26-11-2012, 01:45 PM
I will make a prediction here, and say that in the next 20y live boards will outnumber regular sets at congresses. Over time it is going to be reasonable to assume the technology will become cheaper and also more reliable/manageable to use. It is just progress.
A similar thing has happened with digital clocks. I am too young to remember the switch from analogue, but I am sure it was greeted with hostility by some and people kicked up a fuss, but take a look at the landscape now. For the first time I can remember, entire congresses are able to use these clocks, and they are easier for arbiters and players alike. They may have taken some getting used to, but they are adding something to the game. You could argue that now you are "forced" to play using them. To be honest, I don't like this whole argument of it is wrong to be "forced" to use certain equipment. In a similar line of thought, you are "forced" to have your table at a set height, "forced" to record your moves, and "forced" to have pieces of a set style.
To be honest, it is to be expected that not everyone will fall in love with the idea of live boards, but hopefully everyone will eventually agree it is a change for the better, and for the benefit of chess. "Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict."
A similar thing has happened with digital clocks. I am too young to remember the switch from analogue, but I am sure it was greeted with hostility by some and people kicked up a fuss, but take a look at the landscape now. For the first time I can remember, entire congresses are able to use these clocks, and they are easier for arbiters and players alike. They may have taken some getting used to, but they are adding something to the game. You could argue that now you are "forced" to play using them. To be honest, I don't like this whole argument of it is wrong to be "forced" to use certain equipment. In a similar line of thought, you are "forced" to have your table at a set height, "forced" to record your moves, and "forced" to have pieces of a set style.
To be honest, it is to be expected that not everyone will fall in love with the idea of live boards, but hopefully everyone will eventually agree it is a change for the better, and for the benefit of chess. "Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict."