English Chess Forum

and matthew had to qualify, as would most English GMs over 40.

Unless Jana Bellin ever played on top board for Staffordshire, or Ruth Sheldon for the well known MCCU county Manchester ...

And Dagne Cuiksyte beat me on board one in Suffolk v Essex, Minor County semi-finals 2013/14 (I think). Thus doing half a point better than in Rogers v H Hunt, board one, Essex v Oxford 1996/7.

JustinHorton wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 16, 2020 11:42 am

Jonathan Rogers wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 16, 2020 11:28 am

"really not interested"

Quite! I would not object if Carl locked this thread until something new and of genuine interest occurs

Isn't that coming up next month?

I can wait

At the risk of undermining the seriousness of all this, it brings to mind the "best dad in the world" episode from Seinfeld:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdv9yFIoLPk

"really not interested"

Quite! I would not object if Carl locked this thread until something new and of genuine interest occurs. It is being kept alive by artificial means right now.

Not sure whether "splat" is the right word, but Sadler v Horton (no, not that Horton) from "round 5" of 4NCL, played just this last weekend, is certainly a game very far from the ordinary. Sadler has agreed with Danny G that it is his most Alpha Zero-like game yet and it is easy to see what they mean.

It is always possible, I suppose, that when the editor is not a journalist and has ten or twelve other jobs on the go at the same time, that certain decisions eg regarding chess columns, are delegated to someone else and just appear in a bundle of unread literature in the editor's in box ?

I'd be interested to hear what you find. But on the matter of alleged cheating or other misconduct without any direct eyewitness testimony, you might struggle to find analogies (perhaps ball tampering in cricket?). Alleged betting scams are probably the most likely analogy, where just too much is sa...

Paul, I don't think you answered Ian's question, what sort of action are you thinking of? I could imagine the ECF being concerned that if it bans anyone in a situation where allegations of cheating are known to be circulating, it might be sued for defamation and might have to justify an (arguably, i...

Incidentally, I think that anyone alleging cheating in court will need some evidence of method, and could not just rely on the perceived statistical improbability of the results being achieved without cheating. Really? I was taking a different view, and I suppose Adam was too. Rather than the speci...

That used to be called the "prosecutor's fallacy" - at least, I hope I am right in using the past tense and that you are talking about a case from some time ago!

It is true if the case goes to trial; there may be trouble if it is stopped beforehand, as for example, Marcus Ball (the man who tried to prosecute Boris Johnson for lying during the EU referendum) found, literally, to his cost. One other point here is that the CPS may take over and discontinue any ...

The same Aronian who has repeatedly flopped at Candidate level, and Karjakin whose style is hardly thrills and spills? (I am slightly devils advocating, but only slightly) Mamedyarov, perhaps...... Aronian on style, though you could argue he has had enough chances in the past and would likely not g...

Apart from MVL, its hard to see anybody who should obviously be in it but isn't. Mamed and Karjakin, arguably Aronian too, would surely interest us far more than Grischuk (no offence, but how many times?) and the until recently retired amateurs Radjabov, Wang Hao. I give the benefit of the doubt to...