World Cup Baku 10 September to 4 October 2015

[Matt Mackenzie]

Surely chess was the real winner

Don't think so. This comes under "cruel and unusual punishment" to which eminent GMs should not be subjected just to please the baying crowd in the Coliseum (people like us).

Chess is supposed to be a game of thought not a gladiatorial lottery,

I think that post (especially given the poster) may have been intended a tad ironically

[MartinCarpenter]

There's a classy answer from Svidler in the press conference when someone asked if they'd solved the drawing problem in chess Something like ' take two fairly strong chess players, get them exhausted then make them play a long match'.....

Sounded like they were both due to play in something else quite soon, which strikes me as entirely remarkable. Hope they don't crash and burn.

[Matthew Turner]

One can of course feel sorry for the two players in that they will be remembered for this utter rubbish that they played. However, the whole point is that they won't! Rather it will be remembered as a heavyweight fight with both combatants taking blows that would have felled a lesser man. It is pure sporting theatre, it is entertainment, it is fun. FIDE have done a great job getting this format to work, long may it continue.

[David Robertson]

it will be remembered as a heavyweight fight with both combatants taking blows that would have felled a lesser man. It is pure sporting theatre, it is entertainment, it is fun. FIDE have done a great job getting this format to work, long may it continue.

What thorough-going, unadulterated, Kirsan crack-licking bo££ocks! They shoot chess players, don't they?

[Matthew Turner]

Apologies, I see once again I am overwhelmed by David's intellectual eloquence.

[NickFaulks]

I hope the taxpayer didn't spend too much on his education.

Seriously, though, by the end the players were a bit more punch-drunk than I would have wished. If the answer is as simple as adding a couple of rest days, I think that should be tried. I imagine the biggest problem with that is that it would block out an even bigger chunk of the calendar because you don't know who will be there for the last two rounds.

[Roger de Coverly]

I imagine the biggest problem with that is that it would block out an even bigger chunk of the calendar because you don't know who will be there for the last two rounds.

In the same way that Wimbledon isn't seven sets instead of five or the FA Cup 180 minutes instead of 90, why shouldn't the final have the same rules as the rest of the competition?

In the days when it was for the "FIDE World Championship", there was a justification for both a longer match and a separate venue. That no longer applies.

[JustinHorton]

In the same way that Wimbledon isn't seven sets instead of five or the FA Cup 180 minutes instead of 90, why shouldn't the final have the same rules as the rest of the competition?

Snooker, darts

[Mick Norris]

The games form the final, like previous World Cups, won't be remembered (unlike the games from World Championship matches)

They qualified for the Candidates, which is more important - 4 game semi finals might make more sense, although having a good break before playing the final (maybe over 6 games?) at a later date might make sense too

[Christopher Kreuzer]

A brief post-script to point to some of the photos from game 1 of the final, where I was in the audience watching! Also a nice photo of some of those I was with at the event (Phil Gardner and Barry David):

http://www.bakuworldcup2015.com/product/76

http://www.bakuworldcup2015.com/waterma ... 697308.jpg
http://www.bakuworldcup2015.com/waterma ... 697307.jpg

Game 1 was a great game. Well worth being there to see in person.