British Chess Magazine

[John Upham]

If by 'feedback' you mean discussion about how the online archive might be achieved, I'm afraid I haven't a clue. It's a very good idea though. I'd certainly be prepared to pay a subscription fee to be able to access the archive.

Jonathan,

That is exactly the kind of feedback we were hoping for!

Much appreciated.

Meetings are on-going...

[Jonathan Bryant]

Well, at the risk of tooting my own trumpet, I did just recently write a little something on the BCM that included the words,

"the BCM staff need to embrace the internet"

A full online archive is very good step in that direction I would say (and, I must confess much more ambitious - and better - than anything I had in mind).

[Adam Raoof]

Well, at the risk of tooting my own trumpet...

Is Tooting in Streatham or Brixton?

[Graham Borrowdale]

John,
A very ambitious project. As one who has BCMs back as far as about 1975, I occasionally buy copies going back further, when they come up on auction sites, etc. Typically a complete year (1960s so not that old) might fetch a few pounds, older often more, which is where I step aside and don't bid.
I am sure there would be a market, but the archive would have to get its pricing right, as we all know what happens when websites try to charge for content, however brilliant it might be.

[John Upham]

the archive would have to get its pricing right,

One possible model is for a subscription that gets you the hard copy magazine plus access to the normal web site
or a subscription that also includes access to the archive.

The are various technologies to prevent redistribution of pdf type documents (before anyone asks!). The archive subscriber will not be able to download content and then redistribute it (apart from printing it multiple times!).

[Alex Holowczak]

The are various technologies to prevent redistribution of pdf type documents (before anyone asks!). The archive subscriber will not be able to download content and then redistribute it (apart from printing it multiple times!).

Really? If I download a pdf, usually I can save it and then send it in an e-mail. Failing that, I can save it as a .doc (for example) and open it in my favourite word processing software. At which point, I can distribute it to all and sundry. What can you do that gets around this?

[John Upham]

What can you do that gets around this?

As a keen student of IT I will leave that for you to discover!

Think how you would do it from scratch.

Of course, it somewhat negates the "p" of "pdf"!

[Alex Holowczak]

What can you do that gets around this?

As a keen student of IT I will leave that for you to discover!

Think how you would do it from scratch.

Of course, it somewhat negates the "p" of "pdf"!

A keen student of IT?

[Jonathan Bryant]

I am sure there would be a market, but the archive would have to get its pricing right, as we all know what happens when websites try to charge for content, however brilliant it might be.

I regularly shell out for old BCMs and CHESS magazines too. I'd still be prepared to pay for an online archive, though, even if I had every BCM ever published (which I don't) just for the search facility which would be invaluable - assuming it was done properly, of course.

I agree with you that the pricing would have to be thought through carefully, but I'm perhaps less pessimistic. The issue of charging for content has a lot to do with whether the potential customer believes s/he can get the same thing elsewhere either for free or at the little 'cost' of waiting a bit.

e.g. paying for live transmission of games - and the games only - is unlikely ever to be a success because if you wait a few hours the moves will be downloadable from half the internet. News sites is another example - lots of them so why pay for one in particular?


Value added content and/or package deals are another matter though.



J

[Adam Raoof]

As a keen student of IT, there is no pdf document that cannot be unprotected and distributed illegally. However this doesn't mean that there is no merit in the idea, and that it can't be profitable.

[Andrew Farthing]

A couple of years ago, TobyChess, in conjunction with the USCF, offered a 4-DVD set containing pdfs of every issue of Chess Life (1946-1955), Chess Review (1933-1955 and 1956-1969) and Chess Life & Review (1969-1975).

I seem to remember that it cost about £25 at the time, which seemed like a tremendous bargain to me, since I would happily have paid that amount for any single bound volume from most of the period covered. I have no idea how well the DVD sets sold (the London Chess Centre certainly used to stock them but I don't know if they still do).

[Colin Patterson]

Opinions appear to be varying here, but to my mind, BCM was a good magazine in the 70s and an excellent magazine in the 80's (I'd put that down to Cafferty). Thereafter, I've preferred CHESS, although the fun and infectious tournament reports of the Nunn, Hodgson, Speelman era are I fear lost forever.

My favoured solution therefore, is (- please indulge my pipedream) for Nunn's Gambit company to take over BCM and appoint Julian Hodgson as exec editor, adopt an A4 format, emulate the quality of New In Chess and so as not to compete with them, give it a British/US/World (less European) appeal, in more or less equal measures. Interviews with big personalities, A where are they now? feature. Historical features. Test your ability. Coaching. Opening Articles. Everything EXCEPT long-winded reports of SuperGM tournaments - we've already followed them live and read the detailed results on TWIC. If it's essential to cover these events, then it requires a fresh angle - how about a mix of serious and comedic off-the-wall reporting? - I'd employ Trent and Gordon to do it. Nunn himself already takes blinding good photos of these events so they'll save a fortune on photographer bills!

Okay, I'm rambling on now, but it pains me to see BCM losing its way so badly. It needs to move with the times.

[Angus French]

I agree, a searchable archive is an excellent idea. The London Review of Books has this and it's an awesome resource.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I eventually got around to renewing my subscription for another year. Though I see the various websites and social media feeds (that I can see) seem a bit quiet. Wonder if they got the required number of subscriptions. I suppose I will get the April 2011 issue at least.

[John Upham]

I suppose I will get the April 2011 issue at least.

The April issue has been published for a few weeks. The May issue is nearing completion.