The press conference announcing the event was so long ago you might not remember it. (And there was so much vodka after the press conference I wouldn't remember it myself without the photos.) The match between Almira Skripchenko and Irina Krush has finally arrived.
The match is two rapid games tomorrow (not four over two days as originally planned), starting at 2pm NY time. The control is 25'+10" and tiebreak will be a pair of 5'+10" blitz games. Then there's a sudden-death "armageddon" game of six minutes for white versus five minutes for black (no increment), with a draw being a win for black. The name of the sponsor has also changed. It's now Accoona, a new technology company. The money behind the curtain is the same (well, similar) as the sponsor of the X3D Kasparov matches I worked on.
I'll be at the Russian Samovar sitting near the board doing live commentary at Playchess.com. Download and install the client, log in and go to the Broadcast room to see the show. We'll also be filming for a future issue of ChessBase Magazine (CD-ROM) and some clips will be available on the web at ChessBase.com and the Accoona site. Contrary to what we were first told, the match WILL be open to the public, within reason. So if you're in midtown Manhattan Thursday afternoon, stop by. There will be live expert commentary downstairs.
I think they have more space than they thought because they scheduled the match on Rosh Hashanah. Oops. I'll bring the apples if you bring the honey. Susan Grumer writes in to point out that the Kramnik-Leko match starts on Yom Kippur, a major blunder. Quick, someone tell Fischer that maybe Jews really don't run the chess world.
Mig:
What I'm trying to figure out is what religious icons have to do with search engines or female chess players. Although it does have a nice Disney sort of ring to it.
Thanks,
Tracy
It's all about the Disney ring. And the old-fashioned meaning and pronunciation of "tomato". A bit of a stretch, but it's the first thing I thought of when trying to come up with a pun based on "Accoona." That and calling it "Aaccoonnaa".
Mig:
Clearly you're counting on your close personal relationship with the contestants to get away with referring to them as tamatas!
Cheers,
Tracy
Thank you for the disney reference. Now I know what Accoona reminds me of. Bedknobs and Broomsticks. I don't know the proper spellings but akoona, makata or something like that that gets repeated with the twisting of the bedknob and off they go! I don't know what the proper title was but it had Angela Lansbury in it.
*curtsy*
Sara
No, no, no! (Sit down, before ya hurtcha self...)
It's a pun on "hakuna matata" - Swahili for "no worries, mate". From "Lion King". The Bedknobs & Broomsticks was "Atuna Macoides setisti".
Or something like that. I NEVER liked Bedknobs & Broomsticks. Lion King, now, that's different: we've even bought BOTH sequels!
(And by the way - in "LK 1-1/2", there's a great bit for the pig, where he does, like, eight different puns on "hakuna matata".
FBF
Thanks for the edification Fluffy. :)
I loved Bedknobs, but there's no accounting for taste. I mean the only reason my friends even associate with me is cause I'm weird. Oh and the red hair. Gets em every time. :)
*curtsy*
Sara
Mig hasn't e-mailed me photos yet, and he's got some of me with girls and stuff. I'm scared. Help. NO BLACKMAIL, please, Miggy. I was nice to you, I swear.
Blackmail can wait. Meanwhile, some tiny pics for all to enjoy. Will post the real dirt later.
http://www.chessninja.com/images/accoona-sheet.jpg
Publish! Publish! The public has a right to know!
:)
Saw the games yesterday. What garbage.
Thankfully you fans of beach volleyball and beer commercials don't care about the chess part as long as the babes are hot
What would you have preffered, Yermo?
This is cool that we can receive the loan and this opens new chances.