Roquetas Chess Festival 2025

[Simon Myles]

Very nicely played by Matthew, especially given what was at stake.

[Mick Norris]

Round 9 game underway: https://lichess.org/broadcast/roquetas- ... U/qRE4hwaH

Drawn in 31 moves so a third and final GM norm for Matthew and 10.4 points needed to reach 2500 and claim the title.

Good news, well done Matthew, he's certainly worked hard playing tournaments to get the final norm

[Paul Cooksey]

Good news, looked comfortable today

[Kevin Thurlow]

Yes -good news!

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Excellent news, and I am sure the rating will come with time (you would hope this year!).

Gaining 10 ratings points seems like not a lot, but if someone was (say) trying to achieve a rating rise of, say, 50 points, are there better ways to do this than others? Would you avoid certain types of tournaments? Would you focus on something like 4NCL, or obscure tournaments abroad, or something else entirely? Of course, just playing your own game and trying to increase your rating that way (the 'natural', 'normal' way) is so passé...

I am sure the same thoughts cross the minds of lower-rated players, who set themselves a rating target and then get obsessed with it and their play suffers as a result. Clearly the right approach is to just play the position and the board. Not the rating! But easier said than done.

[Ian Thompson]

Gaining 10 ratings points seems like not a lot, but if someone was (say) trying to achieve a rating rise of, say, 50 points, are there better ways to do this than others? Would you avoid certain types of tournaments? Would you focus on something like 4NCL, or obscure tournaments abroad, or something else entirely? Of course, just playing your own game and trying to increase your rating that way (the 'natural', 'normal' way) is so passé...

You could study this article to try to work out the optimum opponents to play.

One approach I've seen taken when just a few points short of a target is to play in a tournament where you're by far the strongest player and rely on gaining 1.6 points per game. That might only work if you're under 2400 though. Matthew, being over 2400, would only gain 0.8 points per game, so one 9 round tournament wouldn't be enough.

[LawrenceCooper]

Excellent news, and I am sure the rating will come with time (you would hope this year!).

Gaining 10 ratings points seems like not a lot, but if someone was (say) trying to achieve a rating rise of, say, 50 points, are there better ways to do this than others? Would you avoid certain types of tournaments? Would you focus on something like 4NCL, or obscure tournaments abroad, or something else entirely? Of course, just playing your own game and trying to increase your rating that way (the 'natural', 'normal' way) is so passé...

I am sure the same thoughts cross the minds of lower-rated players, who set themselves a rating target and then get obsessed with it and their play suffers as a result. Clearly the right approach is to just play the position and the board. Not the rating! But easier said than done.

Good questions that will be occupying his 4NCL captain's thoughts in the coming weeks and months.

[Roger de Coverly]

Would you focus on something like 4NCL,

The 4NCL has the advantage that to an extent opponents can be hand picked. Opposing captains will sometimes be prepared to offer a suitable opponent.

Bending pairings in Swiss tournaments is now seriously frowned on by FIDE although once common practice in the days of pairing cards.

[NickFaulks]

One approach I've seen taken when just a few points short of a target is to play in a tournament where you're by far the strongest player and rely on gaining 1.6 points per game.

One of my more pleasing accomplishments as QC Chair was to get rid of this abuse by limiting such freebies to one per event. This move was voted through overwhelmingly by the federations.

Perhaps inevitably, a year ago a few small federations who rely on this mechanism to raise the ratings of their top players were able to use their influence within FIDE to get it reinstated.

[Paul Cooksey]

My theory is that consistent players usually find the norms more challenging and rating easier. So I suspect just playing will be enough for Matthew.

That said, I believe we have established playing in Senior events is a good strategy to gain rating. Although Matthew might not be quite that patient.