One week to go
7 October 2008, 15.00 CET | Last modified: 15:12 | By Peter Doggers | Filed under: Reports | Tags:
In exactly one week the first game of the 2008 World Championship Match between Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik starts. ChessVibes will bring on-the-spot (video) coverage, but there’s more!
The most important chess event of the year 2008 will take place in the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn. There, from October 14th till November 2nd, Viswanathan Anand from India will be defending his world champion title against challenger Vladimir Kramnik from Russia. The prize fund is 1.5 million Euro. Patron is German Finance Minister Peer Steinbr?ɬºck and main sponsor is Evonik Industries AG.
We have created a special Anand-Kramnik page where you can find all the necessary information. This page will be updated in the following weeks, as soon as new information will be available.
Coverage by ChessVibes
Of course ChessVibes will bring video coverage right from the venue in Bonn, Germany. Already on Sunday, October 12th there will be an Opening Press Conference with the players at 15:00 and we’ll try to bring this on video, here at ChessVibes, as quickly as possible.
The first game will be played in exactly one week, on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008, at 15:00 Central European Time (09:00 Eastern Standard Time). After the games there will be a daily press conference and we’ll try to present you these here at ChessVibes also as quickly as possible!
Live broadcast
We will also be able to broadcast the games thanks to a special applet we have received from the organizers. For a sneak preview, go to ChessVibes.com/live. We’ll be providing a live chat functionality so that you can discuss the game as well.
This broadcast will be semi-live, with a half-hour delay. This has everything to do with the launch of the new Foidos system (see below); besides going to the playing hall yourself, Foidos seems to be the only way to follow the games live, in real-time. Even Playchess and ICC are supposed to use this half-hour delay.
Foidos
If everything will work (bandwidth problems etc.) and if the creators will be able to bring what they have been promising, than Foidos will be a revolutionary way to cover a chess event. But it comes with a price.
FoidosChess is the exclusive broadcaster of the World Chess Championship. All other media had to sign a contract in which they state that they accept this, to receive press accreditation. For using Foidos you have to buy tickets: a one-day ticket will cost you 10 euros (9 if you book ahead) and a full-tournament ticket 81 euros. What do you get for this?
A day ticket gives you full access to the system throughout the day starting with players arrival, opening ceremony, the match itself, press conference, live interviews with VIP and guests, live commentator in the language of your choice (GM Yasser Seirawan in English, GMs Artur Jussupow, Dr Helmut Pfleger, Klaus Bischoff in German and GM Miguel Illescas in Spanish), live interactivity with the commentators and more.
Foidos, and especially the half-our delay for all other media, will surely lead to heated discussions on the internet. We’re not absolutely sure whether the organizers will be able to hold up this system throughout the match, whether other media can be forced to delay their broadcast, because a move of a chess game is supposed to be an objective news fact which cannot be copyrighted. We’ll have to wait and see!
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It’s a question of time when the first user starts transmitting the moves from foidos somewhere in a forum or something. As this is completely legal, the whole idea with the 30 minutes delay doesn’t work…
This will be an interesting match!!
I’m looking forward to it!
@Felix
Indeed, that’s what I’m expecting too.
Tell me please, what is the meaning of VIBES,
for I didn’t find it in the dictionary. Otherwise, this
is the only problem with your page, that is to say,
I find it very good. Sincerely yours, L=Luis Laszlo.
Noun
Singular
vibe
Plural
vibes
vibe (plural vibes)
1. (colloquial) Vibration.
2. The atmosphere or aura of a person or place as communicated to and felt by others.
3. (Vibes) short for vibraphone.
Here, vibes just means what people are currently thinking and feeling about chess. That simply means a mix of news, media and professional analytical comment as well as public opinion. So I guess in short, the aim of this site is to attract and inform people about what is going on and what everyone thinks.
A very interesting match is going to start.
Anand and Kramnik will be unable to defeat each other. Instead, they will merge into a chess beast called ANIK, which will claim the championship trophy and rampage through the chess world, defeating and destroying everything it meets, looting priceless chess sets from museums, kidnapping Alexandra Kosteniuk, and exposing bugs in Rybka.
Vibes = typically used as english slang to indicate non-verbal or indirect communication of some sort – also could have a ‘cool’ quality associated with whatever/whoever is discussed
for example: He got good vibes about his last move from those watching the game.
and I take “chess vibes” to mean what’s new and great in chess or what’s happening (to use another english slang term).
This is very exciting chess, thank you chess vibes for great coverage on every mayor chess tournament on the planet. Can’t wait for this one to start,
“Let the Games Begin!!!!”
Good luck for both contestants and let the best player win.
In spanish (at least in M?ɬ©xico) the equivalent word for “Vibes” is “Vibras”, colloquial expression for “Vibraciones”; i.e. much the same that the English word “Vibrations”.
I like the “Chessvibes” name
@Semipatz: LMAO!!!! hahahaha
great, now I can look to 2 reliable options for the A-K broadcast!
@semipatz: Ha ha ha.
ANIK’s rampage will be stalled by BOROV, when kaspy will get possessed by fischer and come out of retirement. Kosteniuk will be released for her daughter but rest all will suffer. Magnus, Hu etc will all be child slaves and RYBKA’s programmer will kill themselves out of depression of more newfound bugs…
I am surprised the sponsors accept this Foidos deal with their “limited access” approach. The whole concept is also counterproductive to promoting chess to a wider audience, so I am also surprised FIDE so narrowmindedly condone it.
I really hope major chess events in the future will not be exclusively limited to a small and priviledged audience.
I am starting to hope the grand slam circuit will simply take over the world championship. At least they seem to have a much better understanding of the potentials of the internet both as entertainment for the audience and as a channel for branding for the sponsors.
“I am surprised the sponsors accept this Foidos deal with their ?¢‚Ǩ?ìlimited access?¢‚Ǩ? approach. The whole concept is also counterproductive to promoting chess to a wider audience, so I am also surprised FIDE so narrowmindedly condone it.”
Actually, FIDE has been lobbying DGT – the company that developed Foidos – for years. If someone wants to organize a FIDE event, he has to provide the live coverage of the games. So he has to either buy or rent DGT hardware and software. The latter is surprisingly expensive for the not very high quality and functionality of it. For example their rather basic program Toma costs ?¢‚Äö¬¨ 625, with extra ?¢‚Äö¬¨ 25 for each board above the board 12.
Therefore I’m not surprised about this Foidos deal at all, I believe it’s FIDE corruption at work again.
Ironically, I just checked DGT website and noticed they have upgraded it, migrating to the free OpenSource CMS Joomla! Those guys know both how to make and how to save money!
I am Managing Director of Share Dimension and one of the people that made Foidos Chess possible.
Reading your article and user comments, I feel like I need to give more information to you and your readers.
We made Foidos with one thing in mind: Give unprecedented powers to the user. One of our motto?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s is ?¢‚Ǩ?ìYou are in control?¢‚Ǩ?. That?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s because the user is his own Virtual Director. He decides what he wants to see, where and how, we only provide all means for him to do it.
Foidos Chess will broadcast with 5 different cameras LIVE pictures from every possible angle where things are happening. From the stage, close ups with the players, VIP rooms, Press rooms, Commentary rooms, giving the user unprecedented access to a lot of information that dwarfs any on the spot pre-recorded video shows.
We want to bring emotions to the audience, we have in total 6 different commentators, top names like GM Yasser Seirawan in English, GMs Artur Yussupov, Dr Helmut Pfleger, Klaus Bischoff in German, GM Miguel Illescas, see http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4874 more information.
We have a roaming reporter WM Tea Lanchava that will walk with the camera and do interviews with personalities visiting the venue.
But the thing we are most proud of is our interactivity. You are not just simply sitting behind the screen and watching television-like show, you are part of the action. You can get LIVE analysis boards of all the commentators, you can ask question directly to your commentator and he will be able to reply with voice and audio.
You say we have a limited approach because we want people to pay for all this, I say we deliver much much more than just a simple chess board with pgn. We deliver entertainment. When was the last time you saw entertainment in chess?
Just my 2 cents.
I am open to any comments. You can write me at claudiu at sharedimension dot com and I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ll be more than happy to answer any of your questions.
More information: http://www.foidoschess.tv/blog.aspx
Thanks,
Claudiu Tanasescu
Hi Claudiu,
Thanks for your comment and the extra information.
As always, people want to see things before making definite conclusions, but by describing it as potentially “revolutionary” I was already expressing my positive feelings and expectations about Foidos, I think.
However, there will always be a lot of peope who just can’t afford 81 euros for 2,5 weeks of online chess entertainment. And besides, since everone is so used to getting everything for free on the internet, it remains to be seen whether the chess fans are willing to pay. This wouldn’t say anything about the quality of your shows – it can and probably will be quite amazing – it only says something about the general behaviour of people on the internet.
I don’t doubt the Foidos product is great. I have nothing against Foidos or Share Dimension.
What I do not understand is why the sponsors and FIDE agrees to such a deal. I see no benefit at all for the sponsors or for chess in general.
It will probably be great for those few elect people with access, but for the rest of the chess interested people and in particular those that are not interest yet, this deal is bad.
If we want a growing audience or business for chess, this is not the way.
Tanasescu on Foidos:
“It is the technology that introduces limitation so only a limited number of tickets are available.”
@peter:
Of course you’ll have to see it to believe it.
I would be glad to send you an up to date screenshot. Email me offline.
Actually I’ll put it on Foidos blog and you’ll get a free ticket for the first two days.
My guess: Watching Foidos, watching Kramnik 20cm from his head while he makes that critical move, all from the comfort of your home, on your pc with your favorite chess engine running in parallel (btw: we integrate Shredder engine for real-time analysis in Foidos), hearing Yasser’s comments and interacting with him would beat any trip to Bonn.
How much your trip to Bonn costs? Compare that to 10 euro entry ticket to Foidos.
@Eiae:
We actually designed Foidos not for an elected few but for the general public. We want/expect to see a lot of ordinary people with passion for chess who will enjoy an entertainment show.
And yes, the technology introduces limitation. Think of bandwidth for video streams, servers, etc.
I have a very hard time getting any possitive connotations from the term “Introducing limitation” and I do not see how it can be applied for the general public, but far be it from me to comment on how you do your marketing.
Good luck with the event and hopefully in the long term you will get the resources to be able to offer Foidos to more than a limited general public, or whatever it is you mean.
Foidos should provide free coverage for schools , so a bunch of students can gather and see the match.
By the way ,in my opinion Foidos is like trying to sell water in the rain.
Well spoken Eiae.
Yet again we see some representative for the commercial nothusi trying to justify their exploitation of something that was originally created for sharing, for free, information, research and learning.
How dare you soil the web and hinder access to this exciting intellectual event for the penurious in the na?ɬØve hope of simple profit !?
A huge dissappointment that some Dutch zombie dompteur has managed to win over Yasser.
Luckily, there are reversers interested in chess.
I think it is a little too expensive and since the content is only relayed live, only people in certain timezones can benefit from it. Also, I suspect that the content will be released as some fritz trainer dvd in due time!.
Oh and: “We deliver entertainment. When was the last time you saw entertainment in chess?”
Has chess ever been more entertaining than today? Sites like Chessvibes and the like? Good annotations all over the place? This is a really odd comment.
Entertainment would be actually having live feeds in the washrooms!
Well, one has to admit that the whole package certainly looks attractive. This kind of coverage is not matched by any other website. I’m pretty sure most people would use Foidos if it was freely accesible. But… it is not and a poor student like myself can’t justify spending this much money on a chess event. Unfortunately I don’t have the time to watch the whole match and paying 9 euro for a possible 25 move draw isn’t that exciting.
vamos esta rybka 2 rybka sup es detroyer este ANIK….ANAND KRAMNIK …………