THEY NEED FANTASY LEAGUES AND WAGERING:

It worked for poker: Can chess make it on TV? (Haley Edwards, 10/11/06, Seattle Times)

Eddie Chang, a Renton real-estate agent, and Clint Ballard, a Bainbridge Island software-company president, are chess aficionados with a dream of bringing the game to the average television-watching Joe. They will host a brand-new chess competition, Grand Master Slugfest, this weekend.

The relatively small group of high-profile players — seven Grand Masters and at least 15 competitors — will compete six times each during the three-day event, while vying for a $5,000 purse. Victor Mikhalevski, ranked 29th in the world, will fly in from Israel for the occasion, along with three-time U.S. Championship winner, Alexander Shabalov.

Here's the twist: Traditional scoring will be turned on its head. In an effort to reduce the number of draws, "which are boring for spectators to watch," Chang explains, the GM Slugfest will use a form of scoring invented by Ballard himself. The Ballard Anti-draw Point system (BAP) was first successfully introduced in a qualifying tournament this summer, but will be tested for the first time with high-level players this weekend.

In traditional scoring, white — the player with the initial advantage — often cuts his losses and calls for a "quick draw," allowing both white and black to receive one-half point. The BAP system discourages such conservative play, by awarding white no points and black one point, for draws. Accordingly, if white wins, he receives two points, and if black wins, he receives three. It is thus in a player's interest to play for a decisive victory, even if that entails risking a loss.

"It will change a lot of the strategy," explains Chang. "It forces players to take a risk, but still doesn't make white play recklessly."