Chess.com TV Coverage Spanning All Oceans
Remember when ESPN began in 1979 and showed what sports coverage could look like? Yeah me neither - I was born a month later. But from what I read, the same breadth of coverage, wit, and insight is currently happening in the chess world.
There are now more than 1000 GMs worldwide, and the place to see them this summer and fall is Chess.com/tv. Nearly every major event around the globe will be covered by masters-turned-analysts.
The schedule kicks off with the FIDE Chess World Cup 2013 in Tromsø, Norway. The players will have 20 hours of daylight, and GM Ben Finegold reportedly bought his own Starbucks franchise in order to cover every single hour of play.
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GM Ben Finegold, big fan of the Frappuccino
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OK, actually he'll be joined by other commentators like GM Magesh Panchanathan (he'll be drinking chai) and GM Melik Khachiyan (drinking Red Bull). Starting Monday, August 12 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern (5:30 a.m. Pacific, so you should buy some Red Bull too) coverage will be for the second game of each of the first five rounds. Aren't the opening rounds of March Madness the most fun anway? From Adams to Zvjaginsev, we'll cover all the players, including the ones who forgo vowels (here's looking at you, Igor Lysyj).
Yesterday we announced that Chess.com is now the official and sole carrier of the United States Chess League! Athletes like playing in their own national league so much, even Clint Dempsey came home and signed with Seattle this weekend (the Sounders, not the Sluggers)!
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2012 USCL Champion Seattle Sluggers (not pictured: Clint Dempsey)
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Chess.com will cover every game on their live server, and Chess.com/tv will give live commentary for every match, which will be Tuesdays and Wednesdays starting August 27 and 28. Starting times vary slightly, but in week one the coverage kicks off on August 27 at 7:30 Eastern, 4:30 Pacific. If you live on the West Coast, just tell the boss you have to leave early because you heard there was a "Nor'easter" and you have to pick up some "Applesauce".
Next up: Death Match 17 between GM Loek van Wely and GM Arkadij Naiditsch - September 6 at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific (that's a Friday so you're going to have to call in sick for this one). IMs Danny Rensch and Lawrence Trent will again switch accents for their analysis of the two Super-GMs' blitz and bullet action.
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GM Loek van Wely or Liam Neeson? You decide.
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If you're picky and don't like to watch events with average ratings below 2795, we've got you covered there too. The inaugural Sinquefield Cup pits America's best against the world's best from September 9-15. Traveling to St. Louis will be GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Levon Aronian, GM Hikaru Nakamura and GM Gata Kamsky. Your invitation to play probably got lost in the mail, but your invitation to watch is right here! Join Chess.com/tv for the opening round and three closing rounds. Coverage begins on September 9 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern, 11:00 a.m. Pacific and resumes at the same time from September 13-15.
Death Match 18 gets back to its Saturday roots on October 5 at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. In the highest average rating of any Death Match, two more Super-GMs will blitz it out - former world title contender GM Nigel Short against the best female player of all-time GM Judit Polgar! Chess.com/tv will be there for every brilliancy and blunder.
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The new tiebreak for Death Matches?
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Also be sure to check out our regular shows - Q & A With Coach Heisman every other Friday at 5:00 p.m. Eastern, and Melik and Me, Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. Eastern (check listings for exact weeks).
And in a case of burying the lede (or perhaps just rewarding you, the most thorough reader), Chess.com/tv is planning to cover every round of November's World Championship Match between GM Viswanathan Anand and GM Magnus Carlsen!
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Carlsen is moving first as Black? No wonder he is world number one.
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The match will be November 6-26 and while details are stil being ironed out, Chess.com/tv is attempting to bring as much of Chennai into your living room as possible (minus the smog). Break out the smoked salmon and tikka masala, it is going to be a match for the ages (22 versus 43, to be exact)!
Company Contact and News Accreditation:
- Email: Mike@chess.com
- Phone: 1 (800) 318-2827
- Address: PO Box 60400 Palo Alto, CA 94306
Mike Klein began playing chess at the age of four in Charlotte, NC. In 1986, he lost to Josh Waitzkin at the National Championship featured in the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer." A year later, Mike became the youngest member of the very first All-America Chess Team, and was on the team a total of eight times. In 1988, he won the K-3 National Championship, and eventually became North Carolina's youngest-ever master. In 1996, he won clear first for under-2250 players in the top section of the World Open. Mike has taught chess full-time for a dozen years in New York City and Charlotte, with his students and teams winning many national championships. He now works at Chess.com as a Senior Journalist and at ChessKid.com as the Chief Chess Officer. In 2012, 2015, and 2018, he was awarded Chess Journalist of the Year by the Chess Journalists of America. He has also previously won other awards from the CJA such as Best Tournament Report, and also several writing awards for mainstream newspapers. His chess writing and personal travels have now brought him to 99 countries.
