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| Posted by tag1153 uskidscompute.com 6/01/2008 01:23:21 Play online chess |  Subject: Controversy in U.S. Women's ChampionshipMessage:  main.uschess.org
Be sure to view the Armageddon game in question. Irina has a point (although I agree she should have said something right then and there....) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted by kansaspatzer uskidscompute.com 6/01/2008 04:01:08 Play online chess | Message: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted by heinzkat uskidscompute.com 6/01/2008 05:21:51 Play online chess | Happy times behind the chess board Message: www.youtube.com ——— At Chess Olympiad, No Team Is Perfect — It turns out that no team is capable of running away from the field at the Chess Olympiad, at least in the open section. Monday, the last three undefeated and untied teams in the competition — Hungary, Armenia and the Republic of Georgia — failed to win their matches. Armenia and Georgia played each other and drew, while Hungary lost to Ukraine. Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine are now tied for the lead with five wins and one draw, for a total of 11 points each. The two top Russian teams, Poland, the United States, Azerbaijan and Hungary are tied for fourth, each with 10 points. In the women’s portion of the Chess Olympiad, one team — the top one from Russia — remains perfect, though ... Posted by ganstaman | uskidscompute.com 6/01/2008 09:55:05 Play online chess Message: The only part I don't like is when she 'explains' her own throwing of the chess piece at the end of the game. She basically says "It's not as bad as what Anna did, so you shouldn't care about it." Saying sorry with one sentence to explain that she was more fustrated than normal would have been ten times better. ——— Kirsan Ilyumzhinov Re-elected as World Chess Federation President — Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was re-elected as president of the World Chess Federation on Wednesday. Mr. Ilyumzhinov reportedly defeated Anatoly Karpov, the former world chess champion, by a vote of 99 to 55. Each country in the federation, which is also known by the acronym FIDE (for Fédération Internationale des Échecs), had one vote. Mr. Ilyumzhinov’s new term runs to 2014; he has been president of FIDE since 1995. The election was held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, where the biennial Chess Olympiad is also being played. As part of Mr. Ilyumzhinov’s ticket, Georgios Makropoulos of Greece was re-elected deputy president; Lewis Ncube of Zambia and Beatriz Marinello ... Posted by heinzkat | uskidscompute.com 6/01/2008 10:49:51 Play online chess That was just an alternative wayMessage: ——— Ivanchuk Dominates Chess Olympiad — The chess olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia is in full swing, moving into the second half. The Open section has 149 teams listed, nearly 750 chess players. The women section has 115 teams, roughly 575 chess players. Head and shoulders above all players stands Vasyl Ivanchuk. The 41-year old Ukrainian grandmaster smashed everything coming his way so far, winning five straight games and amassing a giant 3357 performance rating. On Tuesday, Ivanchuk added his sixth victory against the Georgian GM Baadur Jobava. His team leads the chess olympiad after seven rounds, having won six matches and drawing one. The 11-round olympiad concludes Sunday, October 3. Ivanchuk was ... Posted by tim_b | uskidscompute.com 6/01/2008 11:00:55 Play online chess Message: ——— New Jersey Man Plays Kasparov and Carlsen — Chess players are not movie stars — no one has ever stalked a chess player, at least not for playing chess — but some fans go to great lengths to meet and even play against the game’s best. Jonathan B. Crumiller is a fan, and he lived out a dream this month. Crumiller, who is a master but certainly not a top chess player, is the chief operating officer of Princeton Consultants and lives and works in New Jersey. On Sept. 8, he was in London at a fund-raiser for Anatoly Karpov, the former world chess champion, who is running for president of the World Chess Federation. As part of the event, there was an auction to play a consultation game with Garry Kasparov, another former chess champion, and ... Posted by chessnovice | uskidscompute.com 6/01/2008 12:11:49 Play online chess ...Message: ——— Chess stars align in Siberia — The 39th Chess Olympiad began Tuesday in Khanty-Mansiysk, a small Siberian city in Russia. The immense chess tournament has attracted 146 men's teams and 114 women's teams representing 142 nations. Half of the 484 participants in the men's section hold the grandmaster title. The ninth-seeded U.S. men's chess team consists of grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura (Missouri), Gata Kamsky (New York), Alexander Onischuk (Virginia), Yury Shulman (Illinois) and Robert Hess (New York). That's an impressive lineup with a fair chance at a medal. They defeated Faroe Islands, 4-0, and Mongolia, 31/2-1/2, in their first two matches. The sixth-seeded U.S. women's chess team is probably ... Posted by scarper | uskidscompute.com 6/01/2008 14:03:59 Play online chess Message: Posted by ionadowman | uskidscompute.com 6/01/2008 16:16:34 Play online chess Fascinating...Message: Consider: you are sitting at the board, the enemy makes a move and forgets to punch his clock. Are you entiotled to make your move? Well, according to the USCF Official rules of 35 years ago, one would have to infer yes. The rules actually talk about whether the arbiter, noticing the omission ought to warn the player. The Rules come down against the arbiter doing any such thing. Which suggests to me that the opponent doesn't have to wait until the enemy punches the clock in order to make a move. The Rules do state that (14.4) "When determining whether the prescribed number of moves has been made in the given time, the last move is not considered as completed until after the player has stopped his clock." Given the time control in the "Armageddon Match" this doesn't apply. From that perspective, I incline to the view that Irina Krush doesn't really have a case. But I do sympathise. Look where the clocks are placed: as is standard, to the right of the Black pieces. Playing right-handed, Black's hand has less distance to travel to the clock; White has to reach right across her body to reach the clock. Simply: the physical placing of the clocks confers an advantage to a right-handed player of Black, or a left-handed player of White. We might decide this is unfair, but look at the time control: 6 minutes for White; 4 and a half for Black, who gets the margin of draw. I think the extra 90 seconds ought to subsume any slight disadvantage to White owing to the physical placing of the clocks. The problem I have with this whole affair is the problem I have with a good many sports events: this stupid insistence that there has to be a sole winner. I quite fail to understand what is so bad about joint winners of a sporting event; why a draw/tie/dead heat is to be avoided at all cost. This insane stampede for determining the winner of a competition leads to some peculiar results: The UEFA Champions' League being determined by a penalty shootout; the "Golden Point" in Rugby League; even the toss of a coin on one or two occasions I've seen. The "Golden Point", or sudden death in some sporting events makes a certain degree of sense, but even then it might be a matter of luck who begins the period of sudden death with possession of the initiative (i.e. the ball, in ball games, say). But others strike me as entirely arbitrary, including the method used in US Chess Championship. The two protagonists ought to have shared the title. If there had to be a winner, the process by which it is determined has to be entirely symmetrical: keep playing pairs of games under whatever time control you choose until one side is a clear point ahead after an even number of games. That final game was asymmetrical, and therefore biased. I'm not saying it's biased against White, be it noted: for all I know it may be biased against Black (however, it became pretty clear that the advantage of one minute was't enough to offset Black's margin of draw!).The fact that the bias exists is in my view sufficient to disqualify it as a fair means of determining a winner. It would have been fairer to have played a second game under the same time control having swapped colours. But doesn't this game strike you as arbitrary anyway? Where is the quality of chess? The whole concept of blitz emphasises one skill over others - the ability to play fairly well quickly over accuracy of analysis, endgame skill, strategic planning, tactical vision... Well, when all's said and done, I can't see the USCF overturning the decision, and, on balance, it probably ought not. But, if there absolutely must be a single Champion or the world will explode, then do it by fair and symmetrical means. Cheers, Ion Posted by cascadejames | uskidscompute.com 6/01/2008 18:17:25 Play online chess Avoiding blitzMessage: own. Posted by ionadowman | uskidscompute.com 6/02/2008 04:24:30 Play online chess Before anyone comments on it...Message: Don't make the process a fair one, though... Cheers, Ion Posted by pgroenborg | uskidscompute.com 6/02/2008 06:53:25 Play online chess holding down the clockMessage: Do you see the same thing? I love blitz and am perhaps too familiar with the thing. I'm with Irena. Posted by bucklehead | uskidscompute.com 6/02/2008 11:23:38 Play online chess It's a tough call. Message: Posted by tag1153 | uskidscompute.com 6/02/2008 14:23:28 Play online chess response to I.K.'s letterMessage: main.uschess.org Posted by ionadowman | uskidscompute.com 6/02/2008 15:18:00 Play online chess response to I.K.'s letter... Message: It does indicate that not a lot has changed since the publication of my own copy of the USCF/FIDE Official Rule Book of 1974. Neither player played strictly illegally in the time scramble (give or take I.K.'s failure to restore the rook she knocked over - had she done so she would have lost the sooner). It is sad, I think, to see an important event like this settled in such a fashion, not only by a means that can be described justly as arbitrary; but also end in such ... well, not acrimony exactly, but not a particularly savoury taste in one's mouth. I go back to my earlier idea. If you can't settle the contest in satisfactory manner, then accept the notion of a joint winner. Cheers, Ion |