2024-10-09 05:33:36
The main chess event these days is the Global League, taking place in London. It features Azerbaijani grandmasters Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Teymur Radjabov, whose teams are in the top three after six rounds. However, what is the tournament, what are its specifics? Let’s talk about it.
As reported by İdman.biz, this is the first and largest global chess league operating on a franchise basis. The term “franchise” is associated with American professional sports, where private owners buy the right to operate member teams from the league and share the league’s revenue from the sale of television rights, sponsorships and ticket sales.
The Global Chess League is being modeled on the Indian Premier League (IPL), which has raised $10 billion in sponsorships and revolutionized the sport. The main idea is to collect all the stars in one place and divide them between conditional teams. The fact that chess is an individual sport seems to help rather than hinder the concept.
The tournament rules combine familiar and unusual conditions. Six teams of six chess players each play each other twice over 10 rounds. The top two compete for the title of winner in the final match. Time control this year is 20 minutes per game without addition. For winning the match, 3 points are awarded.
Another proprietary innovation of the League – victories with white bring 3 points into the match standings, and victories with black – 4. In each match, all players of the same team play the same color, white or black. Thus, if the teams exchange victories, the match ends not in a draw, but in a victory for Black.
The teams were drafted with their strongest players or “icons”: world champions Carlsen and Anand, as well as Nakamura, Giri, Vachier-Lagrave and Firouzja.
The organizers emphasize that television broadcasting is a priority for them and do not start the clock on all six boards simultaneously, but two at a time, so that the commentators have time to tell something about the debut of each game.
The tournament is organized on a grand scale and the Light Auditorium of Friends House on Easton Road makes a big impression. The abundance of sponsor advertising, the playing area in the center of the hall and the huge tetrahedral digital scoreboard under the ceiling give the impression that you are at a boxing match rather than a chess tournament.
After six rounds, the leadership is held by “Alaskan Knights” with Shakhriyar in the lineup, and “Triveni Continental Kings” in Radjabov is in third place.
İdman.biz