.
This discussion is on the topic of games which are timed specifically for live television. You think viewers would stay glued to the screen as they waited twenty minutes for a player to turn up at the board, I think you're wrong.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a QR code stamped on a human face — forever.

Roger de Coverly
Posts: 21301
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:51 pm

Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Roger de Coverly » Tue Dec 09, 2014 9:20 am

NickFaulks wrote: You think viewers would stay glued to the screen as they waited twenty minutes for a player to turn up at the board, I think you're wrong.
Precedents are that the broadcaster would show the edited highlights of previous play. That's what happens when there's a weather delay. But FIDE didn't want even twenty minutes grace, the President or arbiters acting on his behalf would have defaulted one of the players even for being present but not seated. You've advertised the event, got the cameras in, and then it is over without a contest.

User avatar
JustinHorton
Posts: 10364
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:06 am
Location: Somewhere you're not

Re: Media comments on chess

Post by JustinHorton » Tue Dec 09, 2014 10:48 am

I tend to feel this argument should be taken elsewhere than this thread, but it is really difficult to think of any sport where you would get "twenty minutes' grace". A TV event would expect players to be present on time and have every right to do so. Whether it's appropriate for other chess events is another question, but, as I say, perhaps better for somebody to start a thread on it.
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

Chris Rice
Posts: 3417
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 5:17 am

Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Chris Rice » Tue Dec 09, 2014 11:36 am

Perhaps it depends if you consider chess is a sport and whether comparing its rules to a sport is like-for-like. Chess is more comparable to Scrabble and the rules for arriving late as far as I understand it are:

F. Arriving Late

If a player is late for a round with an announced starting time, the Director may start his/her clock no earlier than 5 minutes after the start of the round. After 25 minutes (or when a digital clock reads -0:01), the game is over and is forfeited with a spread of -50 points. If the missing player arrives before then, the director or the opponent may stop the clock. Otherwise, the arriving player stops it. If the late player does not opt to forfeit, s/he is allowed to become situated, count/bag the tiles, and draw for first (if necessary) before the game is begun with whatever time remains.

Football matches often kick off late due to crowd congestion/accidents etc, nobody seems to complain especially if they switch to another match that's on. Of course the media reaction to say an Arsenal v Crystal Palace match kicking off 20 minutes late due to a number of Palace players being stuck in the Kings Head might be quite different.