English Chess Forum

TimWall wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 17, 2018 3:24 pm

Maybe I am being a little alarmist, but on the other hand I think FIDE’s status as a legitimate body for world chess is at some risk if the Kremlin is pulling the strings after October 3.

Was the Kremlin not pulling the strings before, or is there more of a push for 'soft power' now?

At this point, I think it’s fair to say that Malcolm’s campaign is virtually the last chance to save FIDE. Working for radical reform has to be better than a schism: Just look what happened when Nigel and Garry K went their own way in 1993 - that paved the way for Kirsan and his rotten system to ta...

Plaskett is completely lost, isn't he? Emms should be aiming for a draw but seems to still be trying to win. (That was a bit harsh. Looks like Emms will draw and England 1 will get either second or third depending on the SB tie-break - if that is the tie-break after match points and game points). ED...

Hebden has drawn. USA have won their match and are currently in clear first place. Clearly England 1 are not going to win now. We do need one more draw (probably from Emms) to hopefully keep us in second place. Plaskett in a horribly passive rook endgame.

LawrenceCooper wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 15, 2018 11:17 am

I think the Americans will win their match without too much trouble so it will come down to what we can score from our three.

Not very much, it seems. All three are worse. Emms and Hebden might now be losing. Don't think I can watch much more. (Well, and I have to go out as well.)

Board 2 in the USA match has finished in a draw. Lasker looking less likely to win 4-0 at the moment. The USA match could end 2-2 if they see England 1 are losing by the narrowest margin, as 2-2 would also be enough for them in that scenario (they would finish at least half a game point ahead of Eng...

It does look like 2-2 at best in the England match at the moment, though a long way to go. The USA only have an advantage on bottom board in their match, but that would be enough for them. EDIT: If Lasker win 4-0 in their match (seems likely) then I think England 1 need to score 1.5 game points to b...

Good luck to the team!

Justin Tan won, and according to Ian Rogers, becomes Australia's 8th GM Do you have a link to anything online by Ian Rogers on this? [EDIT: was it on Twitter? https://twitter.com/GMIanRogers/status/1017739883123625985] I found Shaun Press's post: https://chessexpress.blogspot.com/2018/07/im-justin-...

Plaskett appears to have bamboozled his opponent with a nice little swindle! (18...Ne4 etc.) Nerves are a funny thing when faced with the prospect of downing a GM! His opponent found Rxd6 but twice missed (or rejected) Rxe6. Strange game. Plaskett will probably win this now. EDIT: And his opponent h...

Nine rounds, isn't it? So a win in round 8 would guarantee a medal, and if the USA can beat (or draw) with Lasker, then England 1 would be leading going into the final round. Surely England 1 will play Germany 1 in the final round?

So how do other countries support (or not) those facing that choice (which is a difficult one)? There are some who chose chess as a way to make a living even though they likely knew they would not reach the very top. Some examples that spring to mind (all took very different approaches and faced dif...

Early win for Emms after an awful blunder from David Cummings.

Mick Norris wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 04, 2018 5:27 pm

Interesting that none of the matches so far have been settled in extra time (I'm blaming Alex for us going to penalties )

Quick, blame Mick for the match being decided in extra time!

For me, clicking also doesn't work, and reloading didn't help either. I had to right-click and 'copy link' and paste the link into a browser. It then worked. The differences are interesting. Can you remember roughly which year that change took place, Andrew?