2016 Candidates Moscow 10-29 March

[NickFaulks]

The ICC commentary is usually excellent. They've also been having problems getting the moves though.
.

Listening to their commentary you wouldn't know that.

[Chris Rice]

Nakamura has just blundered v Karjakin I think.

[JustinHorton]

Presumably missing 34. Rc7.

[NickFaulks]

ICC guys mentioned all kinds of insane continuations that didn't quite seem to work, then Naka played one of them. I really want to get a coffee, can't leave the screen.

[Chris Rice]

Nakamura shaking his head, that's Chess 24 coverage not on the official site where Boris Gelfand is being interviewed on his Aeroflot performance! I suspect the official site has lost the broadcast pictures again.

[Chris Rice]

Karjakin 1-0 Nakamura. Other games drawn.

[JustinHorton]

Did they add the last nine moves all in a rush, or do we think they were played like that?

[Chris Rice]

No idea really, coverage is a shambles. That must be a real body blow for Nakamura.

[Roger de Coverly]

Can't we talk about the chess instead of its broadcast?

One of the points being made by Agon is that you are not allowed to. In order to discuss a position, you have to show what it is you are discussing and probably the moves that lead to that position.


That should be challenged of course and Agon if they persist in this attitude be removed as far away as is possible from anything to do with running chess tournaments.

[David Sedgwick]

TWIC is Mark Crowther

If Mark no longer has support from Chess & Bridge ( I wasn't sure about that ) then I accept that his reluctance is reasonable.

The arrangement ended by mutual agreement about three years ago.

[Leonard Barden]

This afternoon I wrote to the Agon communications director pointing out the numerous complaints about the technical quality of the candidates website. I received this quick reply. He did attach the press release, but I was unable to copy and paste it. However, I guess the release text will be available shortly from other sources.


Thanks for getting in touch. We were victim of a serious denial of service attack by parties unknown yesterday. Basically, a denial of service attack is a coordinated effort to collapse a website by bombarding it with fake traffic.

As a result the website barely stayed up yesterday, resulting in the poor service you describe.

A press release from today provides the full details of what happened. Any suggestion that the broadcast was bad because of technical failings at our end are entirely without justification. We were the victim of a concerted effort to destroy the quality of our coverage.

Overnight we put in place additional measures to protect against a further attack today. As a result the website performed much much better with few, if any, justified complaints.

Our audience today was well into six figures, although we are still compiling the final number.

I can not stress enough that the problems concerning the website yesterday were not of our making! And we have invested heavily to make sure it won't happen again.

I would also argue strongly that a great many of the negative comments about the quality of the commentaries etc have been made by parties connected to one of the chess websites that are no longer allowed to profit from the investment in the sport made by Agon, as commercial rights holder.

I am not saying that the WorldChess website is perfect. We are listening to all feedback and issues like the display of the clocks on the main page are being addressed and changes will be made in the next 24-48 hours.

[Chris Rice]

I was informed yesterday that this is complete rubbish. It was almost certainly that the load testing was not done properly and the site fell down exactly as many had predicted it would. "Serious denial of service attack" has become the oldest tech excuse in the game.

[Jonathan Bryant]

Is Chessbomb frozen? It seems to be showing the same positions on my smartphone that I could see on my laptop more than half an hour ago.

Same problem here. If this continues, I might as well take my son to see Kung Fu Panda 3.

Well don't take him to see Anomalisa whatever you do. It's puppets but take a child to see it and you'll end up with an appointment with Social Services.

Ps: do you think the candidates are ever going to stopcock teasing and play a proper Berlin?

[Matt Mackenzie]

You mean a BERLIN WALL, I presume?

[Roger de Coverly]

You mean a BERLIN WALL, I presume?

Topalov took on e4 against Svidler, but Svidler replied with 5. Re1 rather than 5. d4 .