English Chess Forum

Rob Thompson wrote: How many of the general non-chess-playing public do you really believe would go in and watch?

The evidence from the London Chess Classic is that the right event can attract an audience. The Classic is assisted by the tournaments running alongside, but the audience also comprises "people who used to play chess".

Seeing the pictures of the room in Simpsons reminds me of the 1973 European Championships in Bath. Probably helped by being one year after the Spassky-Fischer match and a chance to see well known players such as the Soviet Union's stockpile of ex-world champions in the flesh, the event attracted visitors in numbers never seen before. The venue was acceptable if the matches took place in private, but was overwhelmed by the numbers who turned up as spectators.

I think we have to accept that this first Agon event is a prototype. Whilst the internet coverage of the Tal Memorial and the Anand-Gelfand match earlier in the year was objectively better, they didn't seem to have much live spectator capability either.

Peter Smith wrote:I think it is outrageous that this event is closed to actual spectators. I traveled up to London today to see these top players only to be met by a bouncer at Simpsons barring my way and preventing attendance. Agon could have at least made this policy clear on its website, then I wouldn't have wasted £30 on a train ticket! It's all wrong anyway. They shouldn't bother bringing these players to London if you can't see them. Watching on a video link is NOT the same as attending a live event. They might as well be playing on the moon. KEEP CHESS LIVE!!

Out of interest, how much did you think a ticket to get in was going to cost?

It should be remembered that this round of the FIDE Grand Prix was not intended to be in London and that Simpson's was a compromise venue.

The playing room is not large enough to accommodate spectators: it would have to be in the main dining area one floor below.

From what I have been told, the venue for the Candidates in March will be superb and will demonstrate just what can be done with the right approach (and of course, funding).

If spectators were to be barred from attending it would have been nice to have been informed. It would have been better not to have announced venue and starting times if the organizers didn't want chess loving mugs like me to turn up expecting to see something! Also, I grant there wouldn't have been droves of non-chess playing people queuing up and down the Strand to get in. All the more reason to let people like me in. I have attended Staunton Memorial tournaments at Simpson's and there was ample room for the thirty or so attendees on average to sit and watch. Access could have been arranged.

In answer to Sean, I would happily have paid £15 to £20 admission fee as I will be when I attend the London Chess Classic later in the year.

Peter Smith wrote: I have attended Staunton Memorial tournaments at Simpson's and there was ample room for the thirty or so attendees on average to sit and watch. Access could have been arranged.

The past playing room you refer to above was not made available to the organisers. The press and media room was larger that the playing room.

See http://johnupham.smugmug.com/Chess/FIDE ... g&lb=1&s=A

The media was permitted access before the scheduled start time until the actual start time plus ten minutes.

Peter Smith wrote:If spectators were to be barred from attending it would have been nice to have been informed.

It had been a topic on this forum. Despite being unofficial, there's often material here which isn't available anywhere else.

http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php ... x&start=22

The lack of spectator provision isn't highlighted on the Agon site.

John Upham wrote: From what I have been told, the venue for the Candidates in March will be superb and will demonstrate just what can be done with the right approach (and of course, funding).

If it takes place of course.

Is the Bulgarian action in CAS to be taken seriously? This seeks to prevent the London event and remove a couple of FIDE's new statutes as well.

http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4826

Legal representatives of Bulgarian Chess Federation requested from the CAS to bring the decision according to which FIDE Presidential Board would be obligated to award, in compliance with the bidding procedure, the organisation of candidates' matches to Bulgaria or Azerbaijan. Finally, the introduction of interim measures was proposed, according to which the validity of the contract between FIDE and company Agon International Ltd would temporarily be suspended. That would mean the matches of candidates in London, planned for March next year, could not be held.

Roger de Coverly wrote:
Seeing the pictures of the room in Simpsons reminds me of the 1973 European Championships in Bath. Probably helped by being one year after the Spassky-Fischer match and a chance to see well known players such as the Soviet Union's stockpile of ex-world champions in the flesh, the event attracted visitors in numbers never seen before.

Not so. The attendance on the first day of the Great Britain v USSR match of 1947 was just as huge. I was present at both events. My 1947 memories were published in CHESS in April 2011.

http://www.ukgamesshop.com/Merchant2/do ... taster.pdf

Roger de Coverly wrote:Is the Bulgarian action in CAS to be taken seriously? This seeks to prevent the London event and remove a couple of FIDE's new statutes as well.

It seems that we may have to take it seriously.

Ray Keene has tweeted that Andrew Paulson is flying to Moscow for urgent talks.

http://twitter.com/times_chess

I think the issue is not whether or not the space available in Simpsons was sufficient, but why Simpsons was chosen as the venue in the first place. Presumably someone recommended it, it is obviously a nice central venue for the players and officials, it has all of the history, etc, so the organisers went with it. However, I have no doubt that a larger space, with spectator facilities, could have been secured, even at short notice, had the provision of spectator facilities been a high priority.

Images from the event including today are available from

http://johnupham.smugmug.com/Chess/FIDE

John Upham wrote:Images from the event including today are available from

http://johnupham.smugmug.com/Chess/FIDE

Some more here: http://london2012.fide.com/images/stori ... index.html

This event doesn't exactly seem to have captured the imagination of the chess-playing public. However, I think Mickey Adams should be congratulated for a good score, when he had no time to prepare.

Kevin Thurlow wrote:This event doesn't exactly seem to have captured the imagination of the chess-playing public

Perhaps not unconnected with it being so spectator-unfriendly??