Spoilers : it’s about RM 4000!
I was happy to see that the DGT alternative idChess being used in the current ongoing Commonwealth Chess Championship for the Age Group section. It’s about 14 live chess boards being broadcasted from the look of the web based broadcast page.
Let’s see how much it would take for a tournament organiser to do a similiar set up.
- The cost of the idChess app license, which is USD 9 per month per board. Assuming it’s for one or two tournament in that month, the total cost of the app license for 10 boards is USD 90, or RM 430.65, based on the exchange rate of 1 USD = 4.78 MYR1.
- The cost of the stand or tripod, which is RM 50 per board. The total cost of the stand for 10 boards is RM 500.
- The cost of the budget android phone, which is RM 300 per board. The total cost of the phone for 10 boards is RM 3000.
Therefore, the total cost of running a chess tournament with 10 chess boards being recorded for one tournament is RM 430.65 + RM 500 + RM 3000 = RM 3930.65, or approximately USD 822.64. This does not include other costs such as venue, staff, prizes, etc.
Of course the phone and tripod stands are one off investment. Only recurring payment is the USD 9 a month license. There is a discount where it’s USD 54 a year. So for that same 10 live board setup it’s RM 2578 (or USD 540) a year. The negatives is that this is a recurring subscription payment.
That’s probably too much for a small time tournament organiser but if offered as a service by some local vendor charged by tournament for a reasonable cost, it should be feasible. Or for someone like MCF who has already invested in the equipment and license to rent out the services to other tournament organiser for a small fee.
So the question is, whether this alternative is cheaper than the traditional use of DGT chess board which although initially expensive to purchase the digital chess boards, but does not come with a subscription model. Of course, there is also the “Clono” broadcasting where an android tablet is used for recording as well as broadcasting the entire game. This model is totally free with no subscription or license except for the initial cost of buying a tablet.
Interestingly, MCF is using all three methods – DGT, idChess as well as Clono for live broadcasting. DGT and Clono for the more serious main Open event and idChess for the kids in the age group section.
