British Championships 2012 - Games

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Andrew Bak
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British Championships 2012 - Games

Post by Andrew Bak » Sat Jul 21, 2012 9:38 pm

Let's get a seperate thread going to purely talk about the chess at this year's British Championships.

Who do people think will win and do well? Without wanting to sound too predictable, it seems as if it will be a tussle between the top two seeds, Gawain Jones and David Howell, although it will be very tight as I imagine they will all be playing each other from early on as it is a small field this year.

Is it going to be an accelerated swiss or a normal Swiss this year?

Here is a preview of the Championships.

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Carl Hibbard
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Re: British Championships 2012

Post by Carl Hibbard » Sun Jul 22, 2012 6:21 am

Do we need another thread on this one do you think beyond the one that already exists?
Cheers
Carl Hibbard

Andrew Bak
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Re: British Championships 2012

Post by Andrew Bak » Sun Jul 22, 2012 8:42 am

My only thought was that the other one was already quite long and I think we had a separate thread for the games last year? Am happy to merge if you think that's best

Jonathan Rogers
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Re: British Championships 2012

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Sun Jul 22, 2012 9:11 pm

For what its worth, I think a separate games and pairings thread is useful. Debates on the format of the championships and other controversies will surely fill up another thread easily enough.

I just noticed that the Howell v Adair pairing in the first round this year is an exact repeat of their last round pairing last year! In case you had forgotten:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/au ... ampionship

Paul Cooksey

Re: British Championships 2012

Post by Paul Cooksey » Sun Jul 22, 2012 9:16 pm

Since the Guardian, amongst other sins in other threads, are persisting with a non-pgn format. Despite me writing to them. (twice :oops: )

Andrew Bak
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Re: British Championships 2012

Post by Andrew Bak » Sun Jul 22, 2012 9:25 pm

Nice spot! I'm sure James will last a bit longer this time though.

Here are my predictions for Round 1:

Poobalasingam 0 -1 Jones
Howell 1-0 Adair
Townsend 0-1 Gordon
Turner 0.5-0.5 Storey
Ledger 0-1 Gormally
Conquest 1-0 Osborne
Hanley 0-1 Hawkins
Palliser 1-0 Mason
Brown 0.5-0.5 Arkell

The thing I like about the Swiss format is that we are pretty much guaranteed to see fighting chess from Round 1!

Paul Cooksey

Re: British Championships 2012

Post by Paul Cooksey » Sun Jul 22, 2012 9:28 pm

Andrew Bak wrote:Turner 0.5-0.5 Storey
A little local bias there I think. Still, I suppose we can hope the Sniper plays at least one round before withdrawing :)

Andrew Bak
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Re: British Championships 2012

Post by Andrew Bak » Sun Jul 22, 2012 9:35 pm

Yeah I went partly for home-field advantage, partly for some kudos for the Sniper. He probably won't even play it now!

Carl, is it possible to change this thread title to "British Championships 2012 - Games"?

Andrew Camp
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Re: British Championships 2012 - Games

Post by Andrew Camp » Mon Jul 23, 2012 7:34 am

All pairings now online except of course the U140. :roll:
Chairman of North Wales Junior Chess Association
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ThomasThorpe
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Re: British Championships 2012 - Games

Post by ThomasThorpe » Mon Jul 23, 2012 8:05 am

In the British U16, can someone explain the seeding process having Adam C Taylor 10th getting the bye and me 9th despite Adam having a much higher rating? I'm not complaining as I've come here to play chess not to pick up a free point!

I also find it funny that just two weeks ago in South Wales a patzer like me played FM Peter Poobalasingham, and now he face the British no. 4 (?) rated player.

Best of luck to all competing

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Re: British Championships 2012 - Games

Post by Andrew Bak » Mon Jul 23, 2012 8:27 am

ThomasThorpe wrote:In the British U16, can someone explain the seeding process having Adam C Taylor 10th getting the bye and me 9th despite Adam having a much higher rating? I'm not complaining as I've come here to play chess not to pick up a free point!
In Britain, they always give the "median" player the bye, rather than the bottom seed. So in a 19 player tournament, the 10th seed should get the bye.

It's not obvious to me why Adam Taylor is the 10th seed despite him being the 4th highest rated player according to their own entry list. Perhaps he requested a first round bye anyway and because there were an odd number of players, they decided to manipulate the seedings a bit? I'm not sure why they would do this though.

Maybe they're going on ECF grades, but I haven't got the time or the will to check everyone's ECF grade myself!

Good luck!

Sean Hewitt
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Re: British Championships 2012 - Games

Post by Sean Hewitt » Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:09 am

All of the other seedings appear to correspond to FIDE ratings except for Adam's. I would have guessed that he had requested a bye, except that he is showing as pairing number 10 which suggests he is seeded 10.

Andrew is right that in GB pairings they give the bye to the median player - thereby increasing the risk that someone who gets a full point bye gets a prize or wins the event. Daft in my opinion.

I would recommend that you ask the section controller the reason for this oddity - and then let us know the answer!
Last edited by Sean Hewitt on Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:10 am, edited 2 times in total.

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JustinHorton
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Re: British Championships 2012 - Games

Post by JustinHorton » Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:10 am

So when's the kick-off today?
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

Alex McFarlane
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Re: British Championships 2012 - Games

Post by Alex McFarlane » Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:14 am

9.30 and 2.30. Official opening 2pm

Jonathan Bryant
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Re: British Championships 2012 - Games

Post by Jonathan Bryant » Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:15 am

ThomasThorpe wrote:I also find it funny that just two weeks ago in South Wales a patzer like me played FM Peter Poobalasingham, and now he face the British no. 4 (?) rated player.
Last year - I think, it might have been the year before - I played a guy on a not particularly high board in a club match. Just a couple of months later he played Mickey Adams in the British.

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