English Chess Forum

There's been absolutely no mention of the world championship match on the BBC online news, just as there was no mention of last year's world championship tournament (or not until after it was all over).

It would be good if people could write to the BBC - it only takes five minutes - to complain about this, and perhaps to ask them why. If we don't ask for coverage it looks like we'll never get it.

Details of how to contact the BBC are here.

Thanks.

Well I submitted a response to the BBC stating my disgust at their total ignorance of the subject. Let's hope I'm not the only one...

Sort of a mention. Hurrah for jaa.

The BBC are really getting into chess now

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7701980.stm

Very occasionally, I get asked to do short phone interviews by BBC local radio stations. In fact, this coming Saturday I am due to be interviewed on BBC United Counties Radio for about 5 minutes (just after 10am they tell me, though these things tend to get moved around a bit) - I think it's just a general interview about chess, no specific subject. I've never been 'done' by this particular station before so will reserve judgement, but my other experiences of local radio have been very varied. I believe I have already recounted the one where I was asked about 'Armageddon chess'. This sinister but alluring name got Five Live a bit excited but the reality (as recounted by me) left them unimpressed.

On another occasion I was asked about the Kasimdzhanov-Adams world championship final by a regional radio station. The time allotted to this was very short and got even shorter when the interviewer made several unsuccessful attempts to pronounce the Uzbek grandmaster's name, leaving me only a few seconds to say something useful about chess before it was time to cut to something vastly more important (like the traffic news or a story about a skateboarding duck in Bromsgrove). However, I don't want to denigrate any radio station which picks up a chess story - at least they are making some sort of effort.

I have a soft spot for BBC Radio Wales as they tend to let you talk a bit longer than most and pay you the courtesy of a bit of research before conducting the interview. But the king of all radio stations as regards chess is definitely the BBC World Service. When there is a significant chess story, they do proper research, invite you into the studio and conduct a serious and often quite searching interview. The point is, I suppose, that their listeners include lots of non-British people who take chess seriously. I don't mind doing the frothy stuff (which can be good fun and helps to boost the game) but it is great when chess is accorded this level of respect.