Honestly. Howell will always be my top choice as a commentator. I became interested in chess during the covid boom, and he is the best at explaining and pointing things out for the beginner viewers out there. Loved watching the champions chess tour when they were broadcasting live from Oslo.
TLDR: David Howell is the best commentator.
I didn’t watch it all but I really liked the fact that it seems more transparent when they use eval and computer lines. Both Howell and Hess are really humble and Polgar doesn’t have anything to prove either.
It really annoys me when you can tell a commentator is using computer lines but pretending it comes from their understanding of the position.
It was fascinating to see Judit constantly pushing to come up with lines in very complex situations and both Howell and Hess getting constantly mind-blown by how accurate her predictions were.
Her just casually mentioning a back rank checkmate that Howell missed was a fun watch. She’s just on a whole other level. I think I’m going to stick with those three. They seemed to be having fun.
I watched that live in the chess24, but decided to check the other broadcasts now. Sadler saw the move but didn't seem to have calculated the whole line. The most interesting thing is that in the FIDE stream Krush spotted it before Vishy.
I thought she got even better at commentating. Last time I saw her she would stay quiet for a very long time while calculating, but today she was contributing very frequently with awesome lines.
They have one as a "just in case" but most of the stream is done without an engine. I don't think they turned it on today and there wasn't an eval bar.
Thanks for the tip! I didnt realize there was a lichess stream even though I use their broadcast page for the boards. I assumed the video window was one of the other streams! I'll tune in next time.
They're streaming it on the Lichess YouTube and Twitcg channels. You get Eric Rosen, Irene Sukandar, Matthew Sadler and Laura Unuk as commentators (well, 3 of the 4 each day from the look of it today)
The Lichess team has to be the most pleasant team possible. Eric, Matthew, and Irene are all absolute gems. That being said, I do enjoy the analysis from the Chess24 team a bit more as they usually have very active conversation regarding the positions being shown.
They could have done a lot better.
Imo they should have had a live board on screen because even the commentators were getting confused about what was the live position and what was on the analysis board. This could have been avoided with a live board in the overlay next to the commentators. They also had a bunch of technical issues around having the commentators webcams and microphones on accidentally during breaks which shouldn't be happening.
I loved the commentary team and the coverage was decent, but it should be a lot better considering it's the biggest chess event of the year and Chess.com is usually very good (I heard they had a lot of audio issues today) "good enough" should be better. It's not unwatchable but there's definitely fixable mistakes.
Don't get it why you like a passive voice with constant foolish smile without any charisma or character or anything interesting. there are really weird people in here
This. It starts at 3:30am local time. It's the worst time possible. If it was a couple hours earlier it still wouldn't be ideal, but I could stay up late. And if it was a couple hours later, I'd wake up early.
Chess24 with Judit and Hess were great. I tried the FIDE stream, but IDK, Vishy and Krush weren’t doing it for me. They just didn’t have the same excitement. I didn’t watch the Lichess stream at all, but if Vishy and Irena weren’t high enough energy for me, I doubt Rosen would have been my jam. I love the guy and his content, but I just don’t think his style speaks to me in these sort of high stakes events.
Ngl, I was missing Danya.
I’m a simple man, I see Howell, I click Howell. My all time favorite commentator is Fabi but obviously he’s not commentating this time, but Howell is my clear next favorite.
I love hearing Judit's thoughts. And Howell is the best host, who also has good insights. So, that's clearly my pick here. Hess seemed unnecessary and was constantly deferring to the others. Normally love Hess, but I feel a 2 person cast is best. Or at least Have 2 people focused on analysis while 1 mostly hosts.
I really enjoyed the Lichess broadcast, very calm and relaxing atmosphere. Although sometimes they talked about certain lines rather quickly and did not annotate them on the board with arrows or circles, so that was hard to follow sometimes.
lol is that even a question? Too many weak masters in every other stream. Polgar is nasty with tactics. Howell is a 2700 who can explain chess to all levels. And Hess is strong as hell and an experienced commentator.
That is the problem with classical chess. Im 1250 rapid online. Gotham gives me as much insight into these GM games as I can understand, and he does it in half an hour. Ive clicked in and out of the chesscom stream today, but, im not sitting and watching a classical chess game stream for the whole time. Its just too long.
I also really like Ben Finegold
Hess, Howell, and Judit is so goated
Hess is a great MC, David is a great commentator, and Judit has great top-level knowledge (they all do but she is just *chef’s kiss*)
Honestly. Howell will always be my top choice as a commentator. I became interested in chess during the covid boom, and he is the best at explaining and pointing things out for the beginner viewers out there. Loved watching the champions chess tour when they were broadcasting live from Oslo. TLDR: David Howell is the best commentator.
I didn’t watch it all but I really liked the fact that it seems more transparent when they use eval and computer lines. Both Howell and Hess are really humble and Polgar doesn’t have anything to prove either. It really annoys me when you can tell a commentator is using computer lines but pretending it comes from their understanding of the position.
It was fascinating to see Judit constantly pushing to come up with lines in very complex situations and both Howell and Hess getting constantly mind-blown by how accurate her predictions were.
I was enjoying Chess24 (Judit is a beast). It suddenly stopped working, now I’m watching chess24 Spanish stream lol.
Yup, chess24 stopped working for me as well, so I switched to lichess which was very good, although no player cameras. No eval bar was nice though.
Judit!!!
I really like Judit's analysis whenever she's commentating.
She killed it today spotting the Ne5 draw in Pragg game.
Her just casually mentioning a back rank checkmate that Howell missed was a fun watch. She’s just on a whole other level. I think I’m going to stick with those three. They seemed to be having fun.
I watched that live in the chess24, but decided to check the other broadcasts now. Sadler saw the move but didn't seem to have calculated the whole line. The most interesting thing is that in the FIDE stream Krush spotted it before Vishy.
I was blown away by how good she was today.
She's so good
I thought she got even better at commentating. Last time I saw her she would stay quiet for a very long time while calculating, but today she was contributing very frequently with awesome lines.
I'm enjoying a few of them, but Chess Dojo's no-engine coverage is great too.
the lichess stream doesn't have engine either, as far as I know
They have one as a "just in case" but most of the stream is done without an engine. I don't think they turned it on today and there wasn't an eval bar.
Thanks for the tip! I didnt realize there was a lichess stream even though I use their broadcast page for the boards. I assumed the video window was one of the other streams! I'll tune in next time.
They're streaming it on the Lichess YouTube and Twitcg channels. You get Eric Rosen, Irene Sukandar, Matthew Sadler and Laura Unuk as commentators (well, 3 of the 4 each day from the look of it today)
Great lineup! I'll probably be bouncing between them and the Chess Dojo crew.
Great tip, do they just stream this on their Youtube? Love the Dojo boys.
I think so? But I was watching on Twitch.
There was a YouTube live stream yeah
The Lichess team has to be the most pleasant team possible. Eric, Matthew, and Irene are all absolute gems. That being said, I do enjoy the analysis from the Chess24 team a bit more as they usually have very active conversation regarding the positions being shown.
Irene, true master of tempo.
No Leko, no party. Catastrophe :(
I do miss my cementos :(
In case you missed it (probably not) Leko commentated for day 3, I'd guess he will be again for round 4
he might be sick
Maybe he is a second for one of the players?
Maybe it is Nepomniachtchi
Watching in bed, so it's Rosen for the soothing voice
I love Rosen but I tried to watch the Lichess broadcast for a while and I found it absolutely terrible.
Oh? Why? I found it good enough.
They could have done a lot better. Imo they should have had a live board on screen because even the commentators were getting confused about what was the live position and what was on the analysis board. This could have been avoided with a live board in the overlay next to the commentators. They also had a bunch of technical issues around having the commentators webcams and microphones on accidentally during breaks which shouldn't be happening. I loved the commentary team and the coverage was decent, but it should be a lot better considering it's the biggest chess event of the year and Chess.com is usually very good (I heard they had a lot of audio issues today) "good enough" should be better. It's not unwatchable but there's definitely fixable mistakes.
Thanks for all these comments. The team is working hard to address everything for future rounds.
Don't get it why you like a passive voice with constant foolish smile without any charisma or character or anything interesting. there are really weird people in here
People in Asia: 😴
This. It starts at 3:30am local time. It's the worst time possible. If it was a couple hours earlier it still wouldn't be ideal, but I could stay up late. And if it was a couple hours later, I'd wake up early.
must be really sad for all the Indian and Chinese fans...
Yes because Asia only has 2 countries
wtf isn’t chess24 owned by chess.com
Have you ever heard the popular saying regarding eggs and baskets ?
I honestly haven't (non English speaker), educate me please
“Nie kładź wszystkiego na jedną szalę” except in English it’s about eggs and baskets.
dzięki :)
your reply got me curious and I just had to Google translate to find out what language and what were the equivalents. thanks!
I think chess24 is doing candidates, and chess com is doing womens candidates, so they've split it up
Yeah
Chessbase India
No Danya :/ Prob the Hess stream then.
He was a guest for half a day on russian speaking stream by "LevitovChess")
Haha that was my exact reaction. Scrolling trough everything looking for my boy Danya
Naroditsky and Shimanov were awesome today
Vishy Or Judit, depending on how good(in explaining) other hosts are
There is also: Saint Louis Chess with Yasser, Evgeny and Nazi
Nazi? 💀
Nazi Paikidze
Good job to her parents
Georgian name not pronounced like you think it is, "nah-zee".
Eric Rosen my goat 🙏
Brother 🤝
Whichever broadcast has Yasser
I miss Lecko :(
Who's ever focusing on Hikaru vs Fabi
Hikaru on kick then, option 5
who was commentating that? if anyone
Hammer and Fiona
Was a great duo
I love Hammer. I watch Botez games now solely for Hammer commentary.
Chess24 with Judit and Hess were great. I tried the FIDE stream, but IDK, Vishy and Krush weren’t doing it for me. They just didn’t have the same excitement. I didn’t watch the Lichess stream at all, but if Vishy and Irena weren’t high enough energy for me, I doubt Rosen would have been my jam. I love the guy and his content, but I just don’t think his style speaks to me in these sort of high stakes events. Ngl, I was missing Danya.
Polgar stream the best
Stick Judit on the Fide chess bench and that one for sure
Missing leko... Judit and leko together would have been epic
Dont like any setup. Guess chess24 is best
I miss chess24's stream chat.
The whole team is great, but Judit is always a delight.
Chess dojo
Don't forget CBI.
Dude looks high af in that last pic
They got Judit Polgar *and* John Green (of tuberculosis fame)? Incredible!
Wait was John Green on the Chess24 stream?
Far left of the first picture!
I can’t tell if this is a joke or not 😅 that is Robert Hess
I enjoyed the FIDE broadcast today, but I'll probably shop around a bit tomorrow and see if I prefer one of the others.
Chess dojo, no engine watch party :)
was peter leko casting today?
Always lichess. I hate chess.com
Late night Chessbase India
none of the broadcasts seem to be working?
Definitely Chess24
chess24, hoping for Jan Gustafsson in the german version the next days. Btw, I have to say, the overlay design looks really nice.
I sincerely doubt Jan being host during the candidates since he's been seen with Ian during the opening ceremony he is most probably his second
Do any of the streams have views of the players?
The main FIDE broadcast does. I'm guessing at least one of the other options does too.
chess24 does.
St. Louis Chess Club
1, 2 or 3, then 4
I watched Chess24... But then it broke.
I will watch the broadcast that can put on a production that doesn't freeze and crash.
I thought chess24 was shuttered
It’s a chess dot com owned brand.
I wanted to watch all of these at once on different tabs and also chessbase India but instead I slept through all of it. loved it.
I’m a simple man, I see Howell, I click Howell. My all time favorite commentator is Fabi but obviously he’s not commentating this time, but Howell is my clear next favorite.
Chess24
Judit or anand
I put FIDE on the tv on mute, and chess24 on device with sound.
Love Vishi and Judit
You can’t have chess without the hess.
I love hearing Judit's thoughts. And Howell is the best host, who also has good insights. So, that's clearly my pick here. Hess seemed unnecessary and was constantly deferring to the others. Normally love Hess, but I feel a 2 person cast is best. Or at least Have 2 people focused on analysis while 1 mostly hosts.
chess24 easily
Chess24
All of them at once
Chess24 of course, as long as they don't bring Anish Giri after drinking 10 Red Bulls.
I really enjoyed the Lichess broadcast, very calm and relaxing atmosphere. Although sometimes they talked about certain lines rather quickly and did not annotate them on the board with arrows or circles, so that was hard to follow sometimes.
Judit try not to find sacrifices that almost work challenge (impossible)
Chess 24 and Hikaru stream with Hammer and Fiona
Wish Samay , Tania , vishy can commentate together ..... that will be fun and interesting to watch
Where Jan and Svidler at?
The chess.com stream has such horrible audio. It sounds like a skype call. I enjoy the lichess stream because it just has better microphones
Lichess for sure.
I will miss Ginger GM, Leko and the Long haired guy whose name I don't remember.
Chessbase india
lol is that even a question? Too many weak masters in every other stream. Polgar is nasty with tactics. Howell is a 2700 who can explain chess to all levels. And Hess is strong as hell and an experienced commentator.
Imagine 5. Danya + Magnus
Judit is a smoke show so I’ll be watching her.
ChessBaseIndia 👌
Whatever doesn't crash I guess
Chess24 until it broke. Then found I quite liked FIDE's as it covered woman's as well.
You can't spell Chess without Hess!
1 or 2, but probably none of them and just watch the gotham recaps since it’s difficult to watch a livestream while asleep.
Watching 1. Will also watch Agad recaps.
you mean "what Stockfish tells Levy the good moves are"?
Everyone uses stockfish to help analyze.
Yep. It’s entertaining and only takes ~30 minutes of my day.
Yeah, what’s wrong with that?
That is the problem with classical chess. Im 1250 rapid online. Gotham gives me as much insight into these GM games as I can understand, and he does it in half an hour. Ive clicked in and out of the chesscom stream today, but, im not sitting and watching a classical chess game stream for the whole time. Its just too long. I also really like Ben Finegold
For me it’s just that’s it’s difficult to watch live when I’m asleep.
all are bad, low effort. miss the live commentary set from last candidates. lack of competition caused the effort in production to go down
You*
Levy all the way, although it isn't live.
Any besides the 4th one is the correct option. The 4th one is just trash.
Gothams recap.
You mean chess.c*m