Three and a Half Cycles

While preparing for the previous post (see the last link below, 'Berlin Candidates - Wrapup'), I assembled a collection of links to similar posts for past events. This was primarily with an eye on maintaining consistency, but the list has other uses, too.

C25: Candidates

• 2013-03-27: London Candidates - Second Week • Includes links to Chessbase & Chessvibes reports for all rounds.
• 2013-04-10: London Candidates - Wrapup

C25: Title Match

• 2013-12-03: Carlsen - Anand, Chess Press Overview • Chessbase & Chessvibes
• 2013-12-04: Carlsen - Anand, Wrapup

C26: Candidates

• 2014-04-09: Khanty-Mansiysk Candidates - Wrapup • also 'Chess Press Overview': Chessbase & Chessvibes

C26: Title Match

• 2014-12-09: Carlsen - Anand II, Chess Press Overview • Chessbase & Chess.com
• 2014-12-10: Carlsen - Anand II, Wrapup

C27: Candidates

• 2016-04-13: Moscow Candidates - Wrapup • also 'Chess Press Overview': Chessbase & Chess24

C27: Title Match

• 2016-12-13: Carlsen - Karjakin, Chess Press Overview • Chessbase & Chess.com
• 2016-12-14: Carlsen - Karjakin, Wrapup

C28: Candidates

• 2018-04-19: Berlin Candidates - Chess Press Overview • Chessbase & Chess.com
• 2018-04-25: Berlin Candidates - Wrapup

C28: Title Match

• 2018-11-xx: Carlsen - Caruana, London

Only six months to wait before I can start filling in that last list...

Berlin Candidates - First Week

As I write this, three rounds of the 2018 Candidates Tournament, Berlin have been played. At this point in past Candidate tournaments, I displayed a crosstable and added a bit of commentary. Let's do it differently this time. Given the results of the last three Candidate tournaments, what do the current standings say about each player's chance of ultimately winning the event?

The following chart shows the cumulative score by round for each of the last three tournaments. If the details are too small to read, you can find the same tables on three pages:-

• 2013 London
• 2014 Khanty-Mansiysk
• 2016 Moscow

The winners of each event are circled in red (in 2013 Carlsen beat Kramnik on tiebreak), as are the players with a plus score after round 3. I've also indicated the leaders after round 7, the halfway point of the tournament, when the participants have played each other once.

In all three tournaments, the eventual winner was from the group of players who had a plus score after round 3. The winner was also one of the leaders after the first half of the tournament. The following table shows the leaders after round 3 in the 2018 Berlin Candidates.

2.5 Kramnik
2.0 Caruana, Mamedyarov
1.5 Ding Liren, Grischuk
1.0 Aronian, Karjakin
0.5 Wesley So

If past is prologue (it's usually not!), then the eventual winner will be one of Kramnik, Caruana, or Mamedyarov. It's curious to note that in each of the last three events, GM Aronian was one of the leaders at mid-point, then faltered in the second half. It's also curious that the ultimate winning score was always 8.5-5.5, or plus-three as they say in the lingo.

World Championship, Oslo 2018

From newsinenglish.no:-

• 2017-06-09: Carlsen can’t defend his title at home

'Norway’s World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen was disappointed when he was told, right after tying another match at the Norway Chess tournament now underway in Stavanger, that he won’t be able to defend his title on home turf next year. Oslo has been dumped as a potential host city for the next World Chess Championship, with its arranger and the Norwegian government arguing over the reason why.'

From facebook.com/theworldchess/videos:-

2017-06-09: Video by Ilya Merenzon, World Chess CEO, regarding the statement of why the Match is not happening in Oslo in 2018.

From translate.googleusercontent.com -> chess-news.ru:-

• 2017-06-09: Norway again remained without a match

From chess.com/article KajaMSnare

• 2017-06-11: The Day They Killed Magnus Carlsen's Dream

'Right now the culture differences are too massive. Norwegian bureaucracy and fastidiousness versus FIDE's and Agon's strictly-business approach and suspicious hesitation to show transparency. Stuck in the middle: Magnus Carlsen's dream of winning the World Chess Championship title where it all started. The dream of gathering the entire nation around chess -- because it would. Nothing could match the intense pressure, success, eventual lifting of the trophy, and singing the national anthem together with 100.000 Norwegians, showing him how proud he makes them.'

For more about Kaja Snare on this blog, see Carlsen - Karjakin, the Second Week (November 2016); on my main blog, see World Championship Closing Ceremony (December 2016).

Notes on C06, C07, C27, and C28

In my previous post, An Organization of Amateurs, I gave Larsen's point-of-view on the organization of the Spassky - Larsen semifinal match, Malmo, July 1968. After that match Larsen went on to a playoff match against Tal for 3rd place in the Candidates series of that cycle. In March 1969, he beat Tal 5.5-2.5 (+4-1=3) and had this to say in Chess Life, May 1969 (p.180).

The 1968 Candidates Matches ended with a match between Tal and me, played in the little Dutch town of Eersel (near Eindhoven). According to the FIDE rules, it should have been played in September, but FIDE's attitude seems to be one of happiness that it was played at all. In fact, the official minimum prizes for this event, 500 and 300 Swiss francs, do not encourage the players to play it. In Eersel, the prizes were better, 1500 and 1000 Dutch guilders, but there is the funny point that in the same place, with the same sponsor (a cigar factory), there was played at the same time a match between Grandmaster Kavalek and the Dutch Champion, Ree (Kavalek won 7-3), with higher prizes, 2500 and 1500 guilders. The Dutch Chess Federation thought it would be considered an unkind gesture towards FIDE to propose such high prizes for an official FIDE match!

This little story well illustrates what FIDE is doing to professional chess masters. FIDE expects World Championship candidates to sacrifice a lot of time and energy -- remember, they must not only play these matches, but also prepare only them -- but it would like them to do it as amateurs. A FIDE World Champion should have a millionaire father or government support!

And he should be ready to let FIDE humiliate him again and again. After losing this match, ex-World Champion Tal, if he wants to try again, must start in the semifinals of the Soviet Championship!! While from other zones players reach the Interzonal who have no chances and no ambitions in connection with the World Championship. What a system!

It's worth noting that in a semifinal match of the previous cycle, Tal had won against Larsen 5.5-4.5 (+3-2=5); see 1964-66 Candidates Matches. Larsen went on to a playoff match for 3rd place against Geller. Larsen won 5.0-4.0 (+3-2=4). In two consecutive cycles seeking a challenger to World Champion Petrosian, Larsen emerged as the fourth best player in the world, although Fischer did not compete in either cycle.

***

While I'm touching on the subject of zonal qualification, it's also worth noting that FIDE's World Cup 2017 -- the next step in the current World Championship cycle -- starts 2 September, in Tbilisi, Georgia. The zonal qualifications are still underway. In the previous cycle, I used a series of posts to document the zonal step.

• 2015-09-09: C27 Zonals
• 2015-09-16: C27 Zonals Indexed
• 2015-09-23: C27 Zonal Clippings 2014
• 2015-09-30: C27 Zonal Clippings 2015
• 2016-01-27: C27 Zonal Rating Reports
• 2016-02-03: C27 Zonal Links
• 2016-02-10: Regulations for Qualifiers C27
• 2016-02-17: Zonal Qualifiers C27 - Qualification Paths

I expect to do the same for the current cycle (C28).

FIDE's Finances

From Jorge Vega, FIDE Continental President, the Americas, President Report, Barbados (fideamerica.com; 26 December 2016):-

Politics: Actually we do not see an active opposition to our management. Those who in the past criticized due to destructive personal power ambitions have virtually disappeared, perhaps beaten by internal setbacks, freeing everyone from the waste of time that was fighting lies and rumours. I can feel proud of the unity shown by our members who have made America the strongest political bloc that exists in FIDE.

In the FIDE context, the situation is more complicated because the President, Mr. [Kirsan Ilyumzhinov], continues to be sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department, a sanction that has been in force for more than a year and is not seen to be over in the short term. In order to avoid FIDE being blocked by the Treasury Department, the President passed all the executive powers that the investiture of the position means to the Deputy President, Mr. Geogios Makropoulos, in November 2015, being in practice like President with license. Although Mr Iljumzjinov has reiterated on several occasions that he will run to re-election in 2018, it is not clear how he will be able to do so if the sanction persists without putting FIDE in serious financial danger.

For the aforementioned, it is not surprising that in a relatively short period of time, candidates for the FIDE Presidency will emerge.

In the first paragraph, is he referring to GM Kasparov? Later in the same statement:-

Financial: The situation is complicated, as predicted in previous meetings. The fall in oil prices and the strength of the dollar hit our economies resulting in a reduction in participation in official events that consequently reduces CCA's revenues. [...]

Referring to FIDE we find that its financial situation is worrying, the factor that aggravates this is due to the repeated failures of AGON, the company to which FIDE has awarded the organization of the events belonging to the cycle of the World Championship, which does not comply with its payments to FIDE for this concession or does only partially, seriously affecting the stability of the FIDE budget.

This affects us directly as FIDE has consequently modified the development allocations to DEV/CCA and/or delayed transfer dates. In view of this situation, I have written to the Deputy President Mr. Makropoulos requesting, in strong terms, to cancel the contract with the company AGON given the inability of the same to fulfill its obligations within the stipulated time. I hope that the next meeting of the Presidential Board will address this issue.

Although our Treasurer will make a more detailed explanation, 1 can report that CCA operates in black numbers, which should not be a reason for not worrying but always keeping us alert to avoid any unforeseen situations.

The summary was made for the CCA Board Meeting, 9 January 2017, where we find similar statements:-

Minutes CCA Board Meeting, Barbados 2017; [...; Allan Herbert, Treasurer] noted the current situation of U.S. sanction with the FIDE President have us very worried for the future. We have supported the president in all FIDE campaigns. America has always been viewed as the bed rock of the FIDE president's campaign. The longer this problem prevail, the more difficult to project the future. [...] The situation in FIDE is very serious; the U.S. Treasury might block our accounts after the elections if FIDE President remains under sanctions. The new U.S. government can be very unpredictable.

On my main blog, I've used previous statements by Jorge Vega to understand politics within FIDE. For example:-

FIDE Election: Four More Years (August 2014) • 'Let's go back to November 2013 and re-read an interview posted by Chessdom.com: Jorge Vega, Continental President for Americas, about upcoming elections.'

Spectating the 86th FIDE Congress (September 2015) • 'Jorge Vega, the president of FIDE America, played a key role in last year's election between Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Garry Kasparov. His thoughts on that election are an important part of the historical record.'

The statements about Agon remind of a Peter Doggers report from last summer, Is FIDE Going Bankrupt? (chess.com; August 2016):-

The financial accounts for 2015 show an alarming decrease of the World Chess Federation's assets. An extensive reform of FIDE's internal structure seems inevitable to guarantee a healthy continuity.

This information is a supplement to my post on 2016 FIDE Congress : Whither the World Championship, earlier this month.

ACP WCC Survey 2017

Last year on my main blog I posted about the ACP Survey 2016 (February 2016; ACP: 'the most detailed opinion poll related to the professional chess ever released') and the Survey 2016 - Results (April 2016). The ACP is the Association of Chess Professionals (chessprofessionals.org), and for the start of this year the group produced a World Championship Format Poll and a Summary of the General Assembly of the ACP and Polls.

The poll ties in nicely with last week's WCC post, How to Break a Match Tie? Here is a summary of the results. The last column shows the number of responses received by the ACP.

***

Q6: Which format do you prefer determining the World Champion?
Match	92%	421
Tournament	8%	35
Q7: If you prefer to have a tournament, what would be the best format?
8 players double round robin	58%	76
KO Format	21%	28
Other (please specify)	21%	27
Q8: If you prefer matches, please answer the following questions: How many games do you think is optimal to award the WCh title in a match?
12	11%	47
16	53%	236
20	20%	89
Other (please specify)	16%	72
Q9: Which time control do you think is best for a WCh match?
100’x40 moves + 50’ x 20 moves + 15’ with 30” increment from move 1	37%	168
90’x40 moves + 30’ with 30” increment from move 1	20%	89
120’x40 moves + 60’x20 moves + 15’ with 30” increment from move 61	34%	155
Other (please specify)	9%	39
Q10: In case of a tie at the end of the match, you would prefer?
The title stays with the Champion.	34%	153
The title is awarded based on rapid/blitz playoffs	48%	218
Other (please specify)	18%	79
Q11: In case you think rapid/blitz playoffs should be used in the WCh title match - what would your preference be?
Tie breaks should be played after the regular games.	38%	119
Tie breaks should be played before the regular games.	62%	194
Q12: In case you think rapid/blitz playoffs should determine the WCh title, what would your preference be?
All tie break games should be played in one day	36%	113
Tie break games should be played in 2 days.	64%	199

***

Except for Q9 (time control), where I have no preference, and Q12 (days to play rapid/blitz playoffs), which I've never thought about, my responses would be the same. I especially like the idea behind Q11 (playoffs after/before the regular games) of playing tiebreak before the match starts. This would give one of the players an advantage in case of a tied match, which would force the other player to win at least one game.

How to Break a Match Tie?

On my main blog I wrote a couple of posts about the last two playing days of the recent 2016 Carlsen - Karjakin title match:-

• World Championship Fizzle • 'Half an hour to play the last game of the match!'
• World Championship Sizzle • 'Before game 12 even started, Carlsen had planned the fizzle to give himself a head start in preparing for the tiebreaks.'

I wasn't surprised to find that my 'fizzle' opinion was shared many informed observers of the chess world. GM Yasser Seirawan -- who competed in five Interzonals, two Candidate events, and the first of the FIDE Knockout championships -- wrote a three part series on Chessbase.com that received dozens of comments:-

A Radical Solution • 'Still reeling from the 35-minute punch of Game 12 of the "Classical" World Chess Championship match [...] Let the players have a 13-game match. The player with the extra game with the Black pieces has "draw-odds" in the match.'

A Radical Solution - Redux • 'I'd consider it a massive improvement if the next World Championship Match were a 15-game contest with the player who is given the extra game with the Black pieces at the drawing of lots ceremony having draw-odds.'

A Radical Solution - Final Thoughts • 'So where do I stand on all of this?
A. The [World Championship match] is too short.
B. The World Championship title is losing prestige.
C. These developments are not coincidental or inevitable.
D. My proposal:
   a. Play a 17-game match.
   b. The Challenger gets the extra White.
   c. The Champion retains the title in the event of a tie.
   d. The Challenger chooses when to play the extra White game.'

Despite the mission creep across the articles (13 games to 15 to 17) and some refinements, the basic idea is to play a match with an odd number of games. In his last article, GM Seirawan included a shoutout to two other prominent GMs, 'Big thank you to both GM Emil Sutovsky and GM Maurice Ashley for contributing with their articles about the format' (also on Chessbase.com):-

• Match format: Sutovsky vs Seirawan
• Maurice Ashley: 12 Games Are Enough!

While this discussion was going on, the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) conducted a poll to determine the thoughts of its members. I'll discuss that in my next post.

2016 FIDE Congress : Whither the World Championship?

A year and a month after 2015 FIDE Congress : Whither the World Championship? (December 2015), what can we learn from Spectating the 87th FIDE Congress (December 2016)? In that '2015 Whither?' post, as well as previous yearly 'Whither?' posts, much of the news came from the annual report delivered by FIDE President Ilyumzhinov. In 2016, the focus shifted to Agon. The first point from the 87th FIDE Congress; Baku, Azerbaijan; General Assembly; 11-13 September 2016; MINUTES, was about Agon's transparency:-

4.2. Agon Limited

Mr. Makropoulos [FIDE Deputy President] informed the General Assembly that as appeared in the EB minutes, he has sent a letter where he was asking Agon to establish a corporate structure in one of the following jurisdictions: European Union, United Kingdom, United States or Canada. Because of issues of transparency FIDE would have preferred if they have established this corporate structure in one of these areas. His letter has been approved.

Mr. Merenzon [Agon CEO] said in the next few months they will register Agon in United Kingdom and all financial and ownership details about the company will be public. The General Assembly ratified the recommendation of the Executive Board for FIDE to send a letter to Agon regarding jurisdiction of the company and sign the same agreement with the new entity.

The General Assembly ratified the recommendation of the Executive Board for FIDE to send a letter to Agon regarding jurisdiction of the company and sign the same agreement with the new entity.

Annex 94 is a presentation from Agon.

All annexes can be found by following the links in my 'Spectating' post. I captured part of the presentation in a post on my main blog Agon Presentation (September 2016). One slide I hadn't seen before is shown below.

Official National Sponsor Package
Sponsorship of the National Player

The next paragraph explains further.

Mr. Merenzon presented his report. He started with the changes in the Grand Prix format. From now 24 players can take part in the Grand Prix Series instead of 12 and it will last 11 days instead of 16. He said they are setting up a sponsorship model where FIDE and local federations have sponsors. They are also paying for the prize fund so it will be much cheaper to organize an event. At the same time they have the idea to sell sponsorships not only for the events but for the players. The cycle is planned to be exactly 2 years which makes things easier for the sponsors.

Regarding the upcoming World Championship match in New York, he presented the venue. He also said that VIP area will become a main revenue stream as they will sell access to it. The area will have good catering, special guests like celebrities and commentators which will make it a great experience. They are partners with an agency which is called CAA (Creative Artists Agency). It is the most famous sports agency in the world selling hospitality packages for Formula 1, top football clubs etc and now they will offer hospitality packages for chess and they will test it as a revenue opportunity. They are also changing the spectators' area. The players will be playing in a sound proof glass box so the experience of enjoying chess as a spectator will be completely different, spectators will be free to use their phones, talk and discuss the moves. They tried this in Moscow during the Candidates Tournaments, it worked fine and they are now improving on this method.

They are working with FIDE to make sure that anti-cheating rules are followed and at the same time the visitors are being taken care of. Another thing they are doing is that every day there is going to be first move ceremony in the Match, they are bringing celebrities, members of charities and other important people, so they are making it a media event in every first move. He also introduced new technology decisions for the match. They have developed a new broadcasting system and they are also working for protecting the moves legally. In Moscow they banned all other sites from broadcasting moves.

Their point was that according to laws which apply in Russia, USA and other countries, if it costs money to produce an event those who spend the money [own] the live broadcast. They worked with a top US law firm to produce a legal opinion on this and also spoke to US Southern Court which confirmed that they are right. What they will be doing now is something different, there is currently a new reality in chess, the game has over 1 billion downloads, chess is in almost all smartphones and the number of people playing chess has increased dramatically.

For the first time in any sports the World Championship is going to be broadcasted in 360 degrees virtual reality. That means that everyone around the world can download the application and be in the room with the players. They can be closer to the action than ever before. The cameras will be placed between the players so the match could be seen through the player's eyes. They can also wear 3D glasses. The cardboard with the glasses will just cost a dollar. They are producing a lot of them to give them to schools and also inside the venue. They will also have multiple cameras inside the playing room to choose from.

Regarding the dashboard, he said that they have been criticized for not offering the best online viewers experience so they worked with FIDE and other chess organizers and he believes they developed the best possible dashboard for chess, there is analytics, chats, multifunctional boards and other great features. They are also introducing [pay per] view like many other sports have done. There will still be free version as well, anyone can go into the official website and follow the moves but if somebody would like to get premium features like the 360 degrees video, they are charging for it. The model is call freemium. For him this is the best approach to make chess sustainable in the 21st century.

They are building a studio and it is going to be fun to watch chess which means it will not be targeted only to chess players. It is also the first World Chess Championship for the iPhone generation. In general the price for the premium features (right to ask online questions during press conferences, analytics, 360 degrees video etc) will be 15 dollars for the whole tournament, for 45 dollars they are selling subscription to the next cycle which includes the next Championship Match, all the Grand Prix and the Candidates Matches, for 99 dollars they will sell all of that plus premium gifts like signed posters, pins and other souvenirs.

He said that Mr. Carlsen is a huge supporter of this concept. He thinks chess will never go back to free and that this approach creates good reasons for the federations to develop their membership. So building communities and offering to their members subscriptions for events will be a way to bring revenue to the federations and further to the whole sport.

He explained that generally chess has a huge potential and the market size is very big, there are 300.000 paying subscribers in top 5 chess sites, 4.4 million who follow chess events and the overall market is even bigger, 35 million who regularly play chess online on top 5 sites. According to US studies, more people play chess than tennis and golf combined so the marketing opportunity is amazing. They would like to get partnerships with federations so they will send them an email with the option of signing up. They will offer affiliate programs. They will use selected partners: federations, major medias and chess websites so they will be able to follow the games on their media if they want to but if they prefer premium subscription the federation or the chess site will get commission.

This was followed by a Q&A where the 'protection of live transmission rights' was the main topic. Two months after the Congress, Agon's position was struck down by the courts; see my post World Championship Bullying (November 2016), for more on this.

The Grand Prix changes mentioned in the first paragraph above are also significant. Let's skip ahead in the minutes to the discussion of the group sometimes called the WCOC.

5.20. Commission on World Championship and Olympiads

5.20.1. FIDE World Cup 2017. • The event shall be held in Tbilisi, Georgia, 1-25 September 2017. Mr. Azmaiparashvili asked for permission to move the event to Batumi and to start on 15th September in case it is not clashing with other events. He said the hotel prices will be cheaper. He said only the final match will be held in Tbilisi and the organisers will cover the expenses for that extra day.

5.20.2. FIDE World Cup 2019. • The event shall be held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, dates to be provided.

5.20.3. FIDE World Championship Match 2016. • The event shall be held in New York, USA, 11-30 November 2016.

5.20.4. FIDE Candidates’ Tournament 2016. • Annex 40 is Chief Arbiter’s report.

5.20.5. FIDE Grand-Prix series 2016-2017. • [...] Annex 41 is Regulations for the 2016-2017 FIDE World Chess Grand-Prix series. Mr. Merenzon informed about the Grand Prix Series in his presentation.

5.20.6. FIDE Women’s Grand-Prix series 2015-2016. • [...]

5.20.7. FIDE Women’s World Championship 2016. • Mr. Makropoulos advised that Tehran was interested in bidding and recommended that it be awarded to Tehran should the offer be acceptable. The General Assembly awarded the organization of the Women’s World Championship to Tehran, Iran, February 2017, provided the terms of the offer are acceptable.

5.20.8. FIDE Women’s World Championship Match 2017. • The event will be moved to the beginning of 2018. Bidding procedure will begin once the winner of the previous Championship is known.

5.20.9. FIDE Women’s World Championship 2018. • The event has been awarded to Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

From Annex 41, 'Regulations for the 2016-2017 FIDE World Chess Grand-Prix Series':-

1. Introduction

1.1. Following the approval of the FIDE Presidential Board, the World Championship and Olympiad Commission of FIDE (WCOC) has agreed on these Regulations which will apply to the Grand Prix Series which forms part of the World Championship Cycle for 2016-2018. [...]

2. Format of the Grand Prix 2016-2017

The Grand Prix Series will consist of four tournaments to be held over two years (2016-2017). 24 top players will be selected in accordance with Section 3 below to compete in these tournaments. Each player agrees and will contract to participate in exactly 3 of these 4 tournaments. [...] Each tournament will have 18 players with a schedule of a nine (9) round swiss system. The dates scheduled for the Grand Prix tournaments are listed on the FIDE website and may be subject to change. The winner and second placed player overall of the Grand Prix Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament to be held in the first half of 2018. [...]

3. Qualifiers for the Grand Prix 2016-2017

The players who qualify for selection to play in the Grand Prix Series will be chosen on the following prioritised basis until 24 players have accepted:

3.1 World Championship Match: The current World Champion and his opponent in the most recent World Championship Match (2 players).

3.2 World Cup: The players who have qualified to the semi-final stage of the FIDE World Cup 2015 (4 players).

3.3 FIDE Rating: Based on an average calculation [...] (8 players).

3.4 ACP Tour: The one (1) highest-placed participant of the most recently completed ACP Tour, who has not qualified with the previous criteria (1 player).

3.5 Organiser Nominees: Nine (9) players nominated by AGON with a published rating in classical (standard) chess of at least 2700, in at least one FIDE rating list of 2016 (9 players).

3.6 Replacements. [...]

Not to be forgotten in all of this are the ongoing U.S. Treasury sanctions against FIDE President Ilyumzhinov. I covered this in my previous 'Spectating' post and have nothing more to add here.

Carlsen - Karjakin, Wrapup

It's time to wrap up the recent World Championship match, the same way I did for the two previous Carlsen matches: Carlsen - Anand, Wrapup (December 2013) and Carlsen - Anand II, Wrapup (December 2014). Let's start with a number of posts, mainly on this blog, that preceded the match.

• 2016-08-31: Chess in Manhattan
• 2016-09-21: World Chess Championship Buzz
• 2016-09-22: Agon Presentation
• 2016-10-26: World Championship Affiliates?
• 2016-11-02: World Championship Broadcasting
• 2016-11-09: World Championship Bullying

During the match I posted a number of weekly 'progress reports'.

• 2016-11-16: Carlsen - Karjakin, the First Week
• 2016-11-23: Carlsen - Karjakin, the Second Week
• 2016-11-30: Carlsen - Karjakin, the Third Week
• 2016-12-07 2016 Carlsen - Karjakin, crosstable and PGN

On my main blog, 'Chess for All Ages', I ran two series on the careers of the match protagonists.

• 2016-06-13 GM Karjakin's Early Career
• 2016-09-26: Carlsen's TMER 2000-2016

I also looked at a number of aspects surrounding the match.

• 2016-11-04: Carlsen - Karjakin 2013
• 2016-11-17: World Championship Notes and News
• 2016-11-18: Chess on 'CBS This Morning'
• 2016-11-24: Magnus, the Movie
• 2016-11-25: World Championship Back to the Future
• 2016-12-01: World Championship Sizzle
• 2016-12-02: World Championship Closing Ceremony

While the match was being played, I ran a weekly post on the mainstream press reporting.

• 2016-11-15: World Championship Hubbub
• 2016-11-22: More World Championship Hubbub
• 2016-11-29: World Championship Fizzle
• 2016-12-06: Last World Championship Hubbub
• 2016-12-13: Carlsen - Karjakin, Chess Press Overview

Last, and probably least, I looked at the match in the context of a new series, the 'Sociology of Chess'.

• 2016-11-20: World Championship Sociology
• 2016-12-04: World Championship Social Media

Whenever a World Championship match is held, chess comes into focus for a few intense weeks. In two years we'll see GM Carlsen defend his title against another strong challenger, maybe GM Karjakin, maybe someone else. See you then!

2016 Carlsen - Karjakin

I added the crosstable and PGN game scores to my page on the recently concluded 2016 Carlsen - Karjakin title match. Then I added the event against both names on the Index of Players.

While I was working on this match, which ended in tiebreak, I looked at the two previous matches that went to tiebreak -- 2006 Kramnik - Topalov and 2012 Anand - Gelfand --- and noticed that the tiebreak games were not explained adequately. I added some brief notes for the 2006, 2012, and 2016 matches.

Another point isn't even worth mentioning, so of course I'll mention it. I found two different (but similar) logos in use.

Left: www.fide.com
Right: nyc2016.fide.com

The left logo is the one that I use on my 2016 Carlsen - Karjakin page; I found it on fide.com, linking to the official site for the match. The right logo is from the official site. Note that the board orientations are flipped.

Carlsen - Karjakin, the Third Week

In the previous post, we left Carlsen - Karjakin, the Second Week, with challenger Karjakin having just scored the first win in the match to forge ahead with a +1-0=7 score. In neither of his two previous title matches with GM Anand had World Champion Carlsen fallen behind in the score. How would he handle a must-win situation?

In the ninth game, Carlsen held a difficult position with the Black pieces, then prevailed in the tenth game after a tense endgame. The score was level again. In game 11 Karjakin was unable to make an impression on the Norwegian and game 12 was an insipid draw that ended a little more than 30 minutes after it started. After nearly three weeks of play, the score was +1-1=10, and the match was heading into tiebreak games. Following is an excerpt from the official broadacst.

2016 FIDE World Chess Championship Magnus Carlsen vs Sergey Karjakin Game 12 (24:42) • 'Press Conference Uncut'

Question to Karjakin just after the 12th game ended:-

Q: This was an extremely quick draw. Are you happy with that?
A: I played with Black, so maybe this is a question more to Magnus than to me.

Question to Carlsen a minute later:-

Q: Why did you decide to go into this quick draw?
A: I wanted to play a tiebreak. That's all I can say.
Q: Can you try to tell us why you want to do that?
A: We'll see [smiles].

As I write this, the tiebreak session is due to start in a a few hours. Today is also Carlsen's 26th birthday. It's well known that playing on one's birthday is psychologically difficult for most players, but Magnus is not like most players.

Carlsen - Karjakin, the Second Week

I ended last week's post, Carlsen - Karjakin, the First Week, with an observation followed by a question:-

After four complete games, the match has the same tied score as the two preceding Carlsen - Anand matches. In both of those matches, Carlsen pulled ahead in the following week. Will history repeat itself?

After another four match games it was challenger Karjakin who pulled ahead with three draws and a big win in game eight, where he played Black. In his other game with Black, game five, he also had Carlsen on the ropes, but the World Champion managed to escape.

The biggest news of the week was that first decisive result after seven straight draws. The second biggest news was Carlsen's meltdown after the loss when he stormed out of the press conference while waiting for Karjakin to arrive. That bit of bad boy behavior could prove to be costly, since FIDE rules call for a penalty of 10% from his share of the match purse. I'm one of those people who believe a punishment should match the crime, making FIDE's assessment excessive. The loss of face in his native Norway might be punishment enough.

Found on Chess.com's Youtube channel, published on 17 November 2014 (during the 2014 Carlsen - Anand match):-

Carlsen-Anand 2014: Kaja Marie Snare (2:41) • 'An interview with Kaja Marie Snare, reporter in Sochi for TV2. She tells about the media attention from Norway, and speaks about Magnus Carlsen.'

That's the same Kaja Snare we saw in a post on the current match, World Championship Notes and News. The interviewer sounds like Mike Klein of Chess.com.

Q: [After KMS rated GM Carlsen's dancing as 'not too good'] Tell us one more thing about Magnus that the average public does not know. • A: Ooo. Well. What would that be? Umm. I think everyone knows that he's a really bad loser. We noticed that when we played sports with him. [...] But he's a really nice guy!

The World Champion is a really bad loser? If everyone didn't know that before, they know now.

Carlsen - Karjakin, the First Week

What a difference a week makes. At this time last week the chess world, faced with Agon's World Championship Bullying, was looking at limited options for viewing the long-awaited 2016 Carlsen - Karjakin World Championship match. The rule of law prevailed and a day before the first game of the match we learned that U.S. judge rejects World Chess bid to block websites from airing moves (reuters.com):-

Organizers of the World Chess Championship on Thursday failed to persuade a federal judge to block rival website operators from broadcasting chess moves at the upcoming Nov. 11-30 match in New York.

Unfortunately, the start time for the games -- 14:00 NYC time (20:00 my time) -- isn't a good fit for me. Game one started while I was having dinner. I took a short break and tried to find the Agon widget on the official site, but failed. Although there was a broadcast on Chess24.com, the format wasn't really suitable for casual viewing on the iPad, and by the time I opened it, the commentators were already predicting a draw, which is what happened.

The next day, for the start of game two, the Agon widget was available on the official site. I soon decided that moves without commentary can't compete with the other distractions in life. At one point one of the players went into a long think. I said to my wife, 'They've been thinking for 18 minutes now'. Her passion is figure skating and she said, 'That's too slow. It's definitely not for me.' I said, 'Me neither', and switched it off. The game was again a fairly quick draw.

Between games one and two I received an email from the 'World Chess Team (newsletter)' announcing 'Subject: Day 1 - Full Video'. While preparing this post, I finally found the time to watch it on Worldchess.com:-

• World Championship: Game 1, Draw

I captured GM Carlsen's second move in the following image.

While certainly better than watching the moves on the Agon widget, it has its drawbacks: there is no move list and the players' clocks aren't visible. I'll postpone a fuller discussion of the format until another post. Articles for subsequent games are also on the Worldchess.com site:-

• Game 2, Draw
• Game 3, a Draw for the Ages
• Game 4, Magnus Carlsen Lets Another Chance Slip

The full official video is available for game two, but is missing for games three and four. Chess24.com, by contrast, has made their game broadcasts available using a playlist on their Youtube channel.

• 2016 FIDE World Chess Championship - Magnus Carlsen vs. Sergey Karjakin

After four complete games, the match has the same tied score as the two preceding Carlsen - Anand matches. In both of those matches, Carlsen pulled ahead in the following week. Will history repeat itself?

World Championship Bullying

Before the ink had dried on my previous post, World Championship Broadcasting, the news broke that Agon had lost an initial battle to restrict broadcasting the upcoming Carlsen - Karjakin title match. Let's start this post with statements by Chess24.com and by Agon.

• 2016-11-03: Chess24 win Moscow case, announce New York line-up (chess24.com)

We’ve kept very quiet about the controversy over broadcasting live moves from the Candidates Tournament, believing the chess public isn’t gullible and can see through PR bluster, while the best place to respond to legal threats is in court, if it comes to that.

It did, and earlier this year Turnir Pretendentov LLC (a company set up by Ilya Merenzon and a lawyer – the name is the Russian for Candidates Tournament), sued eLearning Ltd (a Gibraltar company owning chess24’s intellectual property) for 20 million roubles, or around 290,000 euros at current exchange rates. The claim alleged unfair competition based on disclosing trade secrets.

After one preliminary hearing in September the final hearing in the Commercial Court of the City of Moscow took place on 25 October, with the judge announcing his verdict at the end. He rejected chess24’s motion to cease proceedings based on the court lacking jurisdiction, but then went on to reject Agon’s claim in full.

• 2016-11-03: Statement in response to the First Circuit Court ruling (agonlimited.com)

We note the ruling by the First Circuit Court in Moscow in the case we brought against Chess24. We did not fully expect a judgement in our favour due to the complicated nature of the case and limited time the judge has to consider the case (the average time that a judge in the Moscow Arbitration Court can spend on one case is only 48 minutes). We believe that the court has not properly addressed the documents and arguments and has declined to consider some of them in breach of procedural requirements, all of which has greatly affected the decision.

We will appeal the verdict this month and continue to protect our rights as the commercial rights holder to the World Chess Championship. We remain confident of a favourable outcome on appeal.

In that 'Broadcasting' post I relied on a Chess.com article by Peter Doggers to explain the implications of the Agon position. A more recent article explains the latest legal maneuvering.

• 2016-11-04: Chess24 Wins Court Case; Agon To Appeal (chess.com)

The Commercial Court of the City of Moscow rejected AGON's claim that Chess24 was not allowed to transmit the moves of the Candidates' Tournament. Agon will appeal that decision.

End of story? Hardly.

• 2016-11-06: World Chess Championship officials sue to stop pirating of match (reuters.com)

Organizers of the World Chess Championship sued on Monday to block a trio of website operators from broadcasting chess moves at the November 11-30 match in New York, which is expected to draw millions of online viewers. The lawsuit, filed by World Chess U.S. Inc and World Chess Events Ltd in federal court in Manhattan, seeks to limit the operators from transmitting the moves from the 12-game contest between world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway and challenger Sergey Karjakin of Russia.

With their constant bullying, Agon isn't making any friends in the chess world. Don't they realize that the sites they are attacking provide a necessary chess service, have legions of loyal chess fans, and are promoting chess successfully day after day? Something is seriously wrong with Agon's approach to professional chess.

***

Later: User Profile Chessgames.com (p.960), representing one of the targets of Agon's legal action:-

Nov-10-16 Richard Taylor: To see the World Championships alive (live streaming, I presume we can see the actual game here): is it necessary to pay $15 or whatever it is they want? Is there an alternative?

Nov-10-16 Chessgames.com: I was hesitating answer your question because it largely depended on the opinion of the Honorable Judge Victor Marrero. In a hearing which ended a little more than an hour ago in Manhattan, it was decided that the injunctive relief sought to prevent Chessgames and other sites from relaying the raw move data was unfounded. Virtually every claim was rejected, with the judge adding "I know this area of the law very well."

It is possible they will continue to press forward with a suit for perceived damages but they cannot prevent Chessgames nor any other website from relaying the move data.

So to answer your question: if you want to see the official World Chess video and commentary, and the "3D immersive experience", there is an app that starts at $15 available from the official site: https://worldchess.com/nyc2016/. Chessgames has no problem in their attempt to commercialize chess, and if a 3D virtual-reality chess experience is what you want, that's the place to get it.

End of legal action? Somehow I doubt it.

World Championship Broadcasting

How will I watch the World Championship? Let me count the ways.

First, let's have some links. My previous post, World Championship Affiliates, links to my permanent page, 2016 Carlsen - Karjakin, which links to the official site, nyc2016.fide.com. What's the schedule for the match? The official site doesn't present that info in a friendly way, so I made a little calendar. It also doesn't mention the start time, but I found the info on the site for ticket sales, where each day says, 'Show 1:30 PM'. [Later: Other sites are reporting 2:00 PM, so I'll go with that.]

(Game start 14:00, New York time)

Where can I watch the match? My 'Affiliates' post quoted a press release from Agon, that left me scratching my head. Fortunately, I found an explanation on Chess.com: Agon Limits Carlsen-Karjakin Relays To Official Widget (18 October 2016). It starts,

In an attempt to distribute their product as widely as possible while restricting unauthorized world championship relays, Agon will be providing a widget for chess websites that want to broadcast the games from the upcoming world championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin.

Even that explanation wasn't entirely clear, but the comments clarified matters. The first comment asked,

Using-Name: Will there be commentary on the free (non-premium) broadcast? They have a Q&A that suggests only computer analysis is included with the widget. In any case, given that Agon claims a (vast) monopoly on anyone doing live commentary, what languages will they provide?

A Chess.com staff member replied,

FM MikeKlein: To answer the initial question by @using-name, I can confirm that I asked [Agon's] Merenzon this question in Baku, and the commenters are correct. Without paying for the premium upgrade, no live commentary will be available. The widget is just live moves and clock times, no computer analysis, etc. I don't have any answer about the languages to be offered.

Another commenter added,

CM Nutflush: You won't see [the match] on chess.com ... if they sign-up for the widget deal then they can't offer their own commentary. Good time to check-out Chess24 folks!

To which the author of the Chess.com article replied,

PeterDoggers: Our general philosophy is the same as Chess24's: we're not a fan of limiting the relay of live games. We too feel that the moves of a chess game should be considered in the public domain as soon as they've been played. However, we also feel we should follow our lawyers' advice which apparently was different from their lawyers' advice.

Doggers had mentioned another important point in that same Chess.com article:-

The [Agon] widget is directly related to the turmoil which arose during the Candidates' Tournament in March. Back then, Agon surprised the chess world by announcing that the games would be shown exclusively on its website. Any website that transmitted the games live would face legal action.

Three major chess websites that decided to ignore Agon's threats -- Chessbomb.com, Chess24.com and Chessgames.com -- are being sued. Agon is seeking 20 million rubles (€288.275 or $317,000) in damages from each of the sites.

Will any of those three sites go up against Agon for the Carlsen - Karjakin match? We'll find out next week. Lawsuits can be expensive to fight even when you've done nothing wrong.

The official site for the match offers 'live online broadcasting' for the entire match for $15. That's certainly a reasonable price and I decided to go for it. Unfortunately, I soon discovered that the only way to pay was with a credit card and I'm not willing to give credit card information to a commercial group with Russian roots. No Paypal, no Bitcoin, no deal.

How will I watch the World Championship? I won't. Just like in the old days, I'll find out the next day what happened.

World Championship Affiliates?

The next World Championship match starts in a little more than two weeks. I updated my page on the match, 2016 Carlsen - Karjakin, to add the latest FIDE announcements, including the image shown on the left.

Since my most recent post on the subject, World Chess Championship Buzz (September 2016), the most significant announcement has been Agon Press Release about World Championship Match (19 October 2016; fide.com). Although it started innocently,

Agon Ltd launches affiliate programme for broadcast of World Championship Match.

it ended aggressively,

[Agon's Chief Executive Ilya Merenzon] said: "A website that wants to broadcast the live moves for free simply has to request the use of our official widget. But any rogue website that chooses to operate a pirate broadcast of the live moves will be subject to legal action".

What does this mean for those of us who would like to watch the match? I'll look at this in my next post.

Buying a Title Match 2016

Buried among the 63 annexes for the recent FIDE Congress was a stunner:-

• 2016-07-29: 87th FIDE Congress: General Assembly Agenda and Annexes • '44. Proposal of the Russian Chess Federation for a challenge of World Champions, men and women.'

The text of Annex 44 read...

4 July 2016
To: Chairman of FIDE Commission for World Championships & Olympiads (WCO)

Dear Mr. Makropoulos,
Russian Chess Federation asks the Commission to consider and (if needed) improve and approve the below mentioned amendments to the current system of determining the World Chess Champion at the 87th FIDE Congress (04-14.09.2016, Baku, Azerbaijan). RCF suggests adding an article to the rules governing World Chess Championship matches stating that the World Chess Champion can accept the challenge of any player who can contribute to the prize fund and the costs of holding of the match. Herewith a number of basic conditions should be fulfilled:
• The FIDE President would have the power to veto any proposed match. Any proposed World Championship match would be carried out under the auspices of FIDE and according FIDE rules.
• 50% of the prize fund will go to FIDE.
• The match must be held before the end of the current FIDE qualifying round, that is, before a challenger has been determined by the Candidates Tournament.

FIDE Vice President, President of the Russian Chess Federation
Andrey Filatov

I suspect that the motivation for the proposal was that '50% of the prize fund will go to FIDE'. Whatever the reason, it brought a quick reaction:-

• 2016-08-03 Petition against proposed World Championship Cycle change (chessprofessionals.org - ACP)
• 2016-08-04: Russian Chess Federation proposal to FIDE (chessbase.com; comments)
• 2016-08-05: Should Anyone With Money Be Able To Challenge Magnus Carlsen? (chess.com/news; Peter Doggers; comments); see also chess.com/forum.

The Filatov/RCF proposal was eventually rejected:-

• 2016-09-10: RCF proposal not approved - Thanks to all who signed the petition (chessprofessionals.org; '1200+ chess people who signed ACP petition')
• 2016-09-27: General Assembly 2016 Decisions (fide.com) • 87th FIDE Congress; General Assembly; 11-13 September 2016; Baku, Azerbaijan; 'GA-2016/36. To reject the proposal of Mr. A. Filatov regarding the World Championship.'

It's curious that the ACP's announcement 'RCF proposal not approved', predated the General Assembly, but I suppose someone changed the title of the original post after the GA was held.

World Chess Championship Buzz

The buzz around the upcoming 2016 Carlsen - Karjakin World Championship match is starting to pick up. Since the last report, Chess in Manhattan (August 2016), we had

• 2016-08-30: PhosAgro Announces Sponsorship of the 2016 FIDE World Chess Championship (prnewswire.com)
• 2016-09-02: Strategic partner PhosAgro for 2016 FIDE World Chess Championship (fide.com)

Agreed, that was more of a snoring sound than a buzz, but it got better.

World Chess by Agon presenting new sponsor of World Championship Match in New York (33:41) • 'Published on Sep 12, 2016'

That press conference was held during the recent 2016 Baku Olympiad. For details, see:-

• 2016-09-12: Carlsen vs Karjakin Broadcast To Incorporate Virtual Reality (chess.com; comments)
• 2016-09-15: EG Capital Advisors signs deal with Agon Ltd to become sponsor of FIDE World Chess Championship Match 2016 (prnewswire.com)
• 2016-09-16: World Chess Championship Match 2016 (fide.com)
• 2016-09-16: World Championship 2016 – new broadcast, new sponsors (chessbase.com; comments)

In addition to the usual FIDE/Agon hyperbole -- 'truly historic event', 'the championship last year [2014 Sochi?] attracted more than one billion viewers around the world', 'roughly 600 million people in the world who actively play chess' -- the EG/VR introduction had one glaring inaccuracy:-

We recall that the last time the World Chess Championship played in New York, it was in 1990. (1:55 into the clip)

The 1995 Kasparov - Anand PCA Title Match (New York, IX-X, 1995), is considered by most (all?) experts to have been a far more important World Chess Championship than any of the subsequent FIDE Knockout events, perhaps even more important than all of the knockouts taken together. It coincided with The Start of the Scholastic Boom (chessforallages.blogspot.com; July 2014), a period of U.S. chess growth eclipsed only by the Fischer boom in the 1970s. As for the broadcasting gimmicks, does anyone remember:-

• 2008-04-01: Foidos Chess Broadcast (chessdom.com)
• 2008-08-29: FoidosChess: The match Anand vs. Kramnik as close contact video experience (fide.com)

Headset or not, I'm looking forward to the big show. Game one is scheduled for 11 November. That's a public holiday in many countries.

Chess in Manhattan

I added links for the official site (see nyc2016.fide.com) plus the latest FIDE news to my page on the World Chess Championship : 2016 Carlsen - Karjakin match. The latest news was announced in FIDE World Chess Championship Match 2016 (fide.com; 10 August 2016):-

The FIDE World Chess Championship Match 2016 is to take place at the Seaport District in Manhattan, New York. [...] The Match arena will be built within the Fulton Market Building, a five minute walk from Wall Street, and will also feature dedicated spectator and VIP lounges with panoramic views of the Brooklyn Bridge as well as retail space, a restaurant, TV studios and much more.

Match principals mentioned in the FIDE announcement included 'Ilya Merenzon, Chief Executive of Agon Limited, owner of World Chess and the commercial rights holder to the FIDE Chess Championship cycle' and 'Alan Baum of CAA Premium Experience'.

Formed in 2015, CAA Premium Experience is a best-in-class, full-service hospitality, event management, and marketing practice with more than 50 employees working with Fortune 500 companies across hundreds of global sports and entertainment events annually.'

Google Maps points to the site of the match....

...while New York news sources provided local commentary. Speculation Ends: Date and Venue Set for World Chess Championship in New York (nytimes.com):-

Mr. Merenzon said that securing a venue for such a long period proved harder than expected. Among the other sites considered: Trump Tower. The players will compete in a soundproof glass room, in front of 300 spectators plus VIPs, who will have a lounge area. Regular tickets will cost up to $50.

World Chess Championship to Be Played at South Street Seaport (wsj.com):-

The match -- a duel between two grandmasters in their mid-20s -- will take place on the second-floor atrium of the Fulton Market inside a glass, soundproof room that organizers are referring to as the "cockpit." As Carlsen and Karjakin play, attendees will be able to engage with the moves on the board in various ways. Since individual games can take hours, sometimes with prolonged stretches between moves, Merenzon wants to give attendees some options.

Cockpit? Where have we heard that before? In an early Agon press release from the previous cycle: Evolution of a Press Release (August 2012); 'the purpose-built arena and cockpit for the matches'.

Dailymotion Chess

The previous post, Worldchess Newsletter, brought to mind 'the attempt by Agon, the organizer of the Moscow [Candidates] event, to restrict broadcasts of the tournament'. Here's a different approach.

Malcolm Pein On Limiting Chess Broadcast And Moves (5:03) • 'IM Malcolm Pein, organizer of the Paris and London tournaments in the Grand Chess Tour, explains why their video broadcasts and chess moves are shared without cost to chess websites.'

About one minute into the clip, IM Pein says,

Having an association with Vivendi Dailymotion games enables us to use a platform to put all these different streams and make them available to everyone. Previosly this would have been extremely difficult to do and would have required a huge amount of money. With Dailymotion games we can put all the video streams in one platform, put all the commentary streams in one platform. We have 23 cameras in the hall so people can just look at whatever they want.

The real joy of it is by making all of this available to everyone, anyone can do their own commentary and add it. So if you want to do an amateur commentary, I don't think we would mind. My ambition is to get as many languages -- I want commentary to be available in as many languages as possible for as many different markets as possible and Dailymotion games platform is the ideal way to do that.

Now I know that the 'secret to the sauce' is Vivendi Dailymotion.