44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

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Kevin Thurlow
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Re: 44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Thu Aug 11, 2022 12:08 pm

"The theory may have been that it added to local status to have a titled player. "

Yes, I noticed years ago that a lowish-rated player from a smaller nation was a GM, and was told that he was awarded the title to encourage chess on his continent. (That wasn't from an Olympiad though.)

You could previously get CM by scoring 50 % or FM by scoring 66 % in an Olympiad, so some smaller nations did fiddle the board order to put their best player on board 4 to help them get the title. Having said that, FIDE did give CM titles for winning under-10 junior events etc. I think Luke McShane got CM when he was about 120 BCF - obviously he did meet the real requirements later! But I assume that some recipients stopped playing before they did deserve the title on rating.

Mick Norris
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Re: 44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

Post by Mick Norris » Thu Aug 11, 2022 12:48 pm

IM Jack Rudd wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 10:35 am
A loss would have dropped Howell from Field + 444 to Field + 273, which is a big drop - I'd have to check whether other results could have caused him to be overtaken.
Thanks Jack; it appears that a rating lead of over 100 points might not have been enough then, as David finished on 2898 clear of the 2 Indian players on 2767

Board 3
Rk. Name Rtg Team Rp Games
1 GM Howell, David W L 2650 England 2898 8
2 GM Erigaisi, Arjun 2689 India 2767 11
3 GM Praggnanandhaa, R. 2648 India 2 2767 9
Any postings on here represent my personal views

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: 44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Thu Aug 11, 2022 1:58 pm

Kevin Thurlow wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 12:08 pm
"The theory may have been that it added to local status to have a titled player. "

Yes, I noticed years ago that a lowish-rated player from a smaller nation was a GM, and was told that he was awarded the title to encourage chess on his continent. (That wasn't from an Olympiad though.)
I think that may have been the late Rosendo Balinas, which means we are going back to the 1970s here.
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NickFaulks
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Re: 44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

Post by NickFaulks » Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:45 pm

Matt Mackenzie wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 1:58 pm
I think that may have been the late Rosendo Balinas, which means we are going back to the 1970s here.
Oh yes, Campomanes was absolutely clear that it would be good for chess if every federation had a GM. Maybe he implied "but only if they are good enough", maybe he didn't.
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IM Jack Rudd
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Re: 44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:52 pm

If some random federation wants an IM, I'm more than happy to defect.

Chris Rice
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Re: 44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

Post by Chris Rice » Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:15 pm

I'm ashamed to say I'd never heard of him before but judging by his Wiki page Rosendo Balinas Jr. was certainly GM standard.

NickFaulks
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Re: 44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

Post by NickFaulks » Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:18 pm

IM Jack Rudd wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:52 pm
If some random federation wants an IM, I'm more than happy to defect.
How would you handle daily character assassination on Twitter from GM Short? Perhaps with equanimity!

The Bermuda Chess Association has a strict rule about this. You must have lived their for a year ( this is actually very hard for an expat to achieve). The USVI federation is less stringent, their regulations say that anyone who has made a great contribution to USVI chess, for instance by unpaid coaching for a year, is eligible.
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Geoff Chandler
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Re: 44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

Post by Geoff Chandler » Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:32 pm

I've just been reading about Rosendo Balinas, in 1976 he was the first foreigner to win a
tournament inside Russia since Capablanca in 1936. That must worth a few GM norms.

Odessa (1976) https://www.chessgames.co ... ?tid=42695

His page says after that event it '...secured Balinas the grandmaster title.'

NickFaulks
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Re: 44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

Post by NickFaulks » Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:42 pm

Geoff Chandler wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:32 pm
I've just been reading about Rosendo Balinas, in 1976 he was the first foreigner to win a tournament inside Russia since Capablanca in 1936.
I'm too lazy to look this up. When was Tony's final norm? Tula?
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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: 44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:58 pm

Balinas was a worthy player, but the fact remains his actual *rating* was never that high. Still, he had more of a claim (both in terms of playing strength and his actual GM norms) than Suradiradja who got the title a few years later......
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John Saunders
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Re: 44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

Post by John Saunders » Thu Aug 11, 2022 4:00 pm

NickFaulks wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:42 pm
Geoff Chandler wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:32 pm
I've just been reading about Rosendo Balinas, in 1976 he was the first foreigner to win a tournament inside Russia since Capablanca in 1936.
I'm too lazy to look this up. When was Tony's final norm? Tula?
It was Dubna 1976 but Tony didn't win the tournament, he was 3rd=.
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NickFaulks
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Re: 44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

Post by NickFaulks » Thu Aug 11, 2022 5:49 pm

John Saunders wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 4:00 pm
It was Dubna 1976 but Tony didn't win the tournament, he was 3rd=.
Thanks. Dubna, Tula, who cares? ( other than a serious historian ). I had been thinking that he won it, though. I'm sure he could have done if he wanted to.
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Paul Cooksey
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Re: 44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

Post by Paul Cooksey » Thu Aug 11, 2022 6:13 pm

Matt Mackenzie wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:58 pm
Balinas was a worthy player, but the fact remains his actual *rating* was never that high. Still, he had more of a claim (both in terms of playing strength and his actual GM norms) than Suradiradja who got the title a few years later......
In fairness, he was within 20 points of the world top hundred in the late 70s. Not on Torre's level, but respectable enough for me.

J T Melsom
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Re: 44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

Post by J T Melsom » Thu Aug 11, 2022 6:13 pm

Nick

I hope you enjoyed India and the chess. Just out of interest how did you obtain your CM title?

NickFaulks
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Re: 44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

Post by NickFaulks » Thu Aug 11, 2022 6:32 pm

J T Melsom wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 6:13 pm
Nick I hope you enjoyed India and the chess. Just out of interest how did you obtain your CM title?
Numerous 50% scores in Olympiads, hard to avoid when leading a weak team.

It was the most wonderful Olympiad. It is not easy to play well while having such a great holiday, that's my excuse anyway.

I could not believe that I was voluntarily coming back here. Olivia set off after Round 11 to travel around India, she got it so right.
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