Carlsen - Anand 2014

[Chris Rice]

Bit more on Sutovsky's conversation with KI:

“I told him that it cannot be that the world's strongest player can be forfeited for this deadline," said Sutovsky. "He said that every day the deadline is extended, it is harder to organize the match. It was a friendly conversation.”

The FIDE President and Sutovsky eventually agreed on a new deadline: September 7, right after the end of the Sinquefield Cup.

Sutovsky: “This doesn't ensure the contract will be signed, but it was important to give them some time.”

Right after the phone call, Ilyumzhinov signed a formal letter and sent it to Sutovsky, who forwarded it to Carlsen's manager.

“Agdestein replied that he had received it. He will contact me later,” said Sutovsky.

[Roger de Coverly]

Bit more on Sutovsky's conversation with KI:

“I told him that it cannot be that the world's strongest player can be forfeited for this deadline," said Sutovsky. "He said that every day the deadline is extended, it is harder to organize the match. It was a friendly conversation.”

That logic is a little suspect, given that Karjakin is lined up as a replacement, presumably on the original dates.

It's some fundamental details that are still missing, isn't it? Like where it will be and who or what is financing it?

There was an announcement that it would be in the Olympic village, which some reports now suggest has been abandoned with no immediate signs of legacy use.

[Leonard Barden]

From chess.com:

Update: Carlsen's manager Agdestein told VG that the 7 September date is “not very helpful” as “[Magnus] has to think about this the whole tournament.” Agdestein also stated that they had in fact asked for 17 September.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

And looking at Carlsen's performance so far, it looks like he has been somewhat distracted by all this, which is not surprising. Sad, really, that FIDE didn't deal with all this earlier, but maybe that was a knock-on effect of organising a WC match in an election year.

[Roger de Coverly]

Carlsen has now signed, so it's down to FIDE and the Sochi organisers, whoever they are, to actually deliver a match.

http://www.fide.com/component/content/a ... -2014.html

[NickFaulks]

One match of twelve games, how hard can it be? It's not an Olympiad! The arrangements are hopefully already made, since they've known about it since June.

http://www.fide.com/component/content/a ... sochi.html

[Roger de Coverly]

The arrangements are hopefully already made, since they've known about it since June.

Is any more known about the detail, than was known in June? Holding an event in an abandoned Winter Olympic village can be problematic as was discovered by some of the participants at the Turin Olympiad.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Even if important stuff is still to be decided, this is excellent news which all true chess fans should welcome

[Chris Rice]

Details slowly being worked out:

The organizing committee of the FIDE World Championship Match between Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand has chosen Sochi Media Center as playing venue for the event. http://www.chessdom.com/sochi-media-cen ... sen-anand/

[Chris Rice]

More details:

Media accreditation open for the match Carlsen – Anand

The 2014 FIDE World Chess Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand will be held on 7-28th November in Sochi, Russia.

AGON has set a page for members of the media to receive accreditation and request assistance with visas and other issues.

The Match will take place in the Sochi Olympic Village. AGON has arranged a special rate with the hotels that are close to the venue and will host the delegations and some of the Match activities.

All members of the media will have unlimited access to the press center located at the venue. You will need to go through a one-time verification process when you arrive.

Press center features:

Wi-Fi
Refreshments
Light snack
Easy access to the press conference area
Computer stations
Printer/scanner/fax
Desks and chairs
Computer monitors with live broadcast of the games

Of other news, NRK.no announced that it has secured the rights to broadcast the FIDE World Chess Championship, in collaboration with VG.no.

http://www.chessdom.com/media-accredita ... sen-anand/

[Roger de Coverly]

More details:

It does at least seem as if the necessary steps are being taken to make sure a match takes place and there is media coverage of it. The missing gap is who is paying for it; the sale of television rights and entry charges for spectators are not usually enough.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Putting to one side the organisation of the match (and fingers crossed there are no distractions from that), any thoughts about how each player might be approaching their opening preparations. What might we reasonably expect to see? A closer match than last time? More risks from either player?

[Chris Rice]

The Chairman of the Organising Committee for the match has been announced as Arkady Dvorkovich. He's the Russian equivalent of Nick Clegg...

Carlsen-Anand Match: Arkady Dvorkovich is Chairman of the Organizing Committee Oct 7, 2014

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich will be the Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the FIDE World Championship Match Carlsen-Anand in Sochi.

This information has been confirmed to ITAR-TASS by the FIDE President assistant Berik Balgabaev.

“Arkady Dvorkovich is well known in the chess world, and has extensive experience after organizing a number of top chess tournaments in Russia in recent years,” Balgabaev said.

FIDE Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos said – “We are delighted that such a respected man will head the organizing committee. The Dvorkovich family was active in chess for many years in the Board of Trustees of the Russian Chess Federation. FIDE is confident that the match will be of the highest level, as all the major tournaments that were recently held in Russia”.

Dvorkovich is member of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Chess Federation.

[Lewis Martin]

The Chairman of the Organising Committee for the match has been announced as Arkady Dvorkovich. He's the Russian equivalent of Nick Clegg...

High praise for Nick Clegg!

Seems the Russians really are taking this seriously compared to other governments.

[Chris Rice]

Nearly there now. Game 1 8th November with commentators Simon Williams and Nick Pert.
http://en.chessbase.com/post/world-cham ... e-to-sochi