Much has been written about the Candidates 2022: This Time Magnus Might or Might Not Play™. Some say, too much. However, people are busy - it’s hard to create the perfect viewing experience in a world filled with pointless distractions like “work” and “family”. Fortunately, I will save you with my definitive guide.
SNACKS
You’re gonna need snacks. These games can last for 7 hours, so it’s a marathon, not a sprint. You want something light but energy efficient so you can stay awake for those R+B vs R endgames we love so much. I’d go with the biggest muffins you can find. You’re gonna need roughly 50 muffins to get you through the tournament.
DRINKS
It’s summer, you need to stay hydrated. But you also need to stay sharp for 7 hours. And you also wanna have fun. I propose a schedule of 1 coffee, 1 water, and 1 beer and repeat it all day.
SCHEDULING
The games start at 15:00 CEST (Central European Swedish Time) every day. If you’re in Europe, you’re gonna need to get off work early. I suggest scheduling a daily migraine (you won’t need it on rest days, so your boss won’t realize there’s a pattern). There’s a rest day after every 3 rounds, so you could always cram all of your work into that day. Alternatively, just take a month of vacation like me.
COMMENTARY
Okay, we’re all watching Jan & Judit, that’s a given. But what do you do when there’s a break? Where do you go? Amateurs will take this time to replenish their snacks or visit the bathroom and this is what separates the f6-pawns from the e4-pawns.
You need a backup commentary team for during breaks. Anand on chess.com India & the St Louis Chess Club regulars will be my picks. There are also rumours that a certain Hearthstone player may stream some of the rounds.
MONITORS (TABS)
So, you think you can just open Youtube and watch a stream? Wrong, very wrong. You need a stream, you need the live boards, you need Twitter and Reddit. You need your finger on all of the pulses all of the time and if you’re following an event of this caliber without 4 monitors, I just can’t respect you. Alternatively, you can have many tabs open and flip between them relentlessly but due to the high intensity of this method, you must increase the snack intake.
RECAPS
Let’s say you messed up. You were forced to work or spend time with your family and you missed a round. There will be many recaps covering the games (some might even be published before the games finish). However, since nobody has the courage to do a 7-hour recap, you’ll still be missing out. I suggest you watch every single recap published to get the best value for your time. Start with Anish Giri’s Chessable recaps and work through the rest until you get to the best - Agadmator.
You’re supposed to subscribe for more of this crap, you know.