English Chess Forum

It has always seemed to me that rating deflation means "my rating should be higher", while rating inflation means "other people's ratings should be lower". I am not referencing my own rating. I am not saying I should be higher rated. I was wondering how the spread of players in various bands has sh...

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 07, 2026 4:04 pm

You need to tell us whether you think this applies only to FIDE ratings or to ECF ones as well.

I was looking at ECF ratings.

I believe there is a consensus among those who know a lot about chess ratings that there has been rating inflation at the lower end, which was partly caused/recognised by the artificial uplift a few years ago. But has there been some rating deflation in the something like the 2000-2400 range as well...

Thanks. I agree that if the letter of the law were strictly pursued, either player could deviate from the "previous" game (in which case we would need to complete fresh scoresheets with the multitude of details required at the top) and the clocks should be reset to something like 1:30 v 1:29 (if onl...

At the World Senior Team Championships in April, I had a situation i had never encountered before, and i wonder what the opinions of qualified arbiters and others are. In one game, the chief arbiter announced the start of the round over the microphone and my game (I had Black) began 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc...

Bringing established Soviet GMs to the school, would certainly have stimulated interest. A different perspective on the 1970s visits by Kotov is in Edward's Winter's piece on Leonard Barden here: https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/barden.html Winter starts by wondering why Littlewood include...

Just catching up with this thread. I believe the four players (going anticlockwise) are myself, then Dan Rosen, then probably Kenny Shovel and finally Will Burt. It was not the easiest simul for which to prepare. I remember I did not know whether I would be board 3 or board 4 (depending on whether R...

It gets awkward in rapidplay or blitz even with increment. I have seen plenty of games where a player with an attack with a perpetual check in reserve has repeated a position more than three times to gain time on the clock to try to work out a win. My understanding of the FIDE laws is that the "defe...

Oh, Stanley came agonisingly close to beating Pragg!! Was up + 2.5 on move 37, but Pragg swindled him in some horrible complications in the time scramble to move 40. What a great effort, though.. (The game continues as I write, but it is a straightforward technical win for a super GM). https://liche...

Bottom board pairing in the FIDE Open in round 1 tomorrow:

59 Hagesaether, Arne 1975 0 0 IM Houska, Jovanka 2320

For those who don't know, they are married to each other. The Swiss pairing system has no heart!

I have known Gavin since he was a junior, and he was a really good friend. Mike's comments sum up Gavin perfectly. I don't know what else to write right now, I feel very upset.

The security did indeed seem very strict to me, although I have not played in a serious tournament since the pre-digital age, so I don't know how much is normal these days. In fairness to the organisers, in the current climate, they probably have to be seen to have taken every practical precaution. ...

I would like to thank Nigel Povah and everyone else who helped organize the English teams participation. I know there was some controversy around the selections, and it is not for me to comment on the rights and wrongs of that, but I found Nigel to be very helpful, and I appreciate the work he puts ...

According to Norwegian TV, Dubov "fell asleep" in his hotel room between rounds. Just sheer bad luck that it happened to coincide with his game against Niemann.

And after Dubov's non-show v Niemann, round 11 pairing is......Carlsen v Niemann!