2017 World Cup 2-27 September, Tbilisi

[Stewart Reuben]

One year, on no less than 4 occasions, I had 4/5 as did my opponent. A win for either of us in the last round would have netted a valuable prize. All 4 games ended in draws. That was very annoying.
One Lloyds Bank Masters Shirov had 8/9 and Shabalov 7.5/9. Nobody else had more than 7/9. Both were Latvan and friends. I asked them whether they were going to pre-agree a draw. They said yes, so the game was not on a demonstration board.

Scenarios where the players may come to an agreement are common and may reduce the financial return for the other players. In the Shirov game, the other players could only gain if Shirov won. That was very unlikely. A draw in a Swiss rarely damages the prospects for other players.

There are advantages to knockouts.

[Ian Thompson]

... and the organiser was so pleased that his event hadn't ended with seven quick draws on the top boards that he threw in a bonus for enterprising play.

I wonder what he'd have made of the second tournament I ever played in America. The tournament winner defaulted his last round game (with prior notice) to go home early because he was 1.5 points clear of the field before the last round.

[Ian Thompson]

A draw in a Swiss rarely damages the prospects for other players.

I think that claim requires justification. If you are a point behind other players and they draw, you're still behind all of them even if you win. You're surely likely to be better off with all decisive results amongst those players, so you can catch half of them up with a win.

[Stewart Reuben]

Ian. I did write rarely. It is unusual to be able to catch up into the prize money when a full point behind in an open Swiss.

[NickFaulks]

I wonder what he'd have made of the second tournament I ever played in America. The tournament winner defaulted his last round game (with prior notice) to go home early because he was 1.5 points clear of the field before the last round.

I wouldn't have a problem with that. Do you really want a player on top board, affecting the place prizes, who doesn't care about the result of his game and may ( I'm speculating ) have already celebrated his victory in style?

[Stewart Reuben]

In Castlebar in Ireland in 1967, Hubner had 5.5/6 and nobody else, including me had more than 4/6. That evening I bought him a triple Scotch, to no avail. Chatting after the game, I asked him whether he would have accepted a £5 bribe for a draw. He said he would have considered it. But it never crossed my mind. Of course he could have thrown the game to me, ensuring me at worst of share second place. There was an odd number in the 7 round tournament. The arbiter considered giving Robert the half point bye.
In the 2017 British U8 Championship two chidren had 100% and other players were a full point behind. The big prize is the title and the two children agreed a perfunctory draw, thus both becoming British U8 Champion. One of the best examples of the virtues of tiebreaks.

[NickFaulks]

the two children agreed a perfunctory draw, thus both becoming British U8 Champion.

Why not agree every game in the tournament a quick draw? Then they could all be champions.

[LawrenceCooper]

the two children agreed a perfunctory draw, thus both becoming British U8 Champion.

Why not agree every game in the tournament a quick draw? Then they could all be champions.

Not if there's an odd number and a point bye every round

[Stewart Reuben]

Nick >Why not agree every game in the tournament a quick draw? Then they could all be champions.<

The more people involved in an agreement, the more difficult it is to reach that agreement.
Bill Hatysrton once said, 'One of the advantages of a Swiss is, that once one game has been won, it is impossible for everybody to tie.

[Chris Rice]

Lev celebrates winning the World Cup and being back at world number 2 by doing at bit of karaoke at his wedding. Here's a picture of him with his stunning new wife

[MartinCarpenter]

Well, he's not as good at singing as chess, but no surprise there!
(Far from terrible.).

It is a bit of a shame that the public perception of top chess players is so based on the few who really are utterly obsessed with the game - a lot of them are really rounded, grounded people.

[Roger de Coverly]

chessbase have a somewhat biased report about the dress code issue

http://en.chessbase.com/post/the-kovalyov-report

I'm not sure where I saw it, but there was a comment to the effect that if you wanted to appeal to an 18-30 demographic, demanding that players wear suits and denigrating those who wore shorts wasn't the best way of going about it. Arguably all the contributors to the chessbase report were from Eastern Europe, some of whom no doubt regretted the demise of the Soviet Union.

[Chris Rice]

chessbase have a somewhat biased report about the dress code issue

http://en.chessbase.com/post/the-kovalyov-report

I'm not sure where I saw it, but there was a comment to the effect that if you wanted to appeal to an 18-30 demographic, demanding that players wear suits and denigrating those who wore shorts wasn't the best way of going about it. Arguably all the contributors to the chessbase report were from Eastern Europe, some of whom no doubt regretted the demise of the Soviet Union.

It's such a biased report I just ignored it. FIDE apparently commissioned the report but there are no comments from Kovalyov, the ACP etc or anyone who is not friendly to Azmai or let's say is dependent on his good opinion of them for further work. The dress code issue is important at the level where major chess sponsors would not want their brand images tarnished by players dressed inappropriately similar to the way high class restaurants/hotels operate. In the corporate world dress and personal hygiene issues come up from time to time. I used to dread dealing with them as the person receiving the message isn't going to be too happy about it. So it must be done with some delicacy/diplomacy explaining to the individual what the issue is, whether they have any problems complying with what is wanted and exploring options as to how this can be achieved. Clearly this task doesn't fall withing Azmai's sphere of expertise. I find that snooker is an excellent example of how you can improve the brand image of a game.

[NickFaulks]

some of whom no doubt regretted the demise of the Soviet Union.

That is a strange comment. I can't work out which ones you have in mind.

[Chris Rice]

A very comprehensive report on the evidence of the Kovalyov case by Macauley Peterson as opposed to the biased report published by ChessBase a few days ago (see upthread), as the case moves to the Ethics Commission. Apologies to all that are sick to death of hearing about it. However, there are some important decisions to be made regarding the dress code, how its enforced, Azmai's behaviour and in particular his use of the word 'gypsy' to Kovalyov and the increasing concensus of opinion that he used it as a racial slur.