2014 Dubai Open

[NickFaulks]

Sealing a move would not prevent people discussing the game.

Of course it wouldn't, but they would be allowed to do so. Neither player would have the advantage of knowing the current position. Have we forgotten the logic behind sealing moves?

I realise that the whole concept of adjournments is controversial nowadays, but it never used to be. I'm just saying, if you're going to adjourn, then do it in the proper way.

[MartinCarpenter]

For an entire open tournament though? That's a fearsome collection of envelopes

[Chris Rice]

But Dubai has been organised for a number of years and you are the first person to comment adversely as far as I know. Sealing a move would not prevent people discussing the game. It is all to do with the degree of supervision during the scheduled break. Provided the players know in advance what the conditions are, I don't see the reason for so much alarm. Nor do I see their participation, in full knowledge of the facts, being against natural justice.

What I see is a valuable tournament and I would not wish the world to lose it.

Comments, about this particular point, by Chris and Paul and anybody else who have played there would be useful.

I completely agree on that last sentence Stewart. Nick's points are valid but I do think any attempt to force rules on to the organizer over this point will not be well received. Religious sensitivity is high in the Middle East. As Paul will verify not only do they have prayer breaks in Dubai but they cut the crosses of the top of the kings because they are Christian symbols. I almost started one of my games in this years tournament with my king and queen the wrong way around as whoever had set the pieces up hadn't noticed the difference between the king and the queen as they looked so alike.

Also treating the prayer break as an adjournment and sealing a move simply isn't possible for the people who need to pray. They have to go and pray at the appointed time. Therefore treating it as an emergency ie say a fire alarm going off where you wouldn't dream of sealing a move would be more practical when it can be left to the organisers to deal with. Generally players respect the prayer break and in the last six years since I have been playing there hasn't been anything adverse enough to warrant regulating the prayer break. I guess if it ever became a problem they could just move the start time from 5.30pm to say 7pm and we would just finish later. Tournaments in the neighboring emirate of Abu Dhabi often start at 8pm when you are in danger of starting your drive home after midnight.

[Stewart Reuben]

Why don't they get chess sets that don't have a cross?
This year in Croatia they had two different types of set. That immediately breaks the rule for title norm tournaments that conditions shall be the same for everybody. The sets for digital boards were Staunton and thus have the cross. They would have to be cut off in Dubai. The sets we played on were also horribly shiny.
The other type had round tops for both kings and queens. Paul Habershon started his 9th round game on the board next to me. He didn't notice for about 10 moves. I don't know whether I looked. If I did I didn't notice.
Eventually Paul noticed, laughed and swapped his king and queen over. I whispered to him, 'You know what is supposed to happen?' He responded, 'I don't want to know.'
The game is supposed to start again from move 1.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Eventually Paul noticed, laughed and swapped his king and queen over. I whispered to him, 'You know what is supposed to happen?' He responded, 'I don't want to know.'
The game is supposed to start again from move 1.

This happened to me in a blitz game recently. My opponent (most of those playing knew each other) noticed before I did (actually, he noticed when he tried to castle). He swapped king and queen round and then castled. I objected and the tournament controller (acting as an arbiter) correctly ruled that as it was blitz the game should continue with king and queen in the wrong places. I decided it would be better to offer a draw and as this was knockout, the game was replayed with colours swapped. In a more formal setting, it would be interesting to see what might happen.

Does anyone know of examples in blitz games where this happened and the person with the king and queen the wrong way round ended up going on to win?

[Brian Valentine]

Earlier this week I allowed my opponent, who was their team captain, to stop our clock so he could wander off and get a black king. Our board 1 had taken a while to notice that his opponent had two queens in the central squares on first rank!

[MJMcCready]

But Dubai has been organised for a number of years and you are the first person to comment adversely as far as I know. Sealing a move would not prevent people discussing the game. It is all to do with the degree of supervision during the scheduled break. Provided the players know in advance what the conditions are, I don't see the reason for so much alarm. Nor do I see their participation, in full knowledge of the facts, being against natural justice.

What I see is a valuable tournament and I would not wish the world to lose it.

Comments, about this particular point, by Chris and Paul and anybody else who have played there would be useful.

I played in Al Ain in a tournament and Abu Dhabi also. In both cases there was no prayer break. I was told that players could leave to pray if they so wished but their clock would keep running, and also that its not strictly necessary to take prayer at the designated time. Many players chose to take the particular prayer they missed in their own time after the games had finished.

I think accommodating for religious requirements is a slippery slope and should be kept out of chess. One thing I found to be particularly distasteful in Al Ain was that the king was changed. The cross was taken off the top and a crescent moon put on instead. I always wondered whether that was legal in a F.I.D.E rated tournament or not.

[Richard Bates]

Sealing a move would not prevent people discussing the game.

Of course it wouldn't, but they would be allowed to do so. Neither player would have the advantage of knowing the current position.

One would hope that the player sealing the move would!

[NickFaulks]

Sealing a move would not prevent people discussing the game.

Of course it wouldn't, but they would be allowed to do so. Neither player would have the advantage of knowing the current position.

One would hope that the player sealing the move would!

Yes, I saw that and couldn't be bothered to edit it. What the position would be when it was next their turn to move. Better?

[Stewart Reuben]

I have often thought the person sealing has a significant advantage and that is unfair. Of course it hardly matters now.