14 Comments

I am with tradition, because longer time control better quality of play. This as a rule of thumb. Also I am against tie-breaks. The FRC WC ended in an armaggedon game. What scary looks the Classical WC decided in an armaggedon or even blitz. Tradition said that the WC cycle is the way to dethrone the WC. If the match is even, the WC hasn't been dethroned and keeps the title. It was like this from Lasker-Schlechter, passing through Botvinnik-Bronstein and ending in Kramnik-Leko.

But I have an idea. The OTB faster format that Magnus suggest and we don't really know what it is and how it works, it could be tried in a Magnus-Alireza friendly match. Magnus recognized many times that Alireza is the best rounded of the coming generations. So this friendly match sure would find strong sponsoring and compete with the official Nepo-Ding match, which I am eager to follow and enjoy as I enjoy all chess played at the higher level.

From the Blitz&Rapid WCs I didn't follow a single game. Just know that Magnus won and he blundered something big vs.Artemiev.

Thanks for the excellent article, as always :)

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Great article Nate! It’ll be interesting to see if the format ends up being closer to what Magnus wants, ironically after he bows out.

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Jan 14, 2023Liked by Nate Solon

I think you nailed it with the tea leaves. The cynic in me thought that Chess.com tweeting a quote from Magnus about blitz being more important than classical was very strategic. A shame for Ding and Nepo, who've worked so hard to get there. For me, the slower the better. It's no surprise that chess is going the way of everything else and getting faster and faster to hold our decreased attention spans, but that makes me want to resist it even more. I'll watch and support Ding v Nepo and try to ignore these increasingly obnoxious distractions (don't get me started on chess boxing...)

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Jan 15, 2023·edited Jan 15, 2023

Well, no-one watches a marathon race from beginning to the end, that does not diminish its prestige or value. Besides chess is not a "spectator" sport, it is a participant sport. When you watch/follow a chess game you actually participate since you are thinking about moves and lines in each position. That is a very unique characteristic for chess and distinct from other sports.

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I am a big fan of the slower time format. And why change it ? If you want to see faster time control chess, just watch Rapid and Blitz world championships. Why change classical to have another blitz wc ? Makes no sense. I think there are a lot of people liking the slower time control. We are the silent majority

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"Chess is more popular than ever, but even the most diehard fans aren’t going to sit through a six hour game end-to-end. "

This statement surprised me. What is the basis for it?

Also, what difference does it make if fans sit through all 6 hours or only four or five hours? Some will tune in late and watch to the end and some will tune in early and leave after 3 or 4 hours. Others will follow the whole game.

The faster the time control the more it cheapens the game. The biggest misconception is that faster time controls will make the game more popular. Hardly. Chess will never have the popularity of the many sports that millions tune into. It is too esoteric a game. I can see why top players may prefer it though. If you want to play for big prizes then why not enter a 3 or 4 day tournament than a two or three week one? Less work for the same money.

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Jan 14, 2023·edited Jan 14, 2023

I don't agree with the premise the classical world championship should be the most viewed event. There are different time controls for everyone taste and you could make a new combined championship. Whatever gets the most viewed is independent of the sporting value insiders will give it.

Why throw away an old tradition when it could perfectly still be played, albeit with a bit less interest?

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I agree 100%, a larger audience will be drawn to high level chess if more emphasis is put on the faster time formats. People who know close to nothing about chess would be interested in watching the players moving fast on the board especially under a time crunch, and because all games are recorded anyone could go back and analyze the games afterwards, same as they would a classical game.

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