e2e4 Uxbridge International : 11th - 15th August 2010

[Gareth Harley-Yeo]

I'm really hoping somebody with more patience and time on their hands will write out the draw after the lotto to save my little brain!

[Sean Hewitt]

I'm really hoping somebody with more patience and time on their hands will write out the draw after the lotto to save my little brain!

That would be me. But at least you can check it and know it's not a fix

[Sean Hewitt]

I'm really hoping somebody with more patience and time on their hands will write out the draw after the lotto to save my little brain!

Done

[Matthew Turner]

Are there any live games from Uxbridge?

[Carl Hibbard]

Are there any live games from Uxbridge?

I suspect not no, you really need a techie on site to organise it as the DGT boards (and software...) are so unreliable

Sean?

[Adam Raoof]

Are there any live games from Uxbridge?

I suspect not no, you really need a techie on site to organise it as the DGT boards (and software...) are so unreliable

Sean?

Sean is technically capable of running DGT boards, and has done so in the past.

[Carl Hibbard]

Sean is technically capable of running DGT boards, and has done so in the past.

Not quite true, it's a struggle and you need to watch the boards all of the time - it's not possible to have other duties at the same point and still expect it to run smoothly

[Adam Raoof]

Sean is technically capable of running DGT boards, and has done so in the past.

Not quite true, it's a struggle and you need to watch the boards all of the time - it's not possible to have other duties at the same point and still expect it to run smoothly

Apologies, I thought Sean had. So who in the UK is actually technically capable?

[Carl Hibbard]

Apologies, I thought Sean had. So who in the UK is actually technically capable?

Anyone of a decent technical level with the patience of a saint...

If DGT go fully wireless boards and a decent online PGN viewer instead of what currently exists things would be a lot easier to organise

[Sean Hewitt]

Sean is technically capable of running DGT boards, and has done so in the past.

Not quite true, it's a struggle and you need to watch the boards all of the time - it's not possible to have other duties at the same point and still expect it to run smoothly

Apologies, I thought Sean had. So who in the UK is actually technically capable?

You are correct Adam. I have done DGT boards in Gibraltar and at the last Uxbridge International I did them as well as organise and arbit - though I got Dave Clayton in to set them up as I simply did not have the time! We have had no failures (even one round or part thereof) at any of these events.

There are no DGT boards here this time though because there is no added value to the players and I can't justify effectively charging the players something in their entry fee to cover this cost. I experimented with asking for donations of £3 last time but so few people made a donation that I can only assume that most people watching at home think live transmission is worthless. So we won't be doing it again.

[Adam Raoof]

Shame - how much would it cost, say for the Young Masters?

[Sean Hewitt]

For any nine round event you would need to cover the cost of travel for someone like Dave Clayton, 4 nights accommodation and some food. Assuming that said person didn't want a fee for their time you are probably talking £400.

[Sean Hewitt]

Short game for Keith today. Only 64 moves

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I'm actually following this tournament as a friend of mine is playing in one of the Major sections, so I can check that as well as seeing if anyone in the Challengers or Masters sections succeeds in making any sort of breakthrough. As they are all-play-all sections, it looks quite different to the Sunningdale event I played in May 2010 (which was excellent, by the way).

Sean, have you ever had anyone who is playing in your tournaments pop up on the forums and complain about anything *during* the event as opposed to after the event?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

[on live game transmissions]

I experimented with asking for donations of £3 last time but so few people made a donation that I can only assume that most people watching at home think live transmission is worthless. So we won't be doing it again.

You would probably need a sponsor for this, and you would need to show them there was an audience for this. Trouble is, chess players watching chess games don't tend to buy anything after watching the game. Unless some enterprising chess seller could match adverts for books to the players and openings in the games being transmitted!

Talking of technology, have you ever considered the Monroi game entry thingies? Imagine if one day instead of a mobile phone ban, people entered their chess games on their phones using some sort of app (application for those not familiar with phone software) that simultaneously transmitted them to some internet place that did something with them, and after the game finishes, you and your opponent could read what people had been saying about your game, as well as go through a computer-prepared post-mortem. The app would also post the game to your social media site of choice, so by the time you got home, comments from others would be ready and waiting as well!

It would be a different sort of world, wouldn't it?