US Open 2015 (St Louis) March 31 - April 14

[NickFaulks]

From this considerable distance from the details of the matter, relying only on what I've read, I'd suspect this young man has 'issues' that fall outside the "don't you know who I am?" range.

Yes, when I said he believed he was above the rules, that wasn't quite right. He believed the rules didn't matter.

[Jonathan Bryant]

There was a small ceremony at the start of the first round, in which I was supposed to play his first move, but that didn't happen because he wasn't there. He was found in the street outside very close to the default time, totally unconcerned because he was sure that the announced regulations would not be applied to him.

(my emphasis)


Well, if he was right about that I’m not sure the blame lies with Wesley So.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Oh dear, the Wesley fanboyz on the web are upset

Seriously, some of the abuse both Akobian and the officials have come in for is ridiculous and at times a bit disturbing.

[David Robertson]

It gets murkier still. Susan Polgar & Paul Truong are deeply involved, so I read. This is unlikey to be good news

[Jonathan Bryant]

It gets murkier still. Susan Polgar & Paul Truong are deeply involved, so I read. This is unlikey to be good news

The only amusing part of the whole business was chess.com quoting Truong saying:-

It's our duty to make sure all our players do everything properly.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I think the first comment on the Chessbase article was spot on:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/what-is-wr ... -wesley-so

"[...] don't turn this into an ongoing soap opera with multiple installments in the coming weeks. Even a top ten chess player has a right to some privacy."

Having said that, I noticed another comment:

"Writing notes in odd places all over the house when stressed seems like a psychological issue and Wesley may not have control over it especially during a very stressful game of chess."

I have no idea whether that is true or not in Wesley So's case, but if a chess player did have some psychological/mental condition that manifested in a way that affected over-the-board play, how should that be handled? Sensitively, one would hope. Though balancing the needs of both players might not be easy. One of the issues around mental health issues, even relatively 'minor' compulsive behaviour, is that they are not discussed enough - I was discussing this with someone else, and they pointed out that there is a GM (Spanish) who colours in their scoresheet and/or draw pictures.

Ah, here we go:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/final-four ... nal-report

That report includes a photo of "Juan Manuel Bellon Lopez's colourful scoresheet".

[IM Jack Rudd]

Bellon's colourful scoresheets are a fixture at Gibraltar. They really hurt my eyes.

[LawrenceCooper]

Bellon's colourful scoresheets are a fixture at Gibraltar. They really hurt my eyes.

They were a game inputter's nightmare. I did ask him once to decipher his scoresheet and show me what moves were actually played but even he wasn't able to do so

[Mick Norris]

Round 8 (April 9, 2015)
Robson, Ray - Shankland, Samuel L ½-½ 46 C11 French Defence
Onischuk, Alexander - Naroditsky, Daniel 1-0 50 E00 Catalan
Akobian, Varuzhan - Kamsky, Gata ½-½ 27 D85 Gruenfeld Defence
Troff, Kayden W - Nakamura, Hikaru 0-1 34 A62 Benoni
Holt, Conrad - So, Wesley 1-0 35 D97 Gruenfeld Russian
Gareev, Timur - Sevian, Samuel 1-0 29 A45 Trompowsky
Round 9 (April 10, 2015)
Nakamura, Hikaru - Gareev, Timur ½-½ 24 A04 Dutch System
So, Wesley - Akobian, Varuzhan 0-1 6 D32 Tarrasch Defence
Sevian, Samuel - Robson, Ray ½-½ 52 B81 Sicilian Keres Attack
Kamsky, Gata - Troff, Kayden W ½-½ 41 A48 King's Indian Defence /c2-c4
Shankland, Samuel L - Onischuk, Alexander ½-½ 38 E15 Queens Indian
Naroditsky, Daniel - Holt, Conrad 1-0 59 C19 French Winawer
Round 10 (April 11, 2015)
Robson, Ray - Nakamura, Hikaru ½-½ 30 C47 Four Knights
Onischuk, Alexander - Sevian, Samuel 1-0 32 D85 Gruenfeld Defence
Kamsky, Gata - So, Wesley 0-1 56 A46 Queen's Pawn Opening
Akobian, Varuzhan - Naroditsky, Daniel 1-0 39 D37 QGD 5.Bf4
Troff, Kayden W - Gareev, Timur ½-½ 52 E12 Queens Indian Petrosian
Holt, Conrad - Shankland, Samuel L 1-0 44 D43 Anti-Meran Gambit
Round 11 (April 12, 2015)
Nakamura, Hikaru - Onischuk, Alexander 1-0 31 C44 Scotch Gambit
So, Wesley - Troff, Kayden W 1-0 44 A15 English counter King's Fianchetto
Sevian, Samuel - Holt, Conrad 1-0 100 C19 French Winawer
Shankland, Samuel L - Akobian, Varuzhan ½-½ 51 D37 QGD 5.Bf4
Gareev, Timur - Robson, Ray 0-1 33 D01 Queen's Pawn Richter/Veresov
Naroditsky, Daniel - Kamsky, Gata ½-½ 32 B41 Sicilian Paulsen

[Mick Norris]

ch-USA 2015 Saint Louis USA (USA), 1-12 iv 2015 cat. XVI (2642)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
1. Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2798 * ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 8 2802
2. Robson, Ray g USA 2656 ½ * 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 7½ 2773
3. So, Wesley g USA 2788 ½ 0 * 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 6½ 2693
4. Onischuk, Alexander g USA 2665 0 ½ 0 * 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 6 2675
5. Sevian, Samuel g USA 2531 ½ ½ 1 0 * ½ 0 ½ 1 1 0 ½ 5½ 2652
6. Kamsky, Gata g USA 2683 ½ 1 0 0 ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 5½ 2638
7. Akobian, Varuzhan g USA 2622 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ * ½ 0 0 ½ 1 5½ 2643
8. Shankland, Samuel L g USA 2661 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ 0 1 ½ 5 2604
9. Troff, Kayden W g USA 2532 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ * 1 ½ 1 5 2615
10. Holt, Conrad g USA 2530 0 0 1 ½ 0 0 1 1 0 * 1 0 4½ 2587
11. Gareev, Timur g USA 2604 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 * ½ 4 2543
12. Naroditsky, Daniel g USA 2633 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 ½ * 3 2467

[Mick Norris]

Round 8 (April 9, 2015)
Nemcova, Katerina - Foisor, Sabina-Francesca ½-½ 44 B30 Sicilian Rossolimo
Abrahamyan, Tatev - Paikidze, Nazi ½-½ 67 B19 Caro Kann
Wang, Annie - Goletiani, Rusudan 0-1 37 E32 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Virkud, Apurva - Sharevich, Anna ½-½ 45 D35 QGD Exchange
Melekhina, Alisa - Krush, Irina 0-1 37 B22 Sicilian Alapin
Yu, Jennifer R - Ni, Viktorija 0-1 43 A29 English Four Knights

Round 9 (April 10, 2015)
Krush, Irina - Abrahamyan, Tatev 1-0 40 E32 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Paikidze, Nazi - Yu, Jennifer R 1-0 36 D10 Slav Defence
Ni, Viktorija - Nemcova, Katerina ½-½ 45 A28 English Four Knights
Sharevich, Anna - Wang, Annie ½-½ 70 E11 Bogo Indian Defence
Goletiani, Rusudan - Melekhina, Alisa ½-½ 31 B39 Sicilian Maroczy Bind
Foisor, Sabina-Francesca - Virkud, Apurva 1-0 36 D37 QGD 5.Bf4

Round 10 (April 11, 2015)
Nemcova, Katerina - Paikidze, Nazi 0-1 40 B18 Caro Kann
Abrahamyan, Tatev - Goletiani, Rusudan 1-0 67 B32 Sicilian Labourdonnais
Foisor, Sabina-Francesca - Ni, Viktorija 0-1 60 A56 Old Indian Defence
Virkud, Apurva - Wang, Annie ½-½ 46 E32 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Melekhina, Alisa - Sharevich, Anna 0-1 75 B23 Sicilian Closed
Yu, Jennifer R - Krush, Irina 0-1 40 A29 English Four Knights

Round 11 (April 12, 2015)
Krush, Irina - Nemcova, Katerina ½-½ 28 A22 English Opening
Paikidze, Nazi - Foisor, Sabina-Francesca ½-½ 30 D14 Slav Exchange
Ni, Viktorija - Virkud, Apurva 1-0 47 A13 Reti Opening
Sharevich, Anna - Abrahamyan, Tatev 1-0 44 A64 Benoni
Goletiani, Rusudan - Yu, Jennifer R ½-½ 54 A11 Reti Opening
Wang, Annie - Melekhina, Alisa 1-0 36 A59 Volga Gambit

[Mick Norris]

ch-USA w 2015 Saint Louis USA (USA), 1-14 iv 2015
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2
1. Krush, Irina g USA 2477 * 0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 8½ 2431
2. Paikidze, Nazi m USA 2333 1 * 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 7½ 2366
3. Nemcova, Katerina wg USA 2279 ½ 0 * ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 7½ 2371
4. Ni, Viktorija wm USA 2188 0 ½ ½ * ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 7 2348
5. Sharevich, Anna wg USA 2267 ½ ½ 0 ½ * 1 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 6½ 2304
6. Goletiani, Rusudan m USA 2311 0 ½ ½ 1 0 * 0 1 1 1 ½ ½ 6 2271
7. Abrahamyan, Tatev wg USA 2322 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 * 1 0 1 0 1 5½ 2234
8. Foisor, Sabina-Francesca wg USA 2276 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 0 0 * 1 1 ½ ½ 5½ 2238
9. Wang, Annie wm USA 1901 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 1 0 * ½ 1 0 3½ 2139
10. Virkud, Apurva USA 2132 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ * 1 1 3½ 2118
11. Melekhina, Alisa f USA 2235 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 0 * ½ 2½ 2031
12. Yu, Jennifer R wf USA 2180 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 ½ * 2½ 2036

[Brian Towers]

I have no idea whether that is true or not in Wesley So's case, but if a chess player did have some psychological/mental condition that manifested in a way that affected over-the-board play, how should that be handled?

One obvious way would be for him to get a doctor's note and then in this case for the arbiter to supply him with a notepad and periodically come by to remove the top page with the offending notes.