Luke McShane

Chess sets

Since tennis matches are decided in sets, they are sometimes won by the player who has won fewer games. For example, with a 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 scoreline, 12 wins can beat 14. This statistical quirk goes by the name of Simpson’s paradox, and from a sporting point of view it is quite attractive. Even an abysmal start allows for a comeback.

I’m not aware of chess matches ever being scored in this way. But when the Champions Chess Tour kicked off in the early months of the pandemic, the scoring system of the knockout stages was an appealing adaptation of that idea. Knockout matches were, in effect, decided over two ‘sets’, with each set lasting for four rapid games, played over one day. The first set was allowed to be drawn, but if honours were even after two sets then the tiebreak kicked in.

For the most part, this made for exciting matches and minimised ‘dead’ games. It was clear from the start that forging a marketable broadcast event was a priority. The scoring system was not the only consideration; the endorsement of Magnus Carlsen, the accessible commentary, and the pandemic-inspired chess boom all played a part. It seems that sponsors liked what they saw. At the start of 2021, the media monitoring company Meltwater became the tour’s title partner. Last month Mastercard announced its own partnership with the tour, citing 27 million hours of chess being watched during the season and naming Carlsen as a global brand ambassador.

The second season has just concluded with the $300,000 Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals. Holding it in San Francisco, as slated, proved to be infeasible, so it was held online like the rest of the series, with three out of ten players (Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri and Jan-Krzysztof Duda) convening in Oslo.

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