Cambridge International Open

[Ian Thompson]

What is the story with Maciej Czopor only being an FM with a rating of 2519 - how common is it for FMs to have such a high rating?

Part of the answer is that this event is using the higher of ECF rating and FIDE rating. 2519 is his ECF rating. His FIDE rating is "only" 2412. He's been just over 2400, with little change in rating, since September 2021 despite having played over 100 games since then. It looks like he's plateaued at his current level.

[Roger de Coverly]

Pairings for the first round are now at
http://chess-results.com/tnr702650.aspx ... ES&flag=30

It's Adams v Adams on the top board (Henry (1963) v Michael (2757) )

[Chris Rice]

I've just noticed I was supposed to register for this tournament by yesterday .

I can see some point of asking non-British players to register a day and a half before the event to prove they have a visa if required and have already travelled or are travelling to the UK. The point of doing it for British residents seem less logical as a player may have every intention of taking part in the first round, only to be thwarted by the train delays or cancellations, motorway delays, weather etc on the day of play.

Traffic on the M11 brought to a standstill by an overturned horse box near Saffron Walden. Stuck 15 miles outside Cambridge for the last half an hour. Going to be a problem making the first round. Thoughts and prayers of course for the horseys.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Traffic on the M11 brought to a standstill by an overturned horse box near Saffron Walden. Stuck 15 miles outside Cambridge for the last half an hour. Going to be a problem making the first round. Thoughts and prayers of course for the horseys."

Good luck - it's only a couple of days ago that the M5 was blocked for hours with a similar incident.

[Mick Norris]

Live games on chess24

[Christopher Kreuzer]

What is the story with Maciej Czopor only being an FM with a rating of 2519 - how common is it for FMs to have such a high rating?

Part of the answer is that this event is using the higher of ECF rating and FIDE rating. 2519 is his ECF rating. His FIDE rating is "only" 2412. He's been just over 2400, with little change in rating, since September 2021 despite having played over 100 games since then. It looks like he's plateaued at his current level.

Thanks for pointing that out. I apologise for calling him a wunderkind as that may have overstated the case (no idea what the bar is these days to be considered a child prodigy in chess). Still, hope he can complete the requirements for the IM title at some point and crack on from there (or not, obviously, I am phrasing this all very clumsily!).

[John Moore]

Pairings for the first round are now at
http://chess-results.com/tnr702650.aspx ... ES&flag=30

It's Adams v Adams on the top board (Henry (1963) v Michael (2757) )

And the outcome is, most surprisingly, a draw.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Pairings for the first round are now at
http://chess-results.com/tnr702650.aspx ... ES&flag=30

It's Adams v Adams on the top board (Henry (1963) v Michael (2757) )

And the outcome is, most surprisingly, a draw.

Understatement of the year!

I hope the game gets posted here so we can see the moves, if this is the correct result (and forgive me for being not sure whether to believe this).

[IM Jack Rudd]

[Event "Cambridge International Open"] [Site "University Arms Hotel, Cambridge, United Kingdom"] [Date "2023.02.15"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Adams, Henry"] [Black "Adams, Michael"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "1738"] [BlackElo "2688"] [TimeControl "All moves in 90 minutes + 30 seconds added per move"] [UTCDate "2023.02.15"] [UTCTime "10:17:46"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C55"] [Opening "Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Modern Bishop's Opening"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/broadcaster"] 1. e4 { [%eval 0.36] [%clk 1:30:58] } 1... e5 { [%eval 0.32] [%clk 1:30:54] } 2. Nf3 { [%eval 0.29] [%clk 1:31:23] } 2... Nc6 { [%eval 0.29] [%clk 1:31:20] } 3. Bc4 { [%eval 0.21] [%clk 1:31:49] } 3... Nf6 { [%eval 0.29] [%clk 1:31:43] } 4. d3 { [%eval 0.21] [%clk 1:32:14] } 4... Be7 { [%eval 0.39] [%clk 1:32:06] } 5. O-O { [%eval 0.36] [%clk 1:32:36] } 5... O-O { [%eval 0.29] [%clk 1:32:32] } 6. Re1 { [%eval 0.3] [%clk 1:32:11] } 6... d6 { [%eval 0.36] [%clk 1:32:51] } 7. a4 { [%eval 0.31] [%clk 1:31:40] } 7... Be6 { [%eval 0.64] [%clk 1:32:26] } 8. Bxe6 { [%eval 0.23] [%clk 1:30:58] } 8... fxe6 { [%eval 0.27] [%clk 1:32:49] } 9. c3 { [%eval 0.19] [%clk 1:30:40] } 9... a5 { [%eval 0.23] [%clk 1:31:45] } 10. Nbd2 { [%eval 0.09] [%clk 1:26:37] } 10... Nd7 { [%eval 0.16] [%clk 1:25:07] } 11. Nf1 { [%eval 0.0] [%clk 1:23:45] } 11... d5 { [%eval 0.15] [%clk 1:21:45] } 12. exd5 { [%eval 0.0] [%clk 1:10:24] } 12... exd5 { [%eval 0.17] [%clk 1:22:09] } 13. Ng3 { [%eval 0.08] [%clk 1:10:50] } 13... b6 { [%eval 0.55] [%clk 1:13:29] } 14. Be3 { [%eval 0.15] [%clk 1:06:36] } 14... Kh8 { [%eval 0.31] [%clk 1:09:51] } 15. Qc2 { [%eval -0.07] [%clk 0:59:59] } 15... Bd6 { [%eval 0.0] [%clk 1:02:38] } 16. Rad1 { [%eval -0.53] [%clk 0:53:57] } 16... Qf6 { [%eval -0.35] [%clk 0:59:07] } 17. Qb3 { [%eval -0.37] [%clk 0:44:59] } 17... Qf7 { [%eval 0.21] } { [%clk 0:52:48] } 18. Ng5 { [%eval 0.0] [%clk 0:39:59] } 18... Qg8 { [%eval 0.06] [%clk 0:52:43] } 19. Qb5 { [%eval 0.02] [%clk 0:37:10] } 19... Ncb8 { [%eval 0.01] [%clk 0:52:35] } 20. d4 { [%eval 0.05] [%clk 0:30:20] } 20... e4 { [%eval 0.16] [%clk 0:50:52] } 21. Qe2 { [%eval 0.06] [%clk 0:28:48] } 21... h6 { [%eval 0.18] [%clk 0:41:21] } 22. Qh5 { [%eval 0.17] [%clk 0:28:13] } 22... Bf4 { [%eval 2.55] } { [%clk 0:35:05] } 23. Bxf4 { [%eval 2.45] [%clk 0:23:14] } 23... Rxf4 { [%eval 2.15] [%clk 0:34:33] } 1/2-1/2

[Roger de Coverly]

The stockfish at lichess suggests plus 3 to White in the final position, rather liking 24. f3

[SetUp "1"] [FEN "rn4qk/2pn2p1/1p5p/p2p2NQ/P2Ppr2/2P3N1/1P3PPP/3RR1K1 w - - 0 24"] [Variant "Standard"]

[Kevin Thurlow]

And Adams, M is playing a singular Adam in round 2...

[Jonathan Rogers]

The stockfish at lichess suggests plus 3 to White in the final position, rather liking 24. f3

[SetUp "1"] [FEN "rn4qk/2pn2p1/1p5p/p2p2NQ/P2Ppr2/2P3N1/1P3PPP/3RR1K1 w - - 0 24"] [Variant "Standard"]

Textbook example of stronger player offering a draw in the hope that he is doing so before his opponent realises just how good his position is, or is in the course of becoming (I would certainly have accepted it too !)

[Nick Burrows]

An interesting question is what score a player would achieve from such a position against a player rated 794 points higher?

I'm of a similar rating, and suspect I would lose more than I would win.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Textbook example of stronger player offering a draw in the hope that he is doing so before his opponent realises just how good his position is, or is in the course of becoming"

I would immediately think I must be winning if Mickey offered me a draw, so I would have a good look... and probably decide to accept the draw.

[Nick Ivell]

Seems like a strange offer to me. I would still back Mickey to swindle the win - maybe he wasn't feeling well.