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hosted by Chess Queen™ & 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk
Saturday, April 6, 2013
World Chess Championship 2013: Tromsø Might Bid for Anand – Carlsen Match
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
President of the Norwegian Chess Federation Jøran Aulin-Johnsen told NRK TV that he hopes Tromsø will be awarded with the organization of the World Championship match between Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen. He estimates that around 30-40 million NOK (4 – 5,4 million EUR) would have to be raised for the budget.
Aulin-Johnsen also pointed out that other cities might enter the bidding process. FIDE has India holding the first option for the 2013 match following the resolution to hold the 2012 match between Anand and Gelfand in Moscow instead of Chennai. AICF Honorary Secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan told the Indian press that they are considering the options. Andrew Paulson of AGON mentioned several possible venues in conversation with VG: “New York is a possibility, but it is also Miami, St. Tropez, Paris, even Tromsø! We have communication with the Indians, so we’ll see what they say. New York would be a good opportunity for the media, for chess promotion and partners.” Chess Olympiad 2014 CEO Børge Robertsen said that Tromsø is fully capable of hosting the World Championship match: “If we get the opportunity, we have a top streamlined organization that is ready to handle such an event.”
BBC Chess Interview Video with Magnus Carlsen, Andrew Paulson
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Here is a short BBC News interview with World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and organiser of London Chess Candidates 2013 Andrew Paulson. BBC presenter Ros Atkins enjoys his "brief moment of glory" at the chess board with the World No. 1!
London Chess Grand Prix: Topalov, Gelfand, Mamedyarov Joint Winners
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The first of the Chess Grand Prix Series 2012/13 has concluded with three winners in London: Veselin Topalov, Boris Gelfand and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov! According to regulations, Grand Prix points and prize money is shared equally in case of a tie. Here is the official report by GM Robert Fontaine.
CNN Chess Video on Andrew Paulson, World Chess Rebranding
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Here is a nice CNN report on chess and how US entrepreneur Andrew Paulson is trying to rebrand it. You can read previous Chess Blog posts on Andrew Paulson at this link.
World Chess: Chris King is Agon Commercial Director
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Chris King, the co-founder of executive search firm Sports Recruitment International, has been appointed commercial director of Agon Ltd, the rights-holder of the World Chess Championships. King, who will retain a board position and advisory role at Sports Recruitment International, will work on securing sponsors and distribution rights for the next World Chess Championships cycle which begins next March. King will report to Agon chief executive and founder Andrew Paulson. “I’ve seen many opportunities in the sports and entertainment sector in the last 11 years, but this was just too good an opportunity to pass up," King said in a statement.
“I am enormously excited to work with Andrew and his focused team to help establish World Chess as a commercial proposition that can and should be in the same commercial league as poker and golf, for example.”
The Agon statement added that the organisation is already negotiating with potential partners in the technology, media, financial and industrial fields.
Agon has the rights to the World Chess Championships for the next 11 years in a deal struck with the World Chess Federation in February. According to King, there is no rival event and chess is currently an untapped sponsorship opportunity, though brands such as IBM and Intel have associated themselves with the game in the past on one-off occasions.
King said: "This is the first time a cycle has been put together and the first time we can give a marketing partner commitment and consistency."
The cycle consists of nine events that take place during a two-year period. It will start with a tournament in London later this month and includes events in Tashkent, Madrid, Paris and Berlin.
In London in March 2013 there will be a more important tournament, in which the world’s top players compete for the right to take on the reigning World Chess champion, India’s Viswanathan Anand, in the World Championship Match in November 2013.
Agon has an outline agreement with an undisclosed international broadcaster, which King described as "well-known in the UK and genuinely global", to broadcast highlights of games, which can last between three and six hours.
GM Robert Fontaine joins Agon as chief of staff to Andrew Paulson
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
International chess Grandmaster Robert Fontaine has joined Agon Limited, the rights holder to the World Chess Championship cycle, as chief of staff to founder and chief executive Andrew Paulson.
Mr Fontaine, the six-times under-20 youth champion for France, becomes a principal aide as Mr Paulson implements his strategy to organise and commercialise the ongoing World Chess Championship cycles, starting with the opening Grand Prix for the 2012/2013 cycle at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand in London in September. Mr Fontaine has won a number of international tournaments over his playing career, including Las Vegas in 2006, Stockholm in 2007 and Paleohora in 2009. He became a Grandmaster in 2002 and a member of the Olympiad chess team in 2004.
He is also known as a presenter for Europe-Echecs, where he interviewed champion players and politicians for video reportage on the world’s leading chess events.
Mr Fontaine said: “I heard about Andrew’s plans to restore chess to its rightful place as a leading global entertainment form, and was extremely interested to see how I could bring my experience to help him realise his ambitions. What Andrew is proposing can only benefit the international chess community through raising the profile of the game and opening up chess to a new generation of players.”
Mr Paulson, the chief executive of Agon, said: “Robert is incredibly well-connected in the chess world, and his experience of interviewing top-ranking Grandmasters and his deep understanding of the complexities of the game will be invaluable as we build up to the start of the next iteration of the world’s most compelling sport.”
On semi-retiring from competitive chess in 2005, Mr Fontaine became a professional chess coach as managing director of the chess club Cannes-Echecs, where he managed a team of ten teaching chess in schools to 4,500 children.
He also introduced chess to the employees of French electricity and gas companies by working with CCAS, the energy industry social fund, to help co-ordinate a scheme that has taught chess to 45,000 people since 2007.
Chess is the Sleeping Giant of the World in Popularity, Sponsorship!
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Here is the latest press release from Agon. Chess has been under the radar for the last 40 years since Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky fought the Cold War for us in Reykjavik. But outside the glare of the media spotlight, chess players now make up one of the largest communities in the world: 605 million adults play chess regularly – a number comparable to regular users of Facebook.
Andrew Paulson
According to authoritative polling organization YouGov, across varied national demographic profiles (US, UK, Germany, Russia, India), a surprisingly stable 70% of the adult population has played chess at some point during their lives. Even if they played chess as children but left it behind as they grew up, they still retain a deep admiration for the game.
Across the board, chess players and non-players alike rank chess significantly higher than any other game or sport for attributes such as intelligence, sophistication, strategy, perfection and complexity, confirming top branding agency Pentagram’s view that: “Chess is about Thinking and Winning.”
London's Simpson's-in-the-Strand to Host Chess Grand Prix
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Agon, the company that had bagged the commercial rights to the World Chess Championships by FIDE has announced that Simpson’s-in-the-Strand, London would be the venue for the first Grand Prix chess event between September 20 and October 3 with a prize fund of 240,000 euros.
Andrew Paulson, the Chief Executive and Founder of Agon, said: “I am delighted to confirm that Simpson’s-in-the-Strand will be the venue for the September Grand Prix. As possibly the best-known chess venue in the world, it is the perfect place to kick off the new Championship cycle. However, the requirement to transfer the event to London from Chelyabinsk at this relatively late stage means that it will be a smaller, invite-only event.
“Agon’s stewardship of the World Chess Championships really only starts with the London Candidates tournament in March 2013, but I felt compelled to support FIDE when it became apparent that Chelyabinsk wasn’t going to work. ”
CJ de Mooi, the President of the English Chess Federation (ECF), said: “I am delighted to welcome the Agon Chess Grand Prix to London in our Olympic year. The ECF looks forward to a long partnership with Agon, an innovative company that has proven itself on both the world stage and the chess board.”
Simpson’s originally opened in 1828 as a chess club and coffee house and soon became known as the “home of chess” after attracting the patronage of such chess luminaries as Howard Staunton – the first English world chess champion.
Raymond Keene OBE, chess columnist for The Times newspaper and The Spectator magazine and one of the world’s most respected commentators on the sport, said: “I am relishing the return of the World Chess Championships to Simpson’s. It is the home of the immortal game and the Grand Prix in September represents the start of a long journey to restore chess to its rightful place in the public imagination after decades in the media wilderness.”
The announcement of Simpson’s as a venue is indicative of Agon’s ambitions for the World Chess Championships.
Agon will be bringing the World Chess Championships to European capital cities, as part of its commitment to bring a sustainable business model to the sport.
Mr Paulson added: “We will shortly be announcing a number of illustrious and historic venues for the World Chess Championship cycle. We are also in discussions with a number of global companies that want to be associated with the pinnacle of this wonderful game.”
In 2013, the Championship cycle will be hosted by London, Lisbon, Madrid, Berlin, Paris and Tromsø.
Making Chess Glamorous, Exciting: The Guardian on Andrew Paulson
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The Guardian report on Andrew Paulson who is gearing up to give chess a jazz new look makes an interesting read. Here is an excerpt.
Chess impresario hopes to bring back the Fischer v Spassky glory days
Andrew Paulson, a 54-year-old American businessman who has spent most of the past 15 years in Russia, is committed to reversing this decline. In a remarkable financial coup, he has persuaded Fide, the international governing body of chess, to hand him the media and marketing rights to the world championship for the next 10 years.
Suddenly, this chess enthusiast who admits to being a "patzer" – a player of no great ability – has become the game's potential king. "The characters in the chess world are fascinating," he says at Simpson's in the Strand, a famous chess coffee house in the 19th century and a possible venue for a new grand prix tournament to be staged in London next year. "When I first dove into the chess world, I felt incredibly comfortable with these people. It was like being back in college. These were passionate, eccentric, but deeply committed. They see themselves as the keepers of the holy grail."
Paulson, who ran publishing businesses in Russia and remains a director of an internet company based in Moscow, did not set out to become a major player in the chess world. He met Fide's controversial president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, by chance last September, and says he immediately realised chess had huge untapped commercial potential.
How did he convince Fide to let him take over marketing of the game? "Their fundamental error was that they were trying to get sponsors for [single] events. I said to them, 'No. If you give me all of the events connected to the world championship, I can reconceive this as a whole.' Then we're not selling an event, we're selling chess. We're selling chess as an idea, as a symbol, as a metaphor."
His company, Agon, is about to release the results of a YouGov poll on chess in the US which he says proves how extensive is the interest in the game. Fourteen per cent of adults play at least once a year; and the percentage is higher if you add the number of children playing regularly. Even more striking is the fact that two-thirds of American adults have played chess at some point in their lives.
Design group Pentagram is developing a new visual identity for the world championship, using the tagline "The best mind wins", and Paulson has commissioned a short film drawing on footage from the Fischer-Spassky match and from movies which have featured chess, notably From Russia with Love. He wants chess to be seen not as some nerdy pastime, but as central to the culture of both east and west.
Paulson claims he will shortly be unveiling long-term sponsorship deals with half a dozen companies in different sectors. They will provide the €6m (£4.8m) a year it will cost to finance the new biennial world championship series, which will incorporate grand prix events in leading cities, a world cup, a candidates tournament between the top eight players emerging from those earlier competitions, and then an extended title match between the challenger and the holder.
Paulson is allowed to choose one wildcard entry to the candidates tournament, and it is a testimony to the fact he intends to reintroduce some showmanship into chess that he has already sounded out Kasparov for what would be a sensational comeback. Kasparov, who will be 50 next year, has so far rejected the idea, but Paulson hopes he can be persuaded to change his mind.
As his play in exhibition matches shows, he remains a formidable opponent, and his return to competitive chess would generate widespread interest. "I see one of my goals as making chess a spectator sport," says Paulson. "You can make it interactive now. There are so many resources that can be brought to bear to make the watching of a chess event fun for individuals and for groups."
Agon Appoints Pentagram to Reposition Chess for the World Stage! (Updated)
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
We are updating our previous post about leading tycoon Andrew Paulson taking a keen interest in making chess the 'hot' sport for the world through multimedia and online projects. (Photo-Andrew Paulson: Showcasing the power of Sport & Technology)
Leading design agency Pentagram has been hired to rebrand the World Chess Championships, after the World Chess Federation (FIDE) accorded the commercial rights to the sport to technology entrepreneur Andrew Paulson.
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12th Women's World Chess Champion
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