Chess on TV

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Greg Breed
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Post by Greg Breed » Fri Sep 07, 2007 3:28 pm

Nigel Wright wrote:If money was no option I'd be happy to help do it :)
Those are the magic words Nigel... :roll:
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John Upham
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Post by John Upham » Sun Sep 23, 2007 3:53 pm

Reposted from the Development Thread....


Having watched the various late night poker TV shows, I wonder if late night chess might be of interest?:D

Does late night poker appeal to those who might like to take up poker but haven't yet? Maybe Stewart Rueben could comment authoritatively on this?

Provided it was tightly edited and presented (a Steve Davis / Andrew Martin double act) then chess could work provided that :

The games were Blitz or bullet with a commentary.

There was some focus on the individual players and that those chosen were socially acceptable to Joe Public.

There was interactive betting functionality on the blitz games

There was a beginners feature of around 5 minutes

There was a glamour element maybe with Kostenuik comparing the show. :wink:

Perhaps a feature on a recent exotically located tournament by Judith Chalmers (!)

In short, with enough variety and not too much technical chess (nothing on Q vs R endings for example) it could be made to work.

John
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Stewart Reuben
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Post by Stewart Reuben » Sun Sep 30, 2007 2:28 am

Of course poker on TV helped popularise the game, along with internet ply and the fact that poker is the most popular of all sports in the
US.
Chess in Britain used to be well-served on TV. First there was the David N ixon Series on ITV. Then the wonderful Master Game. Then the 1986 WC match in London sparked off about 100 programmes on chess. Then there was the 1993 match and also the Intel tournaments. Since then nothing at all.
Look up http://www.englishchess.org.uk/articles ... _mar03.htm for my somewhat out of date list of TV programmes I have in my archive and so shortly will Hastings Library.

We could get chess on such as Challenge TV. All we need is good programmes which will cost the broadcaster nothing. Say £20,000 for 30 minutes. You want a poker series on Channel 5. The sponsors have to pay about £50,000, in addition to production costs.
Chess sponsorship has become unfashionable. indeed football has sucked the blood out of sponsorship for lesser sports.
We score very heavily on web hits, but people who access information that way are already chessplayers.
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Nigel Wright
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Post by Nigel Wright » Mon Oct 01, 2007 9:52 am

Also, due to the more hectic lifestyles people lead these days, they have no time to watch/study chess in great detail, as I think either Marshall or Max Euwe once said something about having to study chess constantly, and have nothing else going on in their lives to be able to play at the highest level (I can't quite quote it exactly, and I'm a little rusty on who said it, but at the time they were contemplating quitting chess and committing suicide).

If chess was made more glamorous, then we might get an increase in popularity, but until BCM starts having Keeley or Jordan on it's front cover (or something along those lines), I fear we are doomed to fail at whatever we try.
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John Saunders
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Post by John Saunders » Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:13 pm

Sorry to sound like an out of touch high court judge, but who is Keeley? Do you mean Kylie? Jordan I have heard of, but we would need to move to A4 size in order to display her talents to the fullest.

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John Saunders
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Post by John Saunders » Wed Oct 03, 2007 7:31 pm

Within a few minutes of posting the above comment, I was advised by a famous doyen of British chess that Nigel Wright probably did mean Keeley and not Kylie. I am grateful for the link he indicated (which provides near conclusive proof) and also for the insight into how he whiles away the long winter evenings...

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Gavin Strachan
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Post by Gavin Strachan » Fri Oct 05, 2007 8:22 am

I thought he meant Keeney (Ray!). You could have the two K's Keeley and Keeney commentating; now that would be worth watching. Bring back "The Hitman and Her"!!!

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Greg Breed
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Post by Greg Breed » Sat Oct 06, 2007 12:03 am

Well we can watch Keeley and listen to Keeney
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Alan Ruffle
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Post by Alan Ruffle » Mon Oct 08, 2007 7:24 am

I believe that Greg Breed hits the nail on the head with his comments.

Chess is too difficult for none players to understand on the television. I have only seen one man present chess on the television with a spark of humour and provide the insight to allow a none player to understand which colour is winning and that’s Danny King.

Alan Ruffle

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Nigel Wright
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Post by Nigel Wright » Mon Oct 08, 2007 8:53 am

I'd like to see Steve Davis (the snooker guy) present it, as he'd be the humourous/witty guy, along with a dull 'analytical genius' like Nigel Davies or someone similar. Their contrasting styles would make an interesting show!
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Greg Breed
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Post by Greg Breed » Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:22 pm

And Keeley before and after the adverts!!! :D
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Nigel Wright
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Post by Nigel Wright » Wed Oct 10, 2007 11:29 am

I didn't realise Chess players had such dirty minds! lol :D
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Collin Smith
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Re: Chess on TV

Post by Collin Smith » Sun Apr 06, 2008 9:45 pm

The ECF has a Director of maketing, that has to be the starting point surely?
Blitz and rapidplay are the only formats that would work on TV.
With a good presenter like Danny King it could work, it could be like a chess variety show, with small segments on players, history, tournaments, openings and endgames etc costs could be partially covered through advertising.

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Charles W. Wood
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Re: Chess on TV

Post by Charles W. Wood » Thu Apr 10, 2008 5:26 pm

My opinion is simple on this front. Chess and TV will always struggle. It always becomes a teaching course, excitement and thrills put with chess is not going to happen. Some of the super coaches could just about get away with it but even then it would lose its appeal very quickly. Internet is the key, a production team can hammer out a great event and broadcast it with a few blows and punches. But would you like a camera crew at your next tournament, or even at the British Championships. It would put me off and I have a huge ego.
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John Upham
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Re: Chess on TV

Post by John Upham » Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:55 pm

Having watched the various late night poker TV shows, I wonder if late night chess might be of interest?

Does late night poker appeal to those who might like to take up poker but haven't yet?

Maybe Stewart Rueben could comment authoritatively on this?

Provided it was tightly edited and presented (a Steve Davis / Andrew Martin double act) then chess could work provided that :
  • The games were Blitz or bullet with a commentary.

    There was some focus on the individual players and that those chosen were socially acceptable to Joe Public.

    There was interactive betting functionality on the blitz games

    There was a beginners feature of around 5 minutes

    There was a glamour element maybe with Kostenuik comparing the show.:wink:

    Perhaps a feature on a recent exotically located tournament by Judith Chalmers (!)

    In short, with enough variety and not too much technical chess (nothing on Q vs R endings for example) it could be made to work.
John
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