English Chess Forum

Geoff Chandler wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 13, 2021 10:11 pm

"Some tournaments...[take] place only on paper" (attributed to Shohreh Bayat).

If Shohreh really said that, I'm sure that FPL would like to learn more.

Also, has Nigel Short really said that the GM Title should be abolished? This suggestion has not reached QC, and might face opposition from several directions.

NickFaulks wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 13, 2021 10:42 pm

Also, has Nigel Short really said that the GM Title should be abolished?

Wasn't he on record as saying that GMs no longer capable of performing at GM level should be stripped of their title? From memory, it was about thirty years ago and maybe now as a veteran GM he would no longer support this notion. But that's not the same as abolishing the title. He may also have advocated a higher more elite title, which would devalue rather than abolish the title.

NickFaulks wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 13, 2021 10:42 pm

Geoff Chandler wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 13, 2021 10:11 pm

"Some tournaments...[take] place only on paper" (attributed to Shohreh Bayat).

If Shohreh really said that, I'm sure that FPL would like to learn more.

A couple of decades ago, I reported some never-played norm tournaments (not Strumica) to someone (ethical) on the Qualifications Commission at the time. They explained that the QC had no investigative abilities and therefore always had to trust the federation that submitted the tournament. End of story.

Even when presented with evidence that a particular last round Olympiad match would be fixed, and the score, the night before the last round, Chief Arbiter Geurt Gijssen took no action and the bronze medals went to the team that had the match thrown to them.

FIDE has a long, long, long record of ignoring these things, so why should Shohreh waste her time giving more information and risk being sued for defamation?

I've a vague memory of FIDE, around the late sixties, instituting a practice of expiring some players' titles for rating purposes once it had become apparent they were no longer performing at the required level. They were still allowed to call themselves grandmasters or masters, but they could no longer count against the required quota of GMs or IMs in a tournament. which in turn meant the invitations to such events dried up after a while. (If I remember right, Bob Wade was one who was trying for a time to "re-validate" his IM status.) Is this still going on?

Infamous instances of that were the likes of GMs Bernstein, Gruenfeld and Samisch being invited to tournaments where they were obviously going to get outclassed - IIRC it was after the last named scored zero in two 1969 events (in at least one losing every game on time) that the rule came in. I think it was rescinded after a decade or so, not least because there were quite a few more titled players by then.

It's not still going on, because it's no longer needed - the rating system does the job it used to do.

Matt Mackenzie wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 15, 2021 12:10 am

IIRC it was after the last named scored zero in two 1969 events (in at least one losing every game on time) that the rule came in.

Bob Wade was playing in numerous tournaments in the late 1960s to reactivate his title, so the rule would have been introduced possibly in the mid 1960s. It would have been scrapped once international Elo ratings had been introduced in 1970 and the Norm rules revised to mostly use ratings to allocate category rules to tournaments and required scores.

Which novel is this from?

Gerard Killoran wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 16, 2021 12:16 pm

Which novel is this from?


Times.png

Flank Openings?

Gerard Killoran wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 16, 2021 12:16 pm

Which novel is this from?


Times.png

Perhaps Fifty Shades of Ray?

Sadly it was the chess editor New York Times. From Silent Partner, by Jonathan Kellerman. Otherwise it would have said 'horrid' rather than 'torrid'.

Gerard Killoran wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 16, 2021 3:01 pm

Sadly it was the chess editor New York Times.

Doesn't surprise me. As we have seen recently with their comments on the latest young GM, that newspaper is devoted entirely to misrepresentation and sensationalism. Not just its chess section, the policy comes from the top.

My weekly travel information email from TfL, under Buses and Roads, warns me that on Sunday 18th July

A chess festival will be taking place at Trafalgar Square from 11:00 to 18:00.

NickFaulks wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 16, 2021 4:44 pm

My weekly travel information email from TfL, under Buses and Roads, warns me that on Sunday 18th July

A chess festival will be taking place at Trafalgar Square from 11:00 to 18:00.

Likely to be a massive event as Chris Ward and Shreyas were interviewed on Sky News today. Most of the top British players will be there giving simuls and Malcolm's hoping to carry out a Giant Chess Championship of the World. He's also got an idea to do this with the players having three minutes each which should get a laugh. Check out the event programme here:

https://www.chess-fest.com/trafalgar-square

Free chess lessons for children and adults from professional chess teachers and top UK players

‘The Unofficial World Giant Chess Championship’ - 6 giant chess boards for people to play on

A human chess game based around Alice Through the Looking Glass performed by professional actors

100s of chess tables for children and chess fans to play with each other

Challenge a Grandmaster at speed chess

Blindfold Chess exhibition

Giant screens broadcasting online games between players in London and our sister event in Liverpool

There was a piece about Shreyas (speaking very well) on the BBC London News programme that started at 6.30pm. It was previewed 3 times from 6pm.
I had intended to go, but am feeling worried about the numbers there in Trafalgar Square, Sunday. from the viewpoint of crowds and covid - although I received my second jab in March. Also I moved only Thursday 8 July to Bucks.
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Referring to the business about GMs and IMs no longer being valid if their results dropped below a certain point. That was certainly true for a bit. Then Heikki Westerinen lost his status. The Fins objected and they won, so that was the end of that rule. This was all before my time.
I have long favoured the introduction of an elite GM title, basically 200 points higher than the current one, AND you had to come first or second in the tournament. This was rejected twice. My reasoning was that it might lead to more 10 player RR, with an average rating of at least 2560. There ar very few such events and would help 2600 GMs improve.
By the way, Saemisch deliberately lost all his games in tournaments where he was invited to make up the number of GMs. He was protesting that it was ridiculous. I knew he could play OK. He beat my at Bognor in a lightning game.