8th Gibtelecom Chess Festival 2010

Eighth Gibtelecom Chess Festival 2010
Tues 26 Jan – Thurs 4 Feb 2010
PRESS RELEASE GENERAL 2 – 27.1.10
2010 GIBTELCOM INTERNATIONAL CHESS FESTIVAL BRINGS
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The Gibtelecom Chess Festival has always been at the forefront of new technology and this year is no different. As many of you covering the event will have seen the Masters tournament is being transmitted live on the internet daily as from 3pm (Gibraltar time).

For live commentary and live games visit: www.gibraltarchesscongress.com

Grandmaster Stuart Conquest delivers his commentary, and is joined by a number of guests during the time of play. The live-streaming in this new broadcasting suite known as the Archie Suite captures play in the main Conference Hall where the competition is happening. It has meant new cabling infrastructure within the hotel, including Structured and Fibre cabling to increase the reach and quality of service for the chess team at the hotel. A Camera Dome in the middle of the Chess Playing Hall allows for better viewing of games. The Video and Audio Streaming of the live commentary has this year been off loaded to a specialized online system, which has greatly improved its quality, picture-in-picture features and reachability to all chess viewers.

The broadcasting facility has seen an investment of £100,000 from the Caleta Hotel in conjunction with engineers from Gibtelecom. Last year the tournament website received 54 million hits.

Brian Callaghan, tournament organizer said this week: “The technology base provided by our lead sponsor has made this all possible and without that we would have been a little better than a regional tournament, but the reach, the ability and expertise that Gibtelecom has brought to this tournament has really raised the level. “

The sponsorship of the tournament represents a large investment for Gibtelecom but its Chief Executive Tim Bristow said at the start if the 2010 tournament that the company was very pleased to be a part it, and which in the eight years since its inception had positioned itself as not only one of the top chess tournaments in the world but one of the leading ones from a technology perspective.

Tim Bristow, Gibtelecom Chief Executive said: “Gibtelecom provides substantial technical support to the tournament. The Company hosts the tournament website, which gets many millions of hits and makes it easy for chess enthusiasts around the world to follow the proceedings. Gibtelecom is delighted to have been the leading commercial sponsor of the International Chess Festival from the outset. The Company is also dedicated to providing the technical support which plays its part in ensuring that the tournament is a success each year. This Gibraltar tournament was one of the first in the world to offer live video commentary by a grandmaster of some of the main games being played. This was not only innovative at the time but has become revolutionary in the chess world. Some of our technical staff have gained, together with the Company as a whole, from this experience.”

Alice Mascarenhas
Chess Press Officer
Gibraltar International Chess Festival, e-mail: chesspressoffice@caletahotel.gi
The Gibtelecom International Chess Festival 26th Jan – 4th Feb can be followed on-line at www.gibraltarchesscongress.com