William Hill chess lines approved, then put on hold
The International Chess Federation suspends tournament play due to coronavirus.
As legal sports betting gains traction in the US, many operators have launched markets this year but have seen the vast majority of sports decimated by the coronavirus outbreak. Sportsbooks are, therefore, scrambling to find creative ways to keep business humming. William Hill US, for example, took on chess and applied with Nevada gaming regulators to offer chess tournament lines. It got the green light and started preparing odds, but because of the current global circumstances had to put everything on hold less than two days after starting to accept bets.
The Candidates Tournament had begun in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and William Hill was offering lines but the International Chess Federation (FIDE) called off all play. “The tournament has been postponed… and it will be continued at a later date,” William Hill said in a statement.“If you wish to void your bets… please contact Customer Support in Nevada.”
Authorities in Russia grounded all airplanes as of today, but even before, some players had already withdrawn from the tournament.
“We can’t really lock players in Russia since we don’t know how long the flight termination will last, said FIDE director general Emil Sutovsky to ESPN. “Players have their families, elderly parents and many other reasons to be home this time. So we had no choice but to stop the event.”
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