tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post6880321619369199633..comments2023-03-22T07:01:56.428+01:00Comments on Lost On Time: Nothing venturedejhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01582272075999298935noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post-2105227117628619582018-10-05T14:06:14.054+02:002018-10-05T14:06:14.054+02:00People shit on Maurice Ashley for his reliance on ...People shit on Maurice Ashley for his reliance on computer evals in commentating (even though that's basically his designated role and a nice contrast to the "blind" evals by Yasser imo), but at least Maurice has demonstrated he's not shy when it comes to asking tough questions to even the most elite players (even Carlsen), at least by "chess interviewer standards".<br /><br />But the backlash he faced from that, I believe, is at least in part precisely what these commentators are afraid of, being directly ridiculed and counter-challenged by those whom they most admire (need thicker skins). <br /><br />Prevalent among interviews with these top players (many introverted and taciturn geniuses) is the fear of the potentially real risk that these players will shut down and devolve to single-phrase or single-word answers when asked questions they deem offensive, of a biased and leading nature, or just plain beneath the chess-understanding level (in the case of actual "journalists") in which they care to indulge in (AKA arrogance, unwillingness to have their valuable time wasted, etc.--you decide). See Carlsen's interview with Vice--Though from what I understand of the background context there, he was well justified in his approach and tone with the interviewer.<br />Even the title of the resultant article from that interview speaks volumes.<br /><br />Another strong factor is the fear that these players will simply opt out of interviewing (or worse, opt out of post-analysis altogether) especially after a loss. As a huge fan of Live Top Level Chess Commentary, I relish the rare moments when a player experience a crushing loss joins the winner at the commentator's table! <br /><br />I'm not sure what the solution is, though including detailed contract stipulations on the requirements for post-game interviews might be all that's needed if done properly--easier said than done, perhaps.<br /><br />Some contract ideas for starters (at least for standard time controls):<br /><br />-Require all winners AND losers to participate in a minimum number or minimum time length session of Q and A, as well as engaging in the post-mortem of their game.<br /><br />-Hire seasoned and capable journalists as producers in the ear of those commentators to assist in suggesting tough questions<br /><br />-Don't let them off the hook when they give b.s responses, like, "yeah whatever," or "I don't know how to even answer that", but add justification if available, for example, "well according to our instapoll this is actually our number question from YOUR fans. Would you mind addressing that with more complexity and detail, even if only for their understanding?"--Basically a guilt trip, but a justified one if it does the job and you are guilting them with the truth.<br /><br />-Guilt them with truth! "I understand your reluctance to go into detail on such a hot button topic especially after this loss, but professionalism demands it--more importantly--your fans desire, and perhaps most crucially, the impact on the growth of the game itself for the next generation may well be impacted one way or another by your refusal or elaboration here!"<br /><br />Ok, that may be a little extreme, but the elite need to be held accountable for the degree to which they are ultimate ambassadors of the game and of utmost influence on its future and rise or fall of its popularity and legitimacy as worthwhile pursuit.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06420612059976521774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post-30125287497340344872016-04-17T21:13:18.212+02:002016-04-17T21:13:18.212+02:00Re: playing games out to checkmate. It's an in...Re: playing games out to checkmate. It's an interesting experiment. I give you queen odds, you have to checkmate me in X moves. What do you think a fair X is? Most players guess 25-30, but it's hard to even win a pawn in the first 15. Swelling forces for an attack also requires time. Admittedly the deluge comes quickly when it comes. But I would guess closer to 40-50.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post-85268908092550509852016-04-14T18:58:11.679+02:002016-04-14T18:58:11.679+02:00The point is, most if not all of those changes mad...The point is, most if not all of those changes made the game *better*.<br /><br />Many of those proposed above would do anything but.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post-45004543118812565762016-04-14T11:20:20.827+02:002016-04-14T11:20:20.827+02:00"Problem with the first suggestion is that it..."Problem with the first suggestion is that it would involve hours of wasted time for the players involved and the fans would have turned off long before the end."<br /><br />Huh? .....we do use clocks in tournament chess!<br /><br />There was no use of clocks until relatively recently in the long history of chess, drawn games were replayed. Imagine if the rules had not been drastically changed by our chess forbears and no clocks were used!<br /><br />Drastic changes have been part and parcel of the evolution of the modern game so why are we so enfeebled?<br /><br />The change to the way the Q moved drastically changed the game: no doubt there were howls of complaint by some at the time.<br /><br />Likewise the introduction of the en passant rule and castling (moving two pieces at the same time, shock horror!)<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post-7278131778183984672016-04-03T00:30:13.379+02:002016-04-03T00:30:13.379+02:00I think it possible to "resign" in Tenni...I think it possible to "resign" in Tennis, just plead an injury. Medical backup may be needed for plausibility. <br /><br />RdCAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post-5615629318179580492016-04-02T16:24:59.277+02:002016-04-02T16:24:59.277+02:00Problem with the second and third suggestions is t...Problem with the second and third suggestions is that they would change drastically the nature of the game, just as it would change the nature of a football match if the numbers of corners gained were to serve as a tie-breaker. Problem with the first suggestion is that it would involve hours of wasted time for the players involved and the fans would have turned off long before the end.ejhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01582272075999298935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post-85857755259062253502016-04-01T23:05:06.591+02:002016-04-01T23:05:06.591+02:00Anonymous said...
At Caruana-Anand "pres...Anonymous said...<br /><br /> At Caruana-Anand "press conference" (Round 10), no one asked why Black resigned? His position is lousy but not 100% a child's play loss in my opinion, and this is the Candidates after all. Even if the "pawns fall off" (like people say), Black is the exchange down but White has nothing obvious to wrench out a win. Again maybe I suck at chess, but can't the commentators at least ask this??!<br />...<br /><br />Well put!<br />And leads to the broader question of chess professionalism and attempts to raise the status of chess to a sport and reap some benefits thereby.<br /><br />Imagine:<br />Two boxers in a pro fight tap each other a few times, shake hands and leave the ring telling the referee that a draw has been agreed.<br /><br />Andy Murray is a set down and is a double break down in the second set against Novak Djokovic. He informs the umpire that he resigns the match and leaves the stadium.<br /><br />Chelsea go 2 down at half time against Leicester and have several key players on yellow cards with an important international game coming up. The manager informs the referee that he will not be bringing his team back on the field, he resigns the match.<br /><br />These three scenarios would see drastic measures taken by their respective governing associations but in professional chess ...?<br /><br />We still have a long way to go to be taken seriously.<br /><br />Some suggestions:<br /><br />- all games be played out to checkmate<br /><br />- where this does not or cannot be achieved the player with the LEAST material is declared the winner<br /><br />- in the event of equal material, black is declared the winner.<br />Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03056102292506815843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post-60613206780437465372016-03-30T16:44:40.725+02:002016-03-30T16:44:40.725+02:00Looks like the closing ceremony might even surpass...Looks like the closing ceremony might even surpass the j'adoube as the most watched video, as everyone tries to parse whether the BMW rep was misleading or not.Laarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post-33423265233094714622016-03-30T10:38:30.852+02:002016-03-30T10:38:30.852+02:00One thing I don't like about AGON, is the blac...One thing I don't like about AGON, is the black-on-white colour scheme. This may be the colours of a chessboard, but it is *not* particularly the colours associated to playing chess. They expanded this as a marketing gimmick, beyond its rightful realm.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post-64623558811581743392016-03-29T09:55:19.224+02:002016-03-29T09:55:19.224+02:00"I don't think anything I say is at all c..."I don't think anything I say is at all controversial, so I will not sign, since I know that those with contrary views to the herd can and often are vilified."<br /><br />Anon, your last sentence is perhaps unintentionally very provocative. What you did there is vilify people with contrary views to yourself. You play the noble martyr, and your post oozes political resentment; maybe you are more taken with the non-chess dimension of chess than you will admit to yourself.<br /><br />p.s. Great post. All the "It's no big deal"s being uttered would make one suspicious, if nothing else. So sad to see S&B go; I can't believe it. Thanks for S&B blog, and your past and (hopefully) future role as one of the few people working to keep chess real...or to try to make it so.AdamPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post-36079399227042379572016-03-24T02:52:53.682+01:002016-03-24T02:52:53.682+01:00At Caruana-Anand "press conference" (Rou...At Caruana-Anand "press conference" (Round 10), no one asked why Black resigned? His position is lousy but not 100% a child's play loss in my opinion, and this is the Candidates after all. Even if the "pawns fall off" (like people say), Black is the exchange down but White has nothing obvious to wrench out a win. Again maybe I suck at chess, but can't the commentators at least ask this??!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post-63863464901104366292016-03-22T19:45:51.498+01:002016-03-22T19:45:51.498+01:00s/indispensible/indispensables/indispensible/indispensableAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post-77161064741553672252016-03-22T14:52:18.955+01:002016-03-22T14:52:18.955+01:00Thank you for this well written and informative ar...Thank you for this well written and informative artcle. I am now a "stammkunde" of your blog.j.b. coopernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post-76903728494227255412016-03-22T00:37:07.310+01:002016-03-22T00:37:07.310+01:00Another brilliant AGON design decision (Doggers, r...Another brilliant AGON design decision (Doggers, round 9): "the press room is located behind the playing hall, and to reach it the journalists use a small corridor that shares the route of the grandmasters to their toilets. So, every time a player needs to go, security temporarily closes that corridor."Laarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post-45355290628053094432016-03-22T00:12:52.062+01:002016-03-22T00:12:52.062+01:00"and as far as I can tell there isn't a p..."and as far as I can tell there isn't a press corps present"<br /><br />Other than the chess-media, I think this is about right. Even in Moscow, chess (Agon) can't get the broadsheets to show up? Maybe they were there for the VIPs and the first few days, but the long slog is too much, and they'll re-appear at the terminus. (In Khanty-Mansiysk GP the local news is there for the press conf, and even can ask questions (well, to Nakamura about hockey I remember specifically), but such chess events probably dominates the local news agenda, not so in Moscow.)<br /><br />No complicated question with the World Cup Armageddon either, in fact Nakamura wanted to talk about it next day, but Miroshnichenko interrupted and changed the subject. Is FIDE that desperate to avoid "bad" controversy? Or at least the players (and Dirks) who double as commentators think that way?<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post-33672991896951544622016-03-21T14:26:20.753+01:002016-03-21T14:26:20.753+01:00I am really not sure what the fuss is about. I bel...I am really not sure what the fuss is about. I believe that most chess players want to see and hear about the chess, so while the touch-move incident was relevant, I was more interested in seeing the analysis of what might have happened had Nakamura made a correct move rather than the king move. In a similar vein, when I watch Match Of The Day, I am more interested in the football action rather than endless replays and analysis of a controversial penalty or offside incident, however game-changing such an incident might be. I guess I am just not that interested in 'investigative journalism' for the sake of it. For me the art comes before the sport. If you guys want to discuss this stuff endlessly on the ECForum, or the S&B Blog or its predecessors, that is your perogative, but I really don't want to see it taking up limited time on the official press conferences, or the pages of BCM for that matter.<br /><br />I don't think anything I say is at all controversial, so I will not sign, since I know that those with contrary views to the herd can and often are vilified.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post-88171736756091786832016-03-21T12:37:33.913+01:002016-03-21T12:37:33.913+01:00As Tarjei Svensen points out, Peter Doggers did at...As Tarjei Svensen <a href="https://twitter.com/TarjeiJS/status/711870712466841600" rel="nofollow">points out</a>, <a href="https://www.chess.com/news/caruana-beats-nakamura-at-candidates-tournament-5620" rel="nofollow">Peter Doggers</a> did at least go and ask Aronian about the incident when he arrived in Moscow, even if the answer was "no comment":<br /><br /><i>Unfortunately Aronian declined to comment to Chess.com on the touch-move incident. “After the tournament I can talk about it,” was all he said.</i>ejhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01582272075999298935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-970746810324898604.post-66682585604445395192016-03-21T11:55:19.133+01:002016-03-21T11:55:19.133+01:00The truth is out there!
https://www.chess.com/new...The truth is out there!<br /><br />https://www.chess.com/news/caruana-beats-nakamura-at-candidates-tournament-5620<br /><br />Nakamura said: “In real-time I did touch the king. I simply didn't realize, I had already lost my mind at that point. I probably touched it 1-2 seconds and I simply didn't realize. I did say “adjust” but I think at that point my mind was so far gone that I didn't realize that I had touched it for as long as I had. But it's not a big deal.”Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com