World Team Ch (Tsaghkadzor) 18-29 April 2015

[Chris Rice]

Only three weeks to go before this starts and I'm guessing question number one is "where the hell is Tsaghkadzor?" Well you'll be pleased to know its a venue that meets with the finest tradition of major chess events ie Its an off-season ski-resort with a population of 1,700 (so its a bit of a puzzle why in 1984 it was designated a city) high up in the Tsaghkuniats Mountains of Armenia, miles from bloody anywhere.

Anyway the web site is up and it certainly will be a very strong tournament judging by the teams that have so far been listed though there don't appear to be many up there at present.

http://tsaghkadzor2015.fide.com/static/ ... 41?lang=en

[Roger de Coverly]

Anyway the web site is up and it certainly will be a very strong tournament judging by the teams that have so far been listed though there don't appear to be many up there at present.

It isn't an Open event, teams have to qualify by their placing in Olympiads etc.

[Chris Rice]

Anyway the web site is up and it certainly will be a very strong tournament judging by the teams that have so far been listed though there don't appear to be many up there at present.

It isn't an Open event, teams have to qualify by their placing in Olympiads etc.

Apologies, I did think it worked the same way as the Olympiad but indeed it will be just Russia, China, Hungary, India, USA, Egypt, Ukraine, Armenia, Cuba, Israel playing a nine-rounder in the middle of nowhere. Still on the plus side we'll get straight down to it and we shouldn't get a bunch of meaningless matches as in the Olympiad. Russia v Ukraine could be well spicy.

[NickFaulks]

It is indeed hard to imagine why a major chess event should be held in a backwater like Armenia rather than in a powerhouse chess playing nation such as, say, England.

[Chris Rice]

It is indeed hard to imagine why a major chess event should be held in a backwater like Armenia rather than in a powerhouse chess playing nation such as, say, England.

Glad you agree. Seriously though I think you're missing the point I'm making. I've got no issues with Armenia, if the venue was Yerevan then its accessible. The same comments would have applied if they'd decided to hold it on the slopes of Ben Nevis, the Alps, the Himalayas etc or Gausdal, Norway where I've played a couple of times where in the off season its completely isolated.

[Tim Harding]

... I've got no issues with Armenia, if the venue was Yerevan then its accessible. The same comments would have applied if they'd decided to hold it on the slopes of Ben Nevis, the Alps, the Himalayas etc or Gausdal, Norway where I've played a couple of times where in the off season its completely isolated.

That's precisely the point, isn't it? Chess events (especially FIDE ones) tend to get held in out of season resorts because organisers and players get a better deal on rooms and accommodation. That was precisely the case with last year's World Seniors in northern Greece.

[Mike Truran]

Although not an exact comparison, that's sort of the way it works with the 4NCL as well.

[NickFaulks]

Tsaghkazdor is thirty miles outside Yereven, connected by a good road. It is far less cut off from the outside world than a Western resort such as Chamonix ( a venue which would presumably meet with approval here ), or indeed Daventry.

If the players need to sample the fleshpots of the capital, those are only a forty five minute ( and very cheap ) taxi ride away. However, they are there to play top level chess, so their captains might not encourage such behaviour.

[Chris Rice]

Tsaghkazdor is thirty miles outside Yereven, connected by a good road. It is far less cut off from the outside world than a Western resort such as Chamonix ( a venue which would presumably meet with approval here ), or indeed Daventry.

If the players need to sample the fleshpots of the capital, those are only a forty five minute ( and very cheap ) taxi ride away. However, they are there to play top level chess, so their captains might not encourage such behaviour.

Nick I'm not knocking FIDE this time. It's a reality that chess tournaments are played in places like this. I just thought that the World Team Championship featuring Russia, USA and China might have escaped that and be played somewhere it only takes one flight to get to. I'm talking Paris, Prague, New York, Beijing, Moscow.

Still I'm sure the top players will at least be cheered by the ease of access to cheap travel, beer and whores.

PS Notice how I didn't include London in that list? I recognize that England is no chess power house at the moment. (More of a dimly lit shed really)

[NickFaulks]

Getting lost in this discussion is the fact that reigning European team champions Azerbaijan are not playing. I think this is part of some political fudge whereby Armenia won't go to the Baku Olympiad but it is a great shame.

[Chris Rice]

At the US Open that's just started Nakamura was asked why he isn't playing at the upcoming World Team Championship. Nakamura declined his invitation. He explained to Chess.com: "I felt like the offer for the World Team Championship was not a fair offer. There was no way I was going to play under those conditions." Could it be the Azerbaijan organisers offered much better conditions to get him to play in their tournament and devalue this one held in Armenia?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Do you mean So, not Nakamura? So is playing in the Gashimov Memorial (according to your other post), not Nakamura. The US Champs don't overlap with either the Gashimov Memorial or the World Team Champs.

Russia, China, Hungary, India, USA, Egypt, Ukraine, Armenia, Cuba, Israel.

Is there a listing of the players anywhere? Who would be the favourite to win?

Ah, the link is here (it was provided earlier in the thread):

http://tsaghkadzor2015.fide.com/static/ ... 41?lang=en

No Nakamura and no So in the USA team. Maybe the USA are using this tournament to give others more experience of playing top players, and they are concentrating on trying to win the next Olympiad?

[Chris Rice]

Hi Chris. Thanks for pointing that out. I have made an error there. Just to clarify:

The Gashimov Memorial 16-25 April overlaps with the World Team Ch 18-29 April.

The US Ch 31 March - 14 April does not overlap with either of these two so Wesley So and Nakamura were free to play in the World Team Ch if they wished but from the Chess.Com report it was reported Nakamura declined.

Couldn't see anything regarding Wesley So's decision not to play in the World Team Ch. However, Nakamura isn't playing in the Gashimov, Wesley So is so you're right and the sentence on Azerbaijan/Armenia should have referred to So, sorry about that.

http://www.chess.com/news/leaders-chall ... eners-8459

[David Sedgwick]

Getting lost in this discussion is the fact that reigning European team champions Azerbaijan are not playing. I think this is part of some political fudge whereby Armenia won't go to the Baku Olympiad but it is a great shame.

Are you blaming Armenia for the situation? If so, why?

Azerbaijan have declined the invitation to the World Team Championship and, as has been pointed out, organised the Gashimov Memorial for the same time. I would have thought that now made it pretty certain that Armenia won't play in the 2016 Olympiad, but was that necessarily the case before?

I don't know for certain, as I'm no expert on the relevant regulations, but I suspect that Wesley so is playing in the Gashimov Memorial because he is not yet eligible to play for the US team.

Anyway, let's look on the bright side. We have two top events coming up, and, as Chris has pointed out, English representation in the Gashimov Memorial. Here's hoping for a feast of great chess in April.

[Mark Ashley]

How are relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan generally?

I thought politically, they didnt get on due to a longstanding historical issue over territory....if so, its isnt that much of a surprise if they dont take part in such tournaments is it?