Carlsen - Anand 2014

[Chris Rice]

Not exactly a confidence booster for the Tiger of Madras as he's kicked out of the Corsican tournament at the semi-final stage by Fedorchuk.

http://susanpolgar.blogspot.ae/2014/10/ ... rsica.html

18th Corsican Circuit 2014 Anand (2785) -Fedorchuk (2673) 0-1
c4 e5 g3 Nc6 Bg2 Bc5 e3 d6 Ne2 a6 O-O Ba7 b3 h5 h3 f5 d4 h4 Bb2 hxg3 fxg3 Qg5 Nbc3 Nf6 Nd5 Nxd5 cxd5 Qxe3+ Kh2 Nxd4 Bxd4 Bxd4 Nxd4 Qxd4 Qc2 Qc5 Qd2 O-O Rac1 Qb6 Rc4 Bd7 Rh4 Rf6 g4 Qd4 Qxd4 exd4 g5 Rg6 Rxd4 Rxg5 Rc1 Re8 Rd2 Bb5 Rcc2 Re3 a4 Bd3 Rc3 Re2 Rxe2 Bxe2 Rxc7 f4 Rc3 Kf7 Bf3 Re5 Kg2 Bxf3+ Kxf3 g5 Kg4 Kf6 Rc8 Rxd5 Rf8+ Ke6 h4 gxh4 Rxf4 Ke5 Rf5+ Kd4 Rf7 b5 Kxh4 Kc3 Rf3+ Kc2 axb5 axb5 Kg4 Rd3 Rf5 b4

[Stewart Reuben]

Tickets for the World Chess Championship Match 2014 go on sale today. All proceeds will go to the 'Chess in Schools' program
October 29, 2014 -- Starting today, tickets for the upcoming World Chess Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand are available online. Spectators can purchase either tournament passes or tickets for a specific round. All proceeds from ticket sales will go to the ‘Chess in Schools’ program.

There is going to be a hundred seats in the playing hall in Sochi, but the venue can accommodate more spectators in the special visitors’ areas. Both English and Russian-language commentary areas will be available for free for those who want to follow the games live.

Limited number of free tickets will be distributed at the venue for children, chess federations and those spectators who are not prepared to purchase a regular ticket, but love chess.

The proceeds from ticket sales will go to ‘Chess in Schools’, an educational program established by FIDE to promote the game of chess among children. The program aims to make chess part of school curricula and help the development of early learning and strategic thinking skills. Many chess professionals and public figures already rally around the idea of chess as being part of school education.

The 2014 Chess Championship match between incumbent champion Magnus Carlsen and challenger Vishy Anand will take place between November 7 and 28 in Sochi, Russia. The World Chess Championship match is the most followed event in the world of chess and has an estimated live audience of over 3 million people. There are about 600 million chess players all over the world, with enthusiasts including Sergey Brin, George Soros, Bill Gates and Mikhail Gorbachev.

Tickets for the match can be booked at chess2014.ticketforevent.com.

For more information:
Masha Kunica
Media, World Chess Championship
[email protected]
Copyright © Agon Limited

For more information about the World Chess Championship Match 2014 visit www.sochi2014.fide.com

[Roger de Coverly]

There are about 600 million chess players all over the world

That might depend on what is meant by a chess player.

For a sceptical view on the reliability of this estimate see
http://streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.c ... f-fun.html

6 million allegedly in the UK. That's around 5,900,000 who have never had anything to do with the ECF or "serious" chess in the last twenty years, like for example playing in a graded game.

I'm guessing at around 100,000 as the total number of names in the ECF grading data since 1994. That count, whatever it is, is a verifiable number, as is the corresponding total for international players in the FIDE rating data.

[Chris Rice]

Tickets for the World Chess Championship Match 2014 go on sale today. All proceeds will go to the 'Chess in Schools' program
October 29, 2014 -- Starting today, tickets for the upcoming World Chess Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand are available online. Spectators can purchase either tournament passes or tickets for a specific round. All proceeds from ticket sales will go to the ‘Chess in Schools’ program.

I'll be interested to see how much of the revenue really does go to the worthy Chess in Schools project. I noted from the 2013 FIDE audited accounts published a couple of days ago that last year (2013) FIDE spent €129,101 (plus €4,000 specifically for the Chess in Schools project in Slovenia) on Chess in Schools while the FIDE President's personal travel budget ballooned to €211,594. Not that its much of an excuse but maybe some will say that it was election year? However in 2012 €50,000 was spent on the Chess in Schools project while the FIDE President's travel budget was €104,754 which Nigel Short was most vociferous about.

Even FIDE's own Verification Commission (which comment on the annual audited accounts) had something to say about it in June 2014. Head of that commission, Graham Boxall, stated under the heading Travel Expenses that:

"In our 2012 report we referred to the cost of funding travel for members of the Presidential Board. We note that in 2013 the travel cost of the President and his staff amounted to around €280,000, a sum which very greatly exceeded the amount in the previous year. While we applaud the good intentions behind a wish to spread FIDE's message as widely as possible, we recommend that consideration be given to agreeing a budget for such expenditure in future years."

[Stewart Reuben]

Bent Larsen once said you shouldn't make disparaging remarks about weaker players. It is all chess. TIF used (it may still do so) to do an annual survey. Their estimate about 4 million players in the UK. The question was framed as, 'Do you play chess these days?' That was taken to mean 4 or more times a year. It didn't have to be competitive chess as with the ECF. There is also online chess. One of my cousins was still playing quite regularly against his computer set at level 1.
How many people approximately know the rules is another interesting question. If you include those who may have forgotten them, that is a truly large number.

[Roger de Coverly]

How many people approximately know the rules is another interesting question. If you include those who may have forgotten them, that is a truly large number.

The same would apply to many mainstream sports or games. It doesn't imply participation or interest in a World Championship.

[JustinHorton]

. The World Chess Championship match is the most followed event in the world of chess and has an estimated live audience of over 3 million people. There are about 600 million chess players all over the world

A few other points that could be made:

a. how are they able to estimate the live audience before the match? (At least it's not a Susan Polgar type estimate, but still.)

b. if there really were 600 million of us, which of course there aren't, 1 in 200 for the world championship would be a pretty poor ratio, wouldn't it?

[JustinHorton]

By the way, where's Masha Yunica's statement from?

[Roger de Coverly]

By the way, where's Masha Yunica's statement from?

The official website is
http://www.sochi2014.fide.com/

The organisers are shown as http://www.sochi2014.fide.com/organizers/

The Match is organized by World Chess Events Corporation in partnership with Agon Limited.

"World Chess Events Corporation" has no Google presence.

Is it a relative of http://chessnewsagency.com/ ? (which has yet to be updated re the match apart from a piece about Kirsan inviting the stars of the Fischer film to Sochi)

[JustinHorton]

By the way, where's Masha Yunica's statement from?

The official website is
http://www.sochi2014.fide.com/

The organisers are shown as http://www.sochi2014.fide.com/organizers/

I'd managed to work that out. But not what page (if any) the statement came from.

[Stewart Reuben]

I think some people may have misunderstood. What I posted was a press release I received. I in no way offered an editorial opinion.
3 million live at the same time seems to me to be an exaggeration. For 10 games, 3 million people, means 300,000 per game. They do not say all at the same time. Many people will view all the games and will be counted separately each time.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

The build up is continuing and the players are making final preparations:

Anand: https://twitter.com/vishy64theking/stat ... 0269285377

No update at Carlsen's Arctic Securities blog since 1st September.

More active on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/MagnusCarlsen

He also has an Instagram account now...

http://instagram.com/magnus_carlsen

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Rather bizarre to compare the training techniques...

https://twitter.com/MagnusCarlsen/statu ... 3946559488

On a more serious note, Vishy has tweeted pictures of the venue and related matters:

https://twitter.com/vishy64theking

https://twitter.com/vishy64theking/stat ... 2420545536

Looking at Vishy's Twitter feed, I'm not sure if he is relaxed or nervous.

Over on the official site, we are told to follow the Instagram account:

http://www.sochi2014.fide.com/behind-the-scenes

[Christopher Kreuzer]

A minor historical note: it has been 24 years since the last WCC 'rematch' (though this is really the same opponents meeting, rather than an actual rematch, as Anand qualified as challenger by right).

[Stewart Reuben]

Christopher >A minor historical note: it has been 24 years since the last WCC 'rematch' (though this is really the same opponents meeting, rather than an actual rematch, as Anand qualified as challenger by right).<

Without looking it up, is that not wrong? 1986 Kasparov v Karpov was a rematch. After that Kasparov never relinquished his title until Kramnik 2000. Thus it is 28 years since a rematch and 24 years since the same two players are meeting again.

The repeated matchups are relatively rare. The second Alekhine v Bogoljubov match. Botvinnink v Smyslov second match. The second Petrosian -Spassky match. I am a bit giddy about the KvK matches. The second was uniquely a re-play.

According To Ray Keene, Kasparov crossed out the re-match clause from the contract in 2000. 'I'm going to win anyway.'

Were Anand to again win, his will be an unparalleled chequered (that's appropriate for our game) history. including the FIDE knockout championships.