Chess on Eurosport this evening

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Eoin Devane
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Chess on Eurosport this evening

Post by Eoin Devane » Thu Dec 06, 2018 8:17 pm

Flicking through the channels just now to see what sport is on, I was amazed to see chess amongst the offerings! :shock:

A one-hour highlights show from the World Championship is on Eurosport 2 at 9.30 tonight, and repeated on Eurosport 1 at midnight. It'll be great to see chess on the TV!

Andrew Martin
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Re: Chess on Eurosport this evening

Post by Andrew Martin » Thu Dec 06, 2018 9:42 pm

Highlights?

Oh dear.

Eoin Devane
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Re: Chess on Eurosport this evening

Post by Eoin Devane » Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:07 pm

I found it quite an enjoyable watch. Inevitably it was a bit of a rush to fit 15 games into the hour, so the commentary on the games felt fairly superficial, but nonetheless it gave a good overview of the key events (such as there were!) of the match. I thought the producers did a good job selecting interesting moments, although it would have been nice to have a bit more analysis of the rationale behind the moves. Splicing in GM tweets and player interviews did a good job of conveying the magnitude of the event. Another plus, as someone who followed the match through the excellent Chess24 commentary, was being able to see the actual video of the players. Overall, worth watching I’d say.

Roger de Coverly
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Re: Chess on Eurosport this evening

Post by Roger de Coverly » Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:48 pm

Eoin Devane wrote:
Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:07 pm
Overall, worth watching I’d say.
I think that Agon convinced Eurosport to add it to their pay channel on the basis that there were 600 million potential subscribers. Given that this is total rubbish, you wonder what the consequences will be when Eurosport find they've been duped.

A free to air highlights program was commonplace for every World Championship match from 1972 to 1993.

Eoin Devane
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Re: Chess on Eurosport this evening

Post by Eoin Devane » Fri Dec 07, 2018 12:01 am

Yes, the 600 million stat did unfortunately crop up (along with another one about “one billion app downloads”) in a five-minute marketing segment at the end. The main programme was much better than that end-piece, although that bit probably wasn’t aimed at chess fans.

A lot of the sports that Eurosport shows could be considered fairly niche (particularly in the UK) so I’m not sure that chess is hugely out-of-place. Giving coverage to sports beyond just football (e.g. the fabulous biathlon on at the moment) is one of the things I like most about Eurosport.

Roger de Coverly
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Re: Chess on Eurosport this evening

Post by Roger de Coverly » Fri Dec 07, 2018 12:15 am

Eoin Devane wrote:
Fri Dec 07, 2018 12:01 am
A lot of the sports that Eurosport shows could be considered fairly niche (particularly in the UK) so I’m not sure that chess is hugely out-of-place.
Eurosport has been around since the beginning of Sky over twenty years ago, although I think they fell out with Sky a while back. In the 1998 football World Cup, they would show all the obscure matches that BBC or ITV didn't cover. It used to be bundled with the basic Sky package.

In retrospect, the chess world got it badly wrong twenty years ago in not getting a foothold in the hours of satellite transmissions just waiting to be filled.

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JustinHorton
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Re: Chess on Eurosport this evening

Post by JustinHorton » Fri Dec 07, 2018 9:10 am

Problems on the h-file
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Chess on Eurosport this evening

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Fri Dec 07, 2018 10:51 am

"A lot of the sports that Eurosport shows could be considered fairly niche (particularly in the UK) so I’m not sure that chess is hugely out-of-place. ""

Yes - I think rodeo events have turned up there! But Eurosport have shown snooker and their commentators shut up during the shot unlike BBC...

So, thanks Eurosport from one of the 600 million.

Kevin O'Rourke
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Re: Chess on Eurosport this evening

Post by Kevin O'Rourke » Fri Dec 07, 2018 11:46 am

Will try and get it on catch up

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Chess on Eurosport this evening

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Fri Dec 07, 2018 1:10 pm

Roger de Coverly wrote:
Fri Dec 07, 2018 12:15 am
In retrospect, the chess world got it badly wrong twenty years ago in not getting a foothold in the hours of satellite transmissions just waiting to be filled
Hard to disagree there, maybe we were all still hoping for regular chess content on terrestrial TV at that point?
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

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JustinHorton
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Re: Chess on Eurosport this evening

Post by JustinHorton » Fri Dec 07, 2018 1:37 pm

Kevin Thurlow wrote:
Fri Dec 07, 2018 10:51 am
"A lot of the sports that Eurosport shows could be considered fairly niche (particularly in the UK) so I’m not sure that chess is hugely out-of-place. ""

Yes - I think rodeo events have turned up there! But Eurosport have shown snooker and their commentators shut up during the shot unlike BBC....
Indeed snooker was on before the chess programme when I watched it this morning.

I saw a lot of the Vuelta a España on Eurosport this summer. Before one transmission I remember watching sone fencing and having no more idea what was going on than most people probably do when watching chess, which may be a point to bear in mind. People may often watch sport without any real idea what is going on.
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

Kevin O'Rourke
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Re: Chess on Eurosport this evening

Post by Kevin O'Rourke » Fri Dec 07, 2018 2:32 pm

Any repeats on in the early hours of the morning?

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Chess on Eurosport this evening

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Fri Dec 07, 2018 6:34 pm

"Before one transmission I remember watching sone fencing and having no more idea what was going on than most people probably do when watching chess, which may be a point to bear in mind. People may often watch sport without any real idea what is going on."

Yes - anyone for Kabaddi? And you frequently get dire commentary. I recall watching hockey, where the (Olympic Gold Medallist for Hockey) commentator insisted that every time the umpire blew the whistle, it must have been for obstruction. And table tennis, when a player hit the ball in the base of the net, the commentator was derisive, presumably as he didn't know or understand just how much spin the opponent put on the ball...

So you need some sort of explanation and it really has to be fairly low-level (the rook is attacked so he must move it).

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