World Championship Social Media 2023

The last time this blog's long running series on The Sociology of Chess (November 2016) coincided with a World Championship match was World Championship Social Media 2021 (November 2021). In that post I documented six social media accounts operated by FIDE. Nearly 18 months later, the official site FIDE World Championship 2023, Astana (worldchampionship.fide.com), lists four accounts in the following order:-

• FIDE chess - YouTube
• FIDE (@fide_chess) • Instagram
• International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) / Twitter
• International Chess Federation | Lausanne | Facebook

All four were present and accounted for in 2021, with a small change to the YouTube URL. The two accounts no longer listed on the official FIDE site are Flickr and VK.com. The Flickr photos are all marked 'All rights reserved' and VK.com is a Russian language site, so most of us can live without them. I've already mentioned the Youtube channel in 2023 Nepo - Ding, Opening Press Conference (April 2023), where I wrote,

I'm watching the first game on the same Youtube channel that provided this video -- FIDE chess (youtube.com) -- and during the first hour of the game the production was less than impressive: [list of problems]

I continued watching the games on the same channel and am happy to issue a correction to that statement. After the intial teething problems, the broadcasts have been smooth and nearly faultless. GM Irina Krush is a refreshing change from the women commentators whose main contribution is to giggle throughout the broadcast. Former World Champion Vishy Anand was a fountain of first-hand chess knowledge and history during the first four games where he presided. His replacement, GM Daniil Dubov, does not have the same experience and too often interrupts his partner with 'Yes, but...', but, yes, he knows his chess and his analyses are worthy of the occasion.

The main drawback to the FIDE broadcasts is the chat stream. There are some notable exceptions to the many cringeworthy comments, but how to eliminate the dross? Better might be a small group of knowledegable people who have been identified and vetted beforehand. Online anonymity does not make for intelligent dialog.

'All rights reserved'

International Chess Federation (FIDE)’s albums | Flickr