English Chess Forum

I was struck by the fact that the front cover answers a question raised on this forum a few months ago. Has white always made first move? The cover suggests that at the date of this book first move went to whoever touched a piece first. It was mentioned in a discussion about the Immortal Game, Ande...

Rex Sinquefield was unexpectedly rude about Anna Rudolph's commentary . I'm sure she will take the view that he's just an old fool who doesn't know any better, but I wonder whether Jen will be bold enough to say something in support of her fellow commentator. I think that she tried to do that diplo...

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 11, 2018 10:52 am

What's the wording on the entry form?

The Regulations stated that the two highest placed eligible players would qualify to play in the British Knockout Championship. This is the case.

I don't want to comment further on here, but I have emailed the two players involved.

Agon have now been organising World Championships and Candidates Tournaments for five years.

They seem to have the ability to make each one worse than the previous one.

Stewart Reuben wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 10, 2018 1:00 pm

I have no idea why they chose such a small playing area.

Because they're Agon, perhaps.

Jonathan Rogers wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 07, 2018 1:50 pm

Yes, it is the Friday start which is the oddity which impacts on everything else.

I have no idea whether or not it was a consideration, but I am very pleased that Sunday 11th November 2018 will be a rest day.

Brian Valentine wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 07, 2018 4:28 pm

I wasn't suggesting Matt Carr would not be helpful in such situations.

I wasn't seeking to suggest that either, but on reflection I could have worded my post more carefully.

My apologies to Matthew and to you.

Submissions can be resubmitted by graders and we would be prepared to alter results if instructed by suitable authority from the ECF arbiter heirarchy, although I've never seen this latter part happen. Brian Valentine Manager ECF grading So if a result needs to be changed after submission (nothing ...

David Sedgwick wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 06, 2018 8:52 am

The organisers and arbiters have acted properly in expunging the player's results and omitting him from the prize list. It's understandable that they don't wish to make any immediate comment.

Richard Bates wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 06, 2018 9:30 am

There’s a statement on the 4ncl website.

Commentator's curse

Are there any established guide-lines in such cases? Not in England, to the best of my knowledge. I was peripherally involved in two previous cases. Given that all three sections had not only the regular chess-results reporting, but also chess24 live coverage, the disappearance of the section leade...

I concur with Nigel Davies's sentiments and comments.

As is noted on his Wiki page, Eric Schiller had had serious health problems for the last ten years or so.

RIP, Eric

Balbagaev's prominence is not exactly evidence that we are in a new era where all the old crew have been swept away. When the split between Ilyumzhininov and Makrokoulos became irreparable 12 to 18 months ago, most of the old regime backed Makropoulos. However, a few of them remained loyal to Ilyum...

David Robertson wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 01, 2018 8:16 pm

David Sedgwick wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 01, 2018 7:53 pm

...Geurt Gijssen and Takis Nikolopoulos. Both of them made it clear that they considered that agreeing a draw before play constituted cheating

So what? Is it cheating?

In their opinion, yes. Am I missing something?

Why isn't a 2600 player conceding an arranged draw with a 2400 player ( expected result .75 ) as serious as the 2400 player conceding an arranged loss ( expected result 0.25 )? I'm just asking, because such issues have always been avoided. In the Monarch Assurance Masters in the Isle of Man about 2...

JustinHorton wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 31, 2018 4:09 pm

Guy I know went to the Candidates, said it was an absolute shambles.

I assume that the guy that you know is not I, but I excoriated Agon in my report on the Opening Ceremony.