We Want Feedback! Topic: US Chess League!

This is Danny under the webmaster account everyone! Using it to get the attention of the WORLD!

Hey, how's your day going *said in the tone like I'm hitting on you* 

Ok, seriously: The USCL (United States Chess League) regular season is over. The Playoffs are starting next week... BUT it's time for some straight talk.

I am looking for your most honest, most critical, most helpful opinions. Anyone willing to give me some answers is... well... I can't give you anything BUT I love you!

1. Do you even know what the USCL is? I'm not kidding. If not, click here but leave your answer please 
2. Were you aware that we created fan groups for all the teams (click) and hosted regular TV (www.chess.com/tv) Shows every week? 
3. Did you vote in the Game of the Week poll on the home page? Did you vote? If yes, just say that. If not, why not? Not aware of it or didn't feel qualified to vote? It was up every Thursday until Friday afternoon. It's up now  (or will be in like 3 hours).
4. If you watched the TV Shows, did you enjoy them? Which hosts did you like best (be nice but honest). Did you like the team this year (Mike Klein, Greg Shahade, John Bartholomew Irina Krush and Yermolinsky among others)  better than last year (David Pruess, Danny Rensch and Josh Sampson). What style of show did you want to see? Did you get it?
5. Premium Members (and anyone if you have an opinion): Did you enjoy the video lectures on the USCL? Yermo's regular Game of the Week videos (click) and mine and Kostya's Highlights (click for my latest) both on YouTube (click here for those) and on the site (click here for my latest).
6. What about Mike Klein's weekly news recaps? (click) Did you A) read them at first and then stop reading because you didn't like the league B) stop reading because you didn't know anything that it was talking about C) keep reading them the whole time but it didn't really peak your interest level D) read every single one of them because Mike Klein is a GOD and you LOVE the USCL? 
7. Assuming you were aware of all this content we've been dedicating to the league, did you enjoy the amount we dedicated? Too much? Not enough? Whatcha got???

Finally, any other thoughts you have. Just simple answers is this is too much, but I'm *really* trying to grasp what OUR community felt about hosting the USCL this year. 

Thank you in advance to ALL of you who take some time to give me feedback here. If you have any other opinions that you don't want to share with the world (too harsh to someone or too embarrassing to admit how much you love Mike Klein  or how much you missed me ) then message me (DanielRensch NOT webmaster). 

Thanks Chess.com for being the best!

Danny

Not watching the TV shows.  I'd rather play "guess the move" on games in progress.   I will say that the individual game chats get a little cluttered. Maybe some muting and moderation is in order there.

Thanks richie. Have you have ever watched an exciting chesstv show? I think my shows are fun .

Thanks Jpatrick. Good points. You aren't the only one who's said that. 

What else everyone! Need feedback!

They are Fantastic Danny. C.C needs to do more such events in my opinion.

I have enjoyed this more than the death matches, because I don't like blitz.

I like the players though. My city isn't in the league, so I am not really pulling for any particular team. I like Miami, because its the furthest south, even though I don't know any of them. I also like, Irina Krush, and the NY knights, I could write a song about them, lol.

Seriously though, the commentators are all top notch, and I derive great pleasure in listening to the shows. I can't be there for the whole show in most cases because of certain responsibilities I have, but I go through the video section and listen to them, plus I don't do the surveys, because I am not qualified to pick a game of the week. I like long and intense battles.

Full of tactics, and swings from one side of the board to the other. White, winning, then black , back and forth. I like the under dogs fighting and coming  up with an upset often times. IE... the one game where it was Queen vs. Rook, and he held on to get the draw, was great. I think it was Xiong, very talented young player.

Anyway, great job, I wish chess tv ran 24/7. I love it.

I love the USCL, go Kingfishers! (well, they couldn't make it to the playoffs but still)

I enjoy Greg Shahade's shows the most, I think he is the best chess video host around. He can make things interesting, is very open, relaxed, and doesn't hold his feelings and ideas back. Krush's show was also very nice (I only could watch her once). I miss IM Pruess's shows, though. A Pruess + Shahade show would be great.

Never noticed the best game polls.

Cant' watch the shows live because of time zones. I view them from the archives.

The weekly news recaps are nice I think, but what I like even more is the weekly preview and recaps posted by the team accounts' blogs. They really get you into the game-watching and event-following mode.

I think the amount of time you dedicated is great, please keep the league going.

One slight failure I think was activating the groups dedicated to each team. That is partly on us fans, of course, but I think organizing team events among the fans would just be fantastic. Something a the USCL Fan League on its own, with team events organized using the groups of every individual team. It would be great fun. Especially if somehow a live slow team league could be organized between the groups and follow the real schedule of the real USCL. (The DHLC group does an excellent job of organizing slow events, for instance). But I know it's kind of a fantasy at the moment. Still, turn-based team matches are very possible.

2: nothing happens in the fan groups AFAIK  3: there should be a link to the games [or recap with the games] 4:  Irina did the best analysis of lines/ideas, and John did excellently too.  Yermo did ok.  I thought Greg went a bit bonkers for too long last night but it was funny for a bit; he brings energy which is fanatastic and divergences are fine but he's got to focus on the chess more.  I felt like Mike (this goes for Kostya as well) did what David does so well, but that David does it much better.  Also I like PeterDoggers's recaps better than Mike's especially since the include analysis, annotations, vids, interviews and links.

5:  I saw/listened to about 1.3 shows a week.

6.  Yermo's GOTW highlights were fantastic, model quality.  Danny points out games quite well and excellent instructive moments.  Kostya's made no impression on me; I found them generic/bland.

7:  I skimmed them and found them bland.

8:  I love the semi/finals playoff tiebreak, maybe a way to use that in future...  features to make it easier to watch multiple boards at once [separate windows like icc] and manipulate them.  plus too much white space on board edges. p.s. write in option for moves next year --- do it.  maybe make it a bit more interactive: a guess-the move contest for a particular big game [write-in moves before move  played [starting after opening] for small prizes maybe]].  plus u guys should organize simuls/leagues a bit more... chess.com the new version should be more focused to easier create groups/teams/leagues for live chess.

why  no fantasy league this year :-(.  but good job!

also regarding relaying... i have lifetime diamond [thanks guys]... so if i do it occasionally... could i have a chess.com jacket or something instead?  xD  thanks guys!!

• Do you even know what the USCL is? Yes, but if I tell you I'll have to kill you. The "US" is for "Ultra Secret" right?
• Were you aware that we created fan groups for all the teams (click) and hosted regular TV (www.chess.com/tv) Shows every week? Yes
• Did you vote in the Game of the Week poll on the home page? I remember voting once just because I really liked a game, but usually I don't.
• If you watched the TV Shows, did you enjoy them? Yes, the team this year was infinitely better than last year (no offense Danny). I think you guys should try to make it more interactive with the players though. It's cool when they pop into the chat, but why not do post game interviews via skype like in deathmatches? They could just have a laptop setup on site, and each site has it's own skype account. Maybe it is hard to coordinate when and which players are ready to give an interview? But, there must be some way to make it happen!
• If yes, how often. If no, why not? Wednesdays were bad for me, so I only saw the very end of those, but I think I saw about half of the other ones.
• Premium Members (and anyone if you have an opinion): Did you enjoy the video lectures on the USCL? Yes.
• What about Mike Klein's weekly news recaps? Never read them.
• Assuming you were aware of all this content we've been dedicating to the league, did you enjoy the amount we dedicated? Too much? Not enough? Whatcha got??? Well of course should should do more... like a 24 hour USCL news stream would be good!

Love you too Danny...

Thanks everyone. 

More please?

Petro, you are in the Presenter's Group right?

I think we can work something out for sure! Message me!

Danny

1. Do you even know what the USCL is? Yes just started following it this year
2. Were you aware that we createdfan groups for all the teams (click) and hosted regular TV (www.chess.com/tv) Shows every week?    Yes but haven't joined any of the groups.
3. Did you vote in the Game of the Week poll on the home page? No but I should!
4. If you watched the TV Shows, did you enjoy them? Bartholomew and Shahade was a good combo.  I also like Krush's analysis.
5. If yes, how often.  About once every 2 weeks.
6. Premium Members(and anyone if you have an opinion): Did you enjoy the video lectures on the USCL?  Haven't seen them.
7. What aboutMike Klein's weekly news recaps? (click) Skimmed a few after the games, nice way to catch up.
8. Assuming you were aware of all this content we've been dedicating to the league, did you enjoy the amount we dedicated? Too much? Not enough? Whatcha got???    I think following the league is good but it would be nice to have a dedicated 'hub' that has all of the info in one place.

Overall keep up the good work!

Hey all, just realized that #5 was weird and irrelevant. I changed #3 which is what I was trying to ask. Whether you voted in poll or not. And if not, why. 

Thanks!

Keep it coming!

@smarterchess - What about the official USCL Group as a "central hub"?

http://www.chess.com/groups/home/united-states-chess-league

Maybe we didn't do a good job of posting all videos, recaps, etc in there? If it were all in one group would you join and follow more closely?

Danny

Danny I think that would help.  The info can sometimes seem scattered but if the group had a simple schedule that might help.  For example:

• Tuesday morning - Broadcast tonight at x:xx with these broadcasters
• Wednesday morning - Broadcast tonight at x:xx with these broadcasters
• Thursday morning - Vote in the game of the week poll
• GOTW and Mike Klein Summary links

I'm going to join the group now to receive the notifications .

1. Yes
2. I was aware, but unfortunality the times were not very good for me and I had to sleep and therefor missed the TV-shows. I guess it is the same for many Europeans.
3. nope
4. I always enjoy the shows when I see them. Danny will always be my favorite. 
5. I pretty much watch all shows when I can. However, having to sleep have prevented me sometimes. I don't watch the shows I miss from the archive for some reason (I'm not sure myself why, I just don't).
6. not a premium member
7. I started reading, but was overwhelmed by the quantity and just stopped reading.
8. Didn't pay much attention, so I don't have much to say.

@Martin0 - Thanks. 

What about the YouTube videos? Those are for everyone, not just premium, and great stuff I think . Ever watch those?

Danny

Not to bring up a "detail" but I couldn't get the "TV" to play in a Sumsung 10.1 Android TAB using the Chrome browser app. It'd be great to actually watch the series...

1. Yes

2. Knew about the shows, but didn't know about the fan groups.

3. No and wouldn't have even if I had known because  a.I didn't pay enough attention to the games and b. I'm an ignorant patzer.

4. I didn't watch all the shows, but the ones I did were well done.  I thought the use of an analysis board by Greg Shahade was very helpful to someone not entirely fluent yet in "algebraic speak".  GM Yermolinsky is endlessly fascinating for his ability to weave chess history into his analysis.  Mike Klein was one of the easier to follow commentators and Irina Krush was just sharp as a tack, although one of the amusing things about their broadcast was that they obviously had a long relationship whose balance shifted with her GM title.

5. Didn't see the youtube videos but did watch the ones on site,  GM Yermolinsky's videos being my favorites.

6. Didn't know about the recaps, but since I was more interested in the chess content than the personalities contesting, I probably wouldn't have bothered reading even if I'd known.

7. The view from downtown patzerville is again that the chess content was fascinating, but I couldn't really be a "fan" in the traditional sense.  I only recognized a few of the players.  I'm sure if I were rated a 1000 points higher and was on the tournament circuit the outcome of the contests would have been of much greater importance to me.  It's obviously an event of great interest to titled players and I'm happy to watch the commentary to learn what I can (well, unless the World Series was playing), but no I didn't have anything circled on my calendar to remind me to watch.

The YouTube videos are great!  I'm subscribing and watch everything new. I quite easily get bored when I watch some chess related things on youtube, but it has never happened when I watch something by chess.com. I'm amazed about the frequenzy and quality there. I mean one video/week would be more then I would ask for (There are many more than 1/week).

Speaking of USCL I could add that I have seen USCL Highlights on youtube and I really enjoyed those.

Is Chess.com covering the USCL this year.  It starts next week.

No, not this year.