Hastings

[Simon Ansell]

I wonder what I've done to upset Reuben...

Having offered Keith a reasonably quick draw in the last round of the London Classic Open, when we both had nothing to play for, and subsequently been made to suffer( ) for 80 moves to eventually gain (?) my half-point, I can confirm Keith is indeed a fighter!

GL to all in the final round, particularly Ga, I've enjoyed watching the games.

[LawrenceCooper]

Round 10 pairings now on the website: http://www.hastingschess.com/2013/SMWSite/index.html

[IanDavis]

Is it wise to demand handshakes when norovirus is in evidence?

[AustinElliott]

Is it wise to demand handshakes when norovirus is in evidence?

As long as you wash your hands with soap and hot water before you eat something, or chew your fingernails, you should be alright.

Plus, if we worried about handshakes, we'd start having to disinfect the pieces next. Or the clocks.

Speaking microbiologically... a more serious worry, without getting too disgusting, might be the frequency of cleaning of the tournament, errm, rest-room facilities...

[Rob Thompson]

A few years ago a similar outbreak occurred at the London Junior Championships between Christmas and New Year. The results were messy, to say the least.

[David Sedgwick]

Is it wise to demand handshakes when norovirus is in evidence?

Stewart Reuben took medical advice about this and we discussed it the subject at the Congress Committee Meeting on 2nd January. The advice we received was that there was no cause for concern, for the reasons stated by Austin Elliott.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

4 norms achieved and the possibility of a 5th tomorrow.

I have been told that Gao already had 2GM norms and has had a rating of 2500

This is Francis Rayner's first norm. (So a bit more work for Loz before he retires.)

From the post on the website:

"Four norms were achieved at Hastings today:
Rui Gao (CHI) achieved his final GM norm

Xiobing Gu (CHI)
Johannes Kvisla (NOR)
Francis Rayner (WLS) all achieved IM norms

Chelsie Sihite (INA) still has a chance of achieving WGM norm in round 10."

Is Francis Rayner WLS as given on the website, or ENG as would be implied by Alex's post above referring to Loz? He is WLS on the pairings page as well:

http://www.hastingschess.com/2013/SMWSite/index.html

Does Loz do the Welsh norm applications as well, or is it because the tournament is in England? Or is Alex wrong and Loz able to safely retire?

[LawrenceCooper]

4 norms achieved and the possibility of a 5th tomorrow.

I have been told that Gao already had 2GM norms and has had a rating of 2500

This is Francis Rayner's first norm. (So a bit more work for Loz before he retires.)

From the post on the website:

"Four norms were achieved at Hastings today:
Rui Gao (CHI) achieved his final GM norm

Xiobing Gu (CHI)
Johannes Kvisla (NOR)
Francis Rayner (WLS) all achieved IM norms

Chelsie Sihite (INA) still has a chance of achieving WGM norm in round 10."

Is Francis Rayner WLS as given on the website, or ENG as would be implied by Alex's post above referring to Loz? He is WLS on the pairings page as well:

http://www.hastingschess.com/2013/SMWSite/index.html

Does Loz do the Welsh norm applications as well, or is it because the tournament is in England? Or is Alex wrong and Loz able to safely retire?

Any norm in a tournament registered as ENG needs to be signed by that federation's IRO regardless of the player's nationality.

[John Moore]

Just tried to listen to the live commentary. Chris Ward sounds like he's on the underground and the signal keeps getting interrupted - I've tried a few times and it's hopeless. It's a shame becuase the live games have gone really well.

[LawrenceCooper]

Board 1 drawn in seventeen moves so Gawain is 1st= at worst.

[David Sedgwick]

Just tried to listen to the live commentary. Chris Ward sounds like he's on the underground and the signal keeps getting interrupted - I've tried a few times and it's hopeless. It's a shame because the live games have gone really well.

My feelings exactly. I was pretty forthright about the matter at the Committee Meeting last Wednesday which I mentioned up thread.

Unfortunately the Congress simply doesn't have the necessary resources to resolve the problem.

[Carl Hibbard]

Even the server in use has required some tweaking in order to present this number of boards

[benedgell]

Bit of an anti- climactic last round to be honest.

[AustinElliott]

Bit of an anti- climactic last round to be honest.

One can't begrudge Jones the quick draw to take first prize after the 88-move epic against Alsina Leal the day before. Bit more disappointing that none of the five players on 6.5/9 seemed ready to take a risk. The main action for an online spectator was in the games between the people on 6/9 who had a chance to join the tie for 2nd with a win.

There was an interesting contrast (!) between Sulskis-Vovk (bd 2) and Kulaots-Gu (bd 4), which both featured White playing 6. Be3 against the Najdorf... and both ended in under 30 moves.. but there the similarity ends.

Did anyone else think Hawkins was in a bit of a bind at about move 22? I couldn't work out whether he Ninja-ed his way out of it, or whether his opponent Rui Gao (having got his GM title yesterday) wasn't really in the mood for a protracted battle to try and grind out a win, or a bit of both.

Tough loss for Keith Arkell today. It must be a bugger to get right into contention on 5/7 and then be struck down by the Hastings Lurgy. Very bad timing.

[Jonathan Rogers]

Bit of an anti- climactic last round to be honest.

Rather anti-climatic rounds 7-10, it might be said. Gawain's win yesterday was about the only decisive game by anyone on the top boards that I remember since, well, his previous decisive game in round six. Those who remember Lloyds Bank, or look at Gibraltar each year, will be very surprised to see that 7.5/10 suffices for unshared first place. Sumets in the last round was symptomatic; no need to actually agree a draw in that position even though it was equal. Gawain would have been likely to have accepted a draw at a later time too.

For all that, Gawain himself was a worthy winner; rarely looked in trouble, and dropped some of his halves to a player who was happy to draw with white in round 2 and presumably at least one on account of the lurgy.

Incidentally, although the winners at Gibraltar tend to rack up high scores, until last year that tournament had issues with non-fighting chess too, with the majority of "GM journeymen" basically drawing between rounds four to eight and then making a bid for a reasonable share of the prize fund in the last two rounds.