English Chess Forum

Have to feel sorry for Firouzja. He won more games than anyone else but still found himself in the bottom half on tiebreak.

TWIC Day 4 and Day 5

The result of all the action was that Magnus Carlsen will face Ian Nepomniachtchi and Hikaru Nakamura will face Wesley So in the semifinals

Excellent semi-finals this evening. The new format working well in this first event.

I feel a bit disloyal watching the Leko/ Sachdev commentary instead of Jovi/ David, but I find Leko excellent. I wasn't really a fan of his during his playing career, the combination of his cautious playing style and famous work ethic made me imagine a very dour personality. I misjudged him, it seems the work ethic was born out of a boundless love of chess.

I am a bit sceptical of the ongoing attempts to create an accessible live commentary format. I suspect it is less enjoyable for chess players, and that the general public are not watching anyway. You might persuade them to watch highlights, but all evening seems unlikely. Still, we have both for this event, great.

TWIC Day 6 report

The final day of the semifinals take place on Saturday 28th November starting at 5pm GMT

Final Carlsen v So today and tomorrow

Twic reports Day 7 and Day 8

All to play for in tomorrow's (30th Nov) second set, and if that's also tied a blitz and Armageddon tie-break

Today is of course Carlsen's 30th birthday - will it be a happy one?

No

TWIC day 9 report

Wesley So only took the lead in the final of the Skilling Open against Magnus Carlsen for the first time in the first game of the blitz tie-break and in spite of giving up an exchange in the second game So managed to hold on for the draw he needed and take the $30,000 first prize. So was slow to get involved in these online events but he's clearly fully engaged now.

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 08, 2020 11:01 pm

Chris Rice wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:09 pm

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/eurosp ... chess-tour

I see the 650 million fantasy of Kirsan and Agon is still going strong.

From the link

Trojan Paillot, VP Rights Acquisitions and Distribution at Eurosport, said:

Chess has a great potential to attract a dedicated, global audience and Eurosport has a proven track record in its ability to increase awareness of a sport and establish a solid platform for rights holders to grow their fanbase and attraction towards new territories. Play Magnus Group is known for innovating and modernising a game played by over 650 million people globally. Eurosport will facilitate and fasten the development of the game thanks to a combined linear and digital approach, bringing Chess to the widest number of people through our broadcast and distribution operations.

Significant real, as opposed to fictional, milestone about to be reached according to Mark Crowther

Just checked the latest update for the @FIDE_chess rating list for May 2021. The list has 999818 names in it, surely near certain that before the end of the month the list will have more than 1 million names. 10 years ago there were 283207 names and 5 years ago 584868.