English Chess Forum

If "all eight players were known", how could they choose a wildcard given the size of the tournament is eight players? Possibly the wildcard is a reserve in case somebody drops out. I think eight was just a misprint for seven. The wildcard plays in the event, is not a reserve. if Wikipedia is right...

I'm not sure that's 100% foolproof as it's White that has to organise the exchange. I'll predict a draw anyway, but very happy to be shown otherwise! An instructive ending certainly; it seems that after Luke missed 61 Rg3 it was probably a draw, as GM Ramirez told the commentators, though I haven't...

It feels a bit unfortunate that the lowest rated player gets a full point bye in round 2. That's how the FIDE pairing rules are written. When someone is consistently the lowest rated in successive tournaments, or is at the end of the alphabet if unrated, they see more than a fair share of byes. The...

From the two matches against Russia "we" scored 1.5 points, not bad considering the ratings. Andrew Ledger drew with GM Gleizerov on top board in the 50+. John Quinn has had a truly remarkable performance on top board for the 65+. With one round to go he has 5/7 for an Rp of 2386, the second best on...

Yes it is round 4 tiebreaks and Ding is already winning the first game after 15...Ne5?? 16 Bxf6.

The point was that if 16...Bxf6 17 f4 Bxe2 18 fxe5 Bxf1 19 exf6 Rxe1 20 Qh6 and mates.

becoming clear that Ding will live after all He has been far from his best so far, and a shadow of the player he was at the last World Cup - still someone will have to find a way to beat him. I would not expect him to go out by drawing with White in an Armageddon! Ding said in an interview early on...

This event is just beginning (2pm BST Wednesday 18 September). In the 50+ England 1 v Spain; England 2 (team with three women) a bye unfortunately. In the 65+ England v Ireland. These matches are live on chess24 and presumably elsewhere. Team compositions, pairings etc at http://chess-results.com/tn...

I was looking at the Wikipedia page for William Winter and was struck by the comment, "Winter has the distinction of being the only British Champion to have served time in prison (for his political activities)." I can think of others who should have been imprisoned, but is he really the only one? I...

Substantial increase in entries since my last posting. 65+ now 172 entries, boosted by 27 from the host country. In previous years since the age-group split in Seniors, host entries have been poor (except when the Czechs ran it in 2016). Most of the usual big names (Vaisser, Balashov, Jansa) are now...

Great save by Luke, with his lone N v his opponent's 2 Bishops. He used the same method I employed at Hastings v GM Lagarde a few years ago - viz you put the N on g2, g7, b2 or b7 and when he turfs you out of one of those you head for another: https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2019-fide-world-cup/2-1...

Great save by Luke, with his lone N v his opponent's 2 Bishops. He used the same method I employed at Hastings v GM Lagarde a few years ago - viz you put the N on g2, g7, b2 or b7 and when he turfs you out of one of those you head for another: https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2019-fide-world-cup/2-1...

I had a go at a tournament bracket, which I think explains it a bit more easily. It's obviously a fake tournament with fake names. If you get the seeds in the right place, it's not so difficult conceptually, but hard to put it all into English. http://bracketcloud.com/tournament/150851 Yes that doe...

With Gelfand among the qualifiers by rating and the two young Iranians invited or qualified, it's an issue that could resurface in the Isle of Man tournament for a Candidates place. It could happen sooner than that, in the World Cup third round. Gelfand is quite a good bet to reach the third round,...

Clocks are stopped during play if there's a Fire Alarm and players have to leave the playing area. It would be highly unusual for clocks to be stopped for a toilet break although long, long ago, matches would sometimes be suspended for a refreshment break. Or at 6pm for prayers in the Dubai open. H...

Lists updated now.
Open 65+ 114 players now
Open 50+ 75 players so far
Women 50+ 12 players; Women 65+ 5 players.