Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

NRK

Norway to broadcast 100 hours of chess

Norwegian broadcaster NRK has decided to broadcast every single move of Magnus Carlsen's battle to become the world's chess champion -- a massive 100 hours of coverage -- on its top channel NRK1, a move influenced by its latest string of 'slow-TV' successes.

Published: 4 November 2013 12:40 CET
Norway to broadcast 100 hours of chess
Magnus Carlsen (left) plays Viswanathan Anand (right) in the second round of the world championship in June - Kent Skibstad / NTB scanpix
The 22-year-old Norwegian prodigy will this Saturday begin playing reigning champion Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand in the Indian city of Chennai, in a contest that will continue over 19 days. 
 
"It's a little crazy to broadcast nearly 100 hours of chess on the country's largest TV channel, but we think the Norwegian people would like to finally be able to follow Magnus Carlsen's outstanding achievements up close," Rune Haug, NRK's head of sports said. 
 
He said that he expected his team to learn lessons from NRK's recent line of 'slow-TV' programmes, such as the "National Knitting Evening" broadcast last Saturday, which featured 13 hours of non-stop knitting coverage. 
 
"To broadcast so many hours of chess is a version of the new form of slow TV," he said.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

CHESS

Norway chess champ defeated for first time in two years

World chess champion Magnus Carlsen has suffered his first defeat in more than two years and a record 125 games, while playing a tournament in his native Norway.

Published: 11 October 2020 11:09 CEST
Norway chess champ defeated for first time in two years
Magnus Carlsen at the Energy Denmark Champions in Copenhagen in May 2019. Photo: Claus Bech / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP
The world number one resigned after when he was a bishop down in the endgame against Polish grandmaster Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who is ranked a relatively humble number 15 in the world.
   
But on Saturday evening, 22-year-old Duda managed to do what no one — including the world's top 10 players — had managed to do since July 2018.   
 
It was Duda's only win of the tournament in Stavanger so far and, as he told Chess 24 afterwards, “I didn't expect to win this game.”
   
But he was, he said “extremely happy, obviously”.
   
Carlsen, who is often tough on himself in post-game analysis, offered no excuses. “Extremely disappointing”, he said: “Completely unforgivable”.
   
Carlsen's undefeated run stretches all the way back to July 31, 2018, when Azerbaijani grandmaster Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defeated him. During that time, Carlsen scored 44 wins and 81 draws against his opponents.
SHOW COMMENTS