Indian youngster turns FIDE saviour

Sandeep Singh (L) during the World Championship match between Anand and Carlsen in Chennai in 2013

Viswananthan Anand is turning the clock back at the ongoing World Candidates chess tournament in Russia and India has been following the progress of one of its favorite sons with keen interest as is evident from the number of hits recorded on the new website of the World Chess Federation (FIDE).

The new look FIDE website has overshadowed all the other private websites as it provides an almost real-time relay of the moves. It has all come about due to the efforts of 22-year old Sandeep Singh from India.

FIDE’s Chief Executive Officer Geoffrey Borg approached Sandeep in November 2013 when FIDE was looking to improve its coverage of the Anand-Carlsen World Championship match which had captured the attention of the world.

“It was during the World championship in Chennai when Mr. Borg saw my work,” recalls Sandeep.

“Since he has a background of Information Technology (IT), Mr. Borg showed interest in the way the chess coverage was being handled. I think, he particularly liked the way the damage-control exercise we carried out after the servers crashed for seven minutes at the start of the first round. We got the coverage back on rails in just 15 minutes. That impressed Mr. Borg,” Sandeep said.

During the final round of the last edition of Candidates in London in March 2013, several servers crashed leaving FIDE with a problem to solve.

“We were given just three months to provide a platform for the new-look website. We (at Guru Infoways), prepared the software to display boards for live moves, video feed, incorporated analysis by world’s best chess engine, Houdini 4 Pro, and added the facility to tweet, all on one screen” says Sandeep. There is also a lighter version of the web page, without video, for mobile phones and slow internet connections.

The numbers tell an impressive story so far for the new website. The site has averaged 2,00,000 visitors from 8,400 cities spread over 180 countries in each round.

“The site is getting millions of hits because this FIDE software transfers a move within 0.884 seconds as compared to four seconds by rival, private websites,” says Sandeep with pride.

Armenia’s capital Yerevan, the birthplace of grandmaster Levon Aronian who is taking part in the Candidates tournament, tops the list of viewers with 5.47 per cent.