World Senior teams June-July 2016

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Tim Harding
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Re: World Senior teams June-July 2016

Post by Tim Harding » Tue Jul 05, 2016 11:07 am

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:Transmission failure on the crucial board 1 game in the Armenia match?
If Artur Yusupov wins that, Armenia draw and England get silver, I think.
England were hoping for a draw in that match but Yusupov (though he had White) was never in with a chance of winning. He probably did well to hold it against Vaganian who had a dangerous passed c-pawn for most of the middle-game and ending.
Tim Harding
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Tim Harding
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Re: World Senior teams June-July 2016

Post by Tim Harding » Tue Jul 05, 2016 11:19 am

Mick Norris wrote:Good result for the 65+ first team 9th seed finishing 4th or 3rd equal to put a better spin on it
I thought that was a very good team effort by England-1 65+ who were still battling on two boards when I had to leave at 2pm.

Belgium's bronze medal was heavily dependent on their top board IM Jan Rooze (2015 European Senior Champ) who scored 7-1 plus a walkover in round two for clearly the best result in the whole tournament.
Rooze drew with the two Russians and beat everyone else - including me in a very long round 1 game.

Stewart Reuben scored a strong 5-2 on board 2 for England-2 in the 65+, also battling to the end yesterday to win a rook ending and secure the drawn match.

I think the Irish team can be reasonably satisfied as this was our first effort; we were twice on the 50 per cent mark but our round 8 match went wrong in the final half hour. Our main disappointment was having to play eight German teams; a bit more variety would have been welcome.
Tim Harding
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Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
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Kevin Thurlow
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Re: World Senior teams June-July 2016

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Tue Jul 05, 2016 12:09 pm

"England 1 individual medals "

It is really rather spectacular that everyone in the team got a medal!

There were very good performances elsewhere - I assume the ECF website will carry a report in due course.

Keith Arkell
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Re: World Senior teams June-July 2016

Post by Keith Arkell » Tue Jul 05, 2016 1:22 pm

Kevin Thurlow wrote:"England 1 individual medals "

It is really rather spectacular that everyone in the team got a medal!
This is chiefly because we got more game points than any other team. Our mistake was in the way we distributed those points!

Rating performances:

Nunn 2610
Speelman 2536
Hebden 2581
Arkell 2568
Flear 2297

The Icelandic top seeds came 7th, which indicates the toughness of the event. Not so long ago those guys comprised their full Olympiad side!

Mick Norris
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Re: World Senior teams June-July 2016

Post by Mick Norris » Tue Jul 05, 2016 1:41 pm

LawrenceCooper wrote:England 1 individual medals (from Keith Arkell Facebook post)

John Nunn scored 6.5/8 ( silver)
Jonh Speelman scored 6/8 (bronze)
Mark Hebden Scored 6.5/8 ( gold!)
I scored 6/7 ( silver)
and Glenn Flear got 2.5/5 but still managed silver!)
The board medals were awarded by rating performance.
That's good news, hopefully encouragement will be gained and lessons learned about how to do even better next time
Any postings on here represent my personal views

Keith Arkell
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Re: World Senior teams June-July 2016

Post by Keith Arkell » Thu Jul 07, 2016 12:56 am

NickFaulks wrote:The "three easy draws and leave it to Keith" strategy doesn't seem to be going very well. Again.
''Again''.

You know what. I was planning to ignore this comment. However, I've decided not to. Why should I put up with it when I'm out there doing my best for my country?

On behalf of all of us we really appreciate the positive support we receive from people such as Loz Cooper and Mick Norris ( Mick, I passed on your best wishes to my team mates - much appreciated).

Let me fill you in: just like last year when we played Slovakia, my team mates had already drawn and so the result of the match would be decided by the outcome of my game. However, unlike last year, I was in reasonable form, and so managed to redeem myself by winning, thus enabling us to register a victory against the defending champions.

The only other occasion in which the result of the match was dependant on my game was against Armenia. I drew a very complex game with GM Galdunts, after which my opponent went on to get the Gold medal for his board, with his 2626 performance, and the match was drawn.
Last edited by Keith Arkell on Fri Jul 08, 2016 1:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

NickFaulks
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Re: World Senior teams June-July 2016

Post by NickFaulks » Thu Jul 07, 2016 8:26 am

Keith,

You completely misunderstood. I was very disappointed last time when this strategy was used - not because it went wrong or because I thought you were not up to the task but because I though it put completely unfair and unnecessary pressure on you. Furthermore, it was completely obvious that this would be followed up by hints that it was all your fault.

This year I was talking about the Armenia match, which we needed to win. It was not such a clear case, but even so I felt that two draws on the top boards with no play was not the obvious approach. Perhaps there were reasons behind the scenes for it, but those following the games do not know that. As you say, you were in good form and did obtain a draw from what looked for a while like a rather ugly position.

I have always been very supportive of you on this forum. You know that. That comment was in fact supportive of you, although perhaps it could have been expressed more gently. It is evident that you were upset by it, and I apologise for that, but you have misunderstood it by 180 degrees.

Best wishes, as always,

Nick
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Keith Arkell
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Re: World Senior teams June-July 2016

Post by Keith Arkell » Fri Jul 08, 2016 1:54 pm

Hi Nick,

Thanks for the explanation, and sorry about the colourful language( now edited out). You touched a raw nerve, that was all.

Let me tell you a story: I was a late developer in chess - still an IM in 1995 at the age of 33. Players are expected to peak in their 20s or 30s. I don't fit that mould, but instead have been fortunate enough to continue to get stronger. On two, possibly three occasions I believe that I should have been selected to represent England in Olympiads and things like that. I never was. Not once.

With the wonderful introduction of 50+ chess came an unexpected opportunity to put this to rights in some sense. I had already represented England on first board in the 2014 World Senior Team Championship, leading us to a silver medal with my score of 6/8, but the competition lacked strength in it's inaugural year.

But then, last February, I got the chance to play alongside those who were like heroes to me during the early stages of my climb up the chess ladder. In 1989 Nigel Short, Jon Speelman and John Nunn were ranked 3,5 and 9 in the World! Here was my chance to show that I had progressed sufficiently to belong in their company. My credentials were good. I had finished Joint first in the World Senior Championship a couple of months earlier and was the current European Senior Champion. At the age of 53 I had performed at not far off 2600 all year, gaining about 100 ELO points in doing so.


But then something very strange happened. I froze. I just couldn't think or analyse at all. I mean ok I won my first 2 games, including somewhat luckily v GM Espig, but then in this crucial match v Slovakia, with my illustrious team-mates having already drawn, I played like an imbecile and threw away a completely won position. That one result put the Gold medal we coveted out of range. With a further loss against GM Tishbierek of Germany and a final personal tally of just 4.5/8 I registered my worst result for years, and in the event that mattered to me the most. In retrospect I guess it mattered too much to me. I tried too hard.

Afterwards, Jon Speelman gave me some great advice: 'Don't worry, just make moves and let your talent do the rest' or words to that effect. He also wrote a very nice piece in his Independent column about having me as a team-mate.

Anyway,16 months went by until there I was, last week, facing Slovakia again, and my team-mates- bless them, gave me the chance to redeem myself. Three draws with just my game left. I felt like Stuart Pearce stepping forward to take his penalty kick for England against Spain in the Euro '96 quarter finals, having missed in the World cup semi- final against Germany. Like Pearce I succeeded and a big weight fell off my shoulders. After that I relaxed, played my normal game and cruised to 6/7. I proved I could be relied on and that the Feb 2015 episode was just one of those things.

Tim Harding
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Re: World Senior teams June-July 2016

Post by Tim Harding » Fri Jul 08, 2016 7:54 pm

Keith, we are all proud of you (even your friends in Ireland).
Tim Harding
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Stewart Reuben
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Re: World Senior teams June-July 2016

Post by Stewart Reuben » Sat Jul 09, 2016 2:03 am

Keith Arkell >I had already represented England on first board in the 2014 World Senior Team Championship, leading us to a silver medal with my score of 6/8, but the competition lacked strength in it's inaugural year.<

Now you've touched a raw nerve with me. The 2014 World Senior Team Championship was the SECOND WSTC. This year's was announced as the FOURTH. The FIRST was held in the Isle of Man in 2004. I was my idea and I organised it. It is true it then lay fallow until 2014 when run in Lithuania.

David Sedgwick
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Re: World Senior teams June-July 2016

Post by David Sedgwick » Sat Jul 09, 2016 10:41 am

Stewart Reuben wrote: The FIRST [World Senior Team Championship] was held in the Isle of Man in 2004. I (sic) was my idea and I organised it.
Your last sentence above should have read:

"It was my idea, I organised it and I played the late Bob Wade in Round 1."

Thank you for asking me to be the Chief Arbiter.

Tim Harding
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Re: World Senior teams June-July 2016

Post by Tim Harding » Mon Jul 11, 2016 7:28 pm

My report on the World Senior Team Championships is live at http://worldchess.com with some photos of British players.
Tim Harding
Historian and FIDE Arbiter

Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
http://www.chessmail.com

Leonard Barden
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Re: World Senior teams June-July 2016

Post by Leonard Barden » Mon Jul 11, 2016 7:49 pm

Tim Harding wrote:My report on the World Senior Team Championships is live at http://worldchess.com with some photos of British players.
Nice report, enjoyable read.

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: World Senior teams June-July 2016

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Sun Jul 17, 2016 9:43 pm

A direct link to Tim's report:

http://worldchess.com/2016/07/11/world- ... mpetition/

Another report, this time from John Nunn and published by Chessbase:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/world-seni ... nship-2016

Some photos of the England team getting medals in that report. Jim Plaskett did get bronze on board 1 for England 2.

Stewart Reuben
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Re: World Senior teams June-July 2016

Post by Stewart Reuben » Sun Jul 17, 2016 10:19 pm

It occurs to me belatedly that you may not have seen the report on the performance of all the English teams on the ECF website. We di get 10 prizes and 19 of the 30 English players improved their rating.

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