Bad idea to move over silverlight which is only microsoft engine. Moonlight (the linux implementation) isn't yet mature for this chess viewer. I wish at least a link to the pgn file as in twic. I hate silverlight!

“M-Tel might be the beginning of a new era of chess in which all that’s left is concrete moves”.
Tell me, has there ever been anything else counting in competitive chess than "concrete moves"?

Your game viewer no longer seems to works with Chrome, a shame since it used to be better than Chessbase's!

According to the Wikipedia article on Silverlight it should work with Chrome. Google'ing "silverlight chrome" gives some ideas.

Get rid of the new viewer!

Very interesting idea, that of a new era in chess. I need to replay the games yet!

And I second the viewer motion. The former viewer was incredible fast, nice to replay and was nice to the eye.

It's a shame there are problems because from here the new viewer is amazing! The best i've ever seen actually with crystal clear graphics. Maybe you all need new computers?!!

Here on Chrome works perfectly.

@Jens: I think many strong players from the past would argue that 'making a plan' is a real concept in chess. These days it seems that the only valid strategical concepts left are developing pieces, centralise, checkmate. This first round in Sofia was so razor sharp, it just made a futuristic impression. Let's see what they write about it in 50 years ;-)

i like the new game viewer more:)))

It's absolutly convenient for me NOT to put more stuff into my (poor) computer for the time being, so I like the old viewer better (as I'm not even going to see the new, hehe). Bad idea (from the part-of-us point of view, of course).

@freeindeed
"Maybe you all need new computers?!!"

Lol
That's what I'm talking about! Funk Ink consumism! Go, go, feed the masters!

@test (and others):

The problem is that we Linux-users can only use Silverlight 1.0. There is a test-version for 2 but that made my browser crash badly. So we don't really have an option.

And yes I can jump through some hoops to make it work but they are all highly impractical and I for example need Linux to put food on the table.

I love the new game viewer. stick to it Peter!!!

Please go back to the old gameviewer. It doesn't work here at home and I'm sure it will not work at other pc's I use to browse chessvibes (university, work, mobile device).

Could you perhaps use both game viewers while some of us try to work out the technical problems? I'm having trouble seeing your new one on my Mac.

I think the old one was Palview (http://www.enpassant.dk/chess/palview/) - a great tool, but last updated in 2003. It is very simple and powerfull and uses only HTML, Javascript and .css - user doesn't need to install anything besides a standart webbrowser. The new Silverlight thingy is just another bad way of Flash abuse. I suspect the reason Peter has chosen it is the fact that uploading games might be easier and faster. If only there was a direct ftp upload feature in Palview...

P.S.
Sorry, I understand that 99% of readers have no clue what I am talking about...

I think the game viewer would be even better if the game moves and commentary would scroll in a listbox showing in the middle of it the commentary of the current position displayed on the board.

By the way silverlight is a great choice as it improves user experience once the plugin is installed on the user's computers.

On my computer the Silverlight viewer is slower than the javascript one: there is a lag with every move. So instead of 'arrow arrow arrow arrow' etc it's 'arrow wait arrow wait arrow wait' etc. The graphics are better, but the speed issue is a bit annoying.

I like the new game-viewer, but would it not be possible to work out some kind of system whereby I do not have to move up and down the page to see the game-moves and read the comments underneath. I would like to see the comments and the moves in one move of the eye.
In the old system that was a possebility I quite liked!

@Dimitri, others whose viewer is slow: which OS, browser, hardware specs are you using?

Do you realize that by using Silverlight you force Opera users to either use a hack or change browsers, like Microsoft (=the devil) wants?

Wikipedia is wrong about at least two computers then, my work and my home ones :)

But anyway, it doesn't matter since the games are available elsewhere.

Don't know about the new era. Carlsen-Topalov looks like a classical positional masterpiece; the tactics are fairly easy to understand (once you see the idea, which is the problematic part, of course).

I try this game viewers on my web :
- Palmview. Is the better but need extra works
- Java viewers, there are a lot af them, need java. I don't like
- Flash viewers. I don't like so much but now i am trying new one that is really good.
My recomendation now is Palmview.

Hi Peter, i would really like to get back a linux-working viewer. I don't like java, but if you need to use it, ok. Silverlight is heavier on resources and doesn't work still in linux (I don't know about Mac OS). I know you changed it trying to improve the website, but in fact, for some users, it has gone worse. Of course, we can go elsewhere to view the games, but i liked a lot how it was before since I could get almost all the information here, including the games. In any case, it's your choice, if it's better for the majority of your visitors, i guess it's normal for you to stick with Silverlight, and I think it won't stop people from coming here as they did before. Maybe you could organize a poll or something for that.
Congrats on the site!
Alez

Hey Peter,

thanks for your great work, but...I do prefer the old game viewer. I'm on a Linux system as well (Ubuntu 9.04), but even if it did work, I'd prefer a non-Microsoft solution. They just try to dominate everything (see their strange .ooxml format, when there is .odf readily available).

All the best,
cheers
Thorn

Its so funny that people are so spoiled and want more all the time. Chessvibes is such a great site and still people want better and more news.

ps:

I want also a better vieuwer and WHERE IS THE AFTERMOVIE!!!!!!!!!!

On this computer (IE, at work) it happens that I can use the viewer, and it works well. I usually use Firefox, don't know how it will work on that, but the old viewer did have a few problems (it seemed there as a maximum length, if the games were larger than that, the rest was just invisible).

But I also use Linux at home, in fact that's the computer I have my all chess stuff on. Pity.

And in general, using a nonstandard Microsoft-made Windows-only IE-preferred plugin to show things on a web page isn't really Web 2.0, is it?

I feel that you shouldn't limit users in how they can access the content on your site. Any browser on any OS which is compatible to web standards should be able to view all of the site. However, not everyone may feel the same, as shown by the comments on this article.

Anyway, my feelings aren't that important: it's your site, your choice. In the same manner it's my choice to get out of this place if you limit my capacity to view the site's content. For me personally it would really be a pity if you continue to use Silverlight... I sincerely thank you for all your past and future efforts on bringing us chess news.

ChessVibes sure is a great site, and it is the site admins' choice what game viewer they use. That said, I, for one, am not planning to install Silver- or any other Light, so I'll look for the games elswhere. Won't give up visiting CV, though; the articles here are the best even without game scores.

I like the new viewer a lot. It's much easier to play through a game and look at the annotations now.

@peter: Vista, FF 3.0.10., 2.33GHZ Intell duo, 3GB ram.

Well, firstly thanks to chessvibes, I see analysis of mtel games. It isnt there anywhere else.

With regard to the viewer, I might also prefer to use it from linux. But, will do anything to get the analysis. so no complaints really.

Thanks

DOWNLOADING FILES TO VIEW GAMES will make normal people leve your site DOGGERS....KOP YOURSELF ON...

Ehm, you don't have to scream. I can hear you loud and clear.

@others: I'm in contact with the programmer Martin Bennedik and he's already working on an update.

Peter, fellow Linux users thank for your understanding.

Tried to install the plugin for Silverlight (Moonlight) but it says it only supports Silverligh 1 and the viewer uses Silverlight 2. :(

Silverlight works perfectly for me. (Vista & IE7 or Firefox3)

I don't understand why some people are so opposed to installing Silverlight. Didn't you also install Flash Player, Shockwave, QuickTime, Java, to name but a few essentials to get around the internet? Also: Microsoft will be using Silverlight everywhere they can, so probably sooner or later you are gonna have to install it anyway.

Not to say that I'm such a big fan. For example with long games it's impossible to see both the board and the commentary, forcing one to continuously scroll up & down, which is very annoying. Can't you just link to a ChessBase generated replay page? (Should be very easy to create.)

@Bootvis
It has always been my opinion that if you run Linux, you should be prepared for the fact that a ton of applications don't have a version for Linux. This might not be fair, it's just a matter of fact.

Of course one could argue that in this case, there are alternatives that do have a version for Linux... etc. ;)

@Merijn: Your interesting, provocative statement seems almost lost amidst the discussion about the new game viewer ... . My three cents on it:
1) I hope that you are wrong :) - because if making long-term plans is no longer that relevant, it would mean that world-top players "act like computers", and we all know that computers are (much) better in THAT kind of chess ... .
2) But isn't it a bit early to come up with such an idea after one round of MTel? Or even after the entire tournament, which has just six players - albeit very strong ones, possibly trend setters.
3) You said yourself that "only time will tell". My question in this context to you (and everyone else): Which tournaments of the past (say, 20th century) have marked the start of new eras in chess - IF ANY (single ones)?

My answer to 3)
Anyone can (I myself could) make Philosophy and gather "reasons" for some (among lots of) tournament to have "marked the start of new eras in chess", but what I think is real (as to Chess realy matter) is: NONE.

it seems nothing is working on linux