FIDE World Rapid and Blitz December 25-30, 2021

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Abdusattorov can count himself a very fortunate young man indeed. He drew both games in later rounds today after Fedoseev had been [+7.0]; and Gukesh [+4.5]. I'll 'allow' him his win v. Carlsen because that was largely Carlsen's own fault

Should probably include his draw against Duda in the last round as well, as he was clearly losing there as well (though it wasn't quite as shocking as the other examples). But he won't be the first or last winner of a tournament to have ridden their luck throughout.

[JustinHorton]

Saving lost positions is a virtue

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Justin,

Yes indeed, the Gukesh - Abdusattorov game. A wonderful save. The Qg1-g7-b2-g7-g3
manoeuvre is quite funny. White a Rook and Knight up has all his pieces on the wrong squares.

The timing was perfect with 23...Nxe5. Too often players go for swindle chances when it is too late.
That move combined with the activity and thinking time was enough to cloud the issue.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dc4 5. e4 b5 6. e5 Nd5 7. Nb5 Nb6 8. Be2 Be7 9. Be3 Nc6 10. h4 Bb7 11. h5 Qd7 12. Nc3 Nb4 13. Kf1 O-O-O 14. b3 cb3 15. ab3 Kb8 16. Na4 N6d5 17. Bd2 g5 18. Nc5 Bc5 19. dc5 Qc6 20. Qc1 Nf4 21. Bf4 gf4 22. Rh4 Nd3 23. Qc4 Ne5 24. Ne5 Qg2 25. Ke1 Qg1 26. Bf1 Rd5 27. Nf3 Qg7 28. Rc1 Rhd8 29. c6 Qb2 30. cb7 Re5 31. Be2 Re2 32. Kf1

It's no use complaining after the event. The rules were known before round one.
Personally I thought a semi and a final would have been better but as I said, the rules said no.
All four received $45,000 which is not too bad for a few days work

[Nick Burrows]

It's no use complaining after the event.

If it's a bad rule (it is) then it's good that the highest profile player in the world says so. Then it can be changed for future events.

After 3 days of play, an additional couple of blitz games to fairly decide who becomes "World Champion" is not really putting anyone out.

[JustinHorton]

Maybe Nick but

(1) there were also complants about the use of blitz games as such ;
(2) what are you going to do if (say) five, six or seven players tie for first?

[Kevin Thurlow]

In the Blitz, David Howell is seeded 41, which makes you think it might be a strong event.

[Chris Rice]

Chess 24 article showing Magnus wasn't happy about what happened.

"What FIDE have been doing, I have no idea. I have to take some self-criticism that my father and I have not being guard dogs at FIDE, which is obviously neccessary, otherwise they f*** up every time.
Do you think FIDE f***** up?
Yes, that is clear. When you have a system where you end up ... I guess I should not speak for most people, but I do believe that most people think that this is not fair. You are aware of the rules, but this must be changed. To have a playoff for the title is a step in the right direction, but I can't imagine any other than logistical reasons to have only two players in a playoff, and that is just too amateurish in a World Championship. "

Personally, I found it unacceptable that you could have rules where you could be in a joint tie for first in a World Championship and not be involved in a play off. However, the really odd thing for me was why the rule was there at all. It seemed to be that it was a way of getting the event finished quickly and that actually happened as there were only two games played but from what I was seeing and hearing regarding the rules there was no limit on how long this could have lasted as there was no Armageddon finish. So what would have been the harm in having all four players involved? It was also clear that the situation that occurred was more likely to happen as they shortened the event to 13 rounds though also clearly it could have happened with more rounds. A multiple play off seems the fairest way of deciding such an event with an Armageddon at some point to stop the event going on for too long.

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Chris,

I agree with everything Magnus says, however the time to raise any objection regarding possible scenarios was before the event.
They could not suddenly change the ruling after the last round, there would have been an even bigger outcry.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Maybe Nick but

(1) there were also complants about the use of blitz games as such ;
(2) what are you going to do if (say) five, six or seven players tie for first?

IIRC there was once a seven way tie for first in a British Championship (1970s?) I think all the players were involved in a play-off of some form.

[Nick Ivell]

I remember a big tie at Clacton but it wasn't as many as seven.

[David Sedgwick]

I remember a big tie at Clacton but it wasn't as many as seven.

It was the British Championship 1974 at Clacton and it was as many as seven.

https://www.saund.org.uk/britbase/pgn/1 ... iewer.html

[JustinHorton]

A multiple play off seems the fairest way of deciding such an event with an Armageddon at some point to stop the event going on for too long.

But when does that point come, and what do you propose to do about the problem of tired players? I mean you have a problem that the World Blitz is going to be played over the next three days, the leading contenders in both events are mostly the same, and if you have a long play-off then of curse payers are going to complain that they were not given enough time to rest for the second event.

Obviously the play-off was designed to be as short as possible, and obviously that was why. I'm not saying it had to be done that way, but I am not seeing any of the critics explaining how they were gong to address the problems that a short play-off was designed to address.

[Roger de Coverly]

Obviously the play-off was designed to be as short as possible, and obviously that was why. I'm not saying it had to be done that way, but I am not seeing any of the critics explaining how they were gong to address the problems that a short play-off was designed to address.

If needed, Gibraltar used to have a playoff between the top two (?) based on some tie break.

[LawrenceCooper]

Ironically, FIDE have announced that ties for first in the Candidates will be decided by a play-off after consultation with the top players. Full details will be published after further consultation with the players.

[IM Jack Rudd]

The largest playoff I've ever seen was for third place in the 1994 Lloyds Bank Masters. Nine-player all-play-all, top three joined Morozevich and Mainka in the Intel Grand Prix.

Of course, as luck would have it, there was a tie for third in the playoff as well, and Miles and Akesson played an Armageddon game to determine the last qualifier.

(In fact, they played two Armageddon games, because the first one was set up with white having six hours and black five hours.)