Candidates Tournament 2013

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Does anyone know how the draw was done?

Yes, it was done at the FIDE offices, but it took 3 attempts to meet the regulation that the Russian players have to play each other in the rounds 1-3 and 8-10

Is this detailed further in some reports somewhere that you could you point to?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I've been keeping an eye on http://www.locatetv.com/uk/listings and so far no sign of any Candidates coverage on either of the Sky Arts channels. Nothing chess-related on the Sky Arts website, either.

Current listings only go up to March 18, and these may of course not be set in stone.

But I remain curious as to what (if anything) to expect, especially after such a long time with no chess TV programming!

There's no TV coverage, at least none from Sunset & Vine for Sky Arts.

"I must apologise that you have been misinformed in this way. We have certainly been talking to the World Chess organisers and to Sky Arts, but nothing has ever been confirmed nor any commitments made. I don’t know how the journalist made these assumptions.
If you are interested I believe there will be a daily feed from the tournament on the internet.

Kind regards

John Leach
Managing Director
Sunset+Vine"

Oh dear. Is this a quote from personal correspondence, or on some webpage somewhere?

[Graham Borrowdale]

They are now offering a 20% discount on ticket prices for ECF members. Bad news for those who have already bought tickets, but it suggests sales might not be going as well as hoped?

I suspect the £25 price tag will have something to do with that, which makes it a £50+ day out for most people living outside of London (plus the price of a sandwich ). That and the fact that chessplayers tend to make plans late. I am sure there will be reasonable audiences once it gets going, especially Easter weekend.

[Roger de Coverly]

I suspect the £25 price tag will have something to do with that, which makes it a £50+ day out for most people living outside of London (plus the price of a sandwich

A world championship match or one claimed to be presumably can aspire to a higher price tag than a mere qualifier. Didn't the 1993 match start with high prices which were then reduced because of poor sales? I can't recall the actual final price though.

[Mick Norris]

Does anyone know how the draw was done?

Yes, it was done at the FIDE offices, but it took 3 attempts to meet the regulation that the Russian players have to play each other in the rounds 1-3 and 8-10

Is this detailed further in some reports somewhere that you could you point to?

http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/fide- ... e-pairings and somewhere else I can't remember

[Roger de Coverly]

There's no TV coverage, at least none from Sunset & Vine for Sky Arts.

http://www.ukgamesshop.com/Merchant2/do ... ivapdf.pdf

However, it’s the new presentation for television I am excited about. The renowned production company Sunset and Vine have been engaged to produce regular television programs which will initially air on the UK satellite channel Sky Arts.

This appears the first mention of the Sky Arts coverage which is on or before 4th Feb.


This was later picked up by Leonard Barden in the Guardian (15th Feb) and the piece in the Telegraph about Anand (27th Feb)

http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5182
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/fe ... -sportsman
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/989624 ... itain.html

[David Blower]

They are now offering a 20% discount on ticket prices for ECF members. Bad news for those who have already bought tickets, but it suggests sales might not be going as well as hoped?

Yes I read that email. No news on how to get your partial refund if you have already booked the tickets, which I would have expected tbh.

[Jonathan Rogers]

They are now offering a 20% discount on ticket prices for ECF members. Bad news for those who have already bought tickets, but it suggests sales might not be going as well as hoped?

Yes I read that email. No news on how to get your partial refund if you have already booked the tickets, which I would have expected tbh.

I wouldn't have expected it - the offer is designed to incentivise new customers. More generally, I imagine that many who are interested in going saw the prices as being a bit optimistic and deliberately waited for them to come down. It is possible too for consumers to learn from such events as Kasparov v Short 1993. (But chess players who similarly "waited" on tickets for the first London Chess Classic were in for a shock! That's because the prices were clearly reasonable or even very good value for money).

[Roger de Coverly]

A profile of Magnus and background material on the tournament by Stephen Moss in the Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/ma ... orld-title

[Carl Hibbard]

This a mess now is it?

[Matthew Turner]

I hope this event goes well, but the website just doesn't look good to me. The last (and only) press release is 15th Jan and the 'shop' isn't ready yet.
This tweet from Malcolm Pein is hardly encouraging

"Candidates commentary team being pared down first time I have been fired before I turned up #chess"

[Carl Hibbard]

I hope this event goes well, but the website just doesn't look good to me. The last (and only) press release is 15th Jan and the 'shop' isn't ready yet.

This tweet from Malcolm Pein is hardly encouraging

"Candidates commentary team being pared down first time I have been fired before I turned up #chess"

Mark Crowther tweeted:

You still buy tickets through the http://worldchess.com website. Results, games, live coverage are on http://london2013.fide.com

Look him up for a fuller feed...

[Simon Ansell]

As someone who lives in London and is fairly well-connected to the chess scene here, I haven't seen any advertising, anywhere (edit: excepting the ECF members email mentioned ITT, which was sent only a few days ago) - and I'd be much more likely than most to see it, if it exists. So it's hardly surprising they haven't sold any tickets, if that's the problem. Which I'm going to take a wild guess is the case.

[Jonathan Rogers]

Oh dear - and I was relying on all the Wood Green 2 players being gainfully employed there over the next 4NCL weekend.

But y'know, I was always wary of that American ...

[Ray Sayers]

The biggest problem with spending £25 or £30 on this event is I have no idea what I am getting!

I can't tell (unless I am missing something obvious) What the facilities are, events, commentators etc. The most I have been able to glean is that your money doesn't even guarantee you a seat - you may have to 'wait a while' for one!

If I'm just being thick, I would be grateful if someone could point me to the correct part of the site. But If I can't find it, I bet a lot of others can't.