British Chess Championships 2010

Discuss anything you like about chess related matters in this forum.
User avatar
Joey Stewart
Posts: 1860
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 2:35 pm
Location: All Of Them
Contact:

Re: British Chess Championships 2010

Post by Joey Stewart » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:02 am

I like the idea of making people prove themselves against relentless good opposition if they are to deserve a win.

What caught me most of all was some players on 1 were playing opponents on 0- i didnt think that was supposed to happen at this stage?
Lose one queen and it is a disaster, Lose 1000 queens and it is just a statistic.

Eoin Devane
Posts: 517
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2009 5:21 pm
Location: Cambridge

Re: British Chess Championships 2010

Post by Eoin Devane » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:09 am

Thanks for the explanation Stewart. Sadly I don't have my copy of "Chess Organiser's Handbook" here in Oxford with me, as I dare say you have something to say on the topic in that. Wikipedia will have to do. :(

Phil Makepeace
Posts: 336
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2007 12:46 pm

Re: British Chess Championships 2010

Post by Phil Makepeace » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:45 am

I'm in a sombre mood in today's blog post.

Eoin Devane
Posts: 517
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2009 5:21 pm
Location: Cambridge

Re: British Chess Championships 2010

Post by Eoin Devane » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:56 am

Phil Makepeace wrote:I'm in a sombre mood in today's blog post.
A draw is a solid start - at least you're off the mark. I suppose the million dollar question now is just how far you can creep up the leaderboard. :wink:

Alan Walton
Posts: 1394
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 8:33 pm
Location: Oldham

Re: British Chess Championships 2010

Post by Alan Walton » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:58 am

Joey Stewart wrote:(I dont really like to call them 'weak' since almost all of them are quite strong by normal standards)?
Joey,

The players aren't neccesarily "weak", but u2200 are weak in this type of tournament normally, and with acceleration ensures that these players will eventually play to their exact rating level

Personally being a player who hovers around the 2200 level, i consider myself weak when playing these type of tournaments

David Sedgwick
Posts: 5249
Joined: Mon Apr 09, 2007 5:56 pm
Location: Croydon
Contact:

Re: British Chess Championships 2010

Post by David Sedgwick » Tue Jul 27, 2010 9:48 am

Joey Stewart wrote:What caught me most of all was some players on 1 were playing opponents on 0- i didnt think that was supposed to happen at this stage?
It is definitely supposed to happen with accelerated pairings. The basic principle is that players in the bottom half who won play players in the top half who drew or lost. As Stewart R indicates, the exact system being used is a little more complicated than that.

Alex McFarlane
Posts: 1757
Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2008 8:52 pm

Re: British Chess Championships 2010

Post by Alex McFarlane » Tue Jul 27, 2010 11:24 am

David Sedgwick wrote:It is definitely supposed to happen with accelerated pairings. The basic principle is that players in the bottom half who won play players in the top half who drew or lost. As Stewart R indicates, the exact system being used is a little more complicated than that.
It is MUCH more complicated than that :? :?

Richard Bates
Posts: 3338
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2008 8:27 pm

Re: British Chess Championships 2010

Post by Richard Bates » Tue Jul 27, 2010 11:59 am

Clearly somewhat fortunate for a lot of us that the electronic boards weren't working past board 6!

Danny Gormally wins after opponent allowed a mate in 2 when a piece up for nothing. Keith leaves his Queen en pris to a pawn capture. And I'm reminded that winging it as black in open sicilians is fraught with danger, and generally just plain stupid :(

Stewart Reuben
Posts: 4542
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:04 pm
Location: writer

Re: British Chess Championships 2010

Post by Stewart Reuben » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:14 pm

Alex McFarlane >It is MUCH more complicated than that<

And that, I suspect, is another reason arbiters prefer the system. It is more 'meaty' than any standard top half v second half system. Also it is not computerised. I remember Eric Croker, who no longer does arbiting work, saying that if Swisses became computerised, he would cease to be an arbiter as that was the most fun of the job.
I am pretty sure that is not the reason I introduced the system, but motives are difficult to remember after 43 years. I do remember that publishing pairings for 250 players 30 minutes after a round finished was not a problem. At the British they have more time and sensibly do many checks. I don't think they do what I prefer, which is to have two independent people (or teams) working out the same pairings and then comparing. In Roumania my staff were very bemused that I checked up the computer pairings mechanically for a system that had never before been used.

Stewart Reuben

Eoin Devane
Posts: 517
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2009 5:21 pm
Location: Cambridge

Re: British Chess Championships 2010

Post by Eoin Devane » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:16 pm

Richard Bates wrote:Danny Gormally wins after opponent allowed a mate in 2 when a piece up for nothing. Keith leaves his Queen en pris to a pawn capture. And I'm reminded that winging it as black in open sicilians is fraught with danger, and generally just plain stupid :(
Sounds like I'd fit right in!

Matthew Turner
Posts: 3600
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 11:54 am

Re: British Chess Championships 2010

Post by Matthew Turner » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:17 pm

What an idiot Mr. Croker must be, it is more important for the arbiter to have fun than do the job competently??

Kevin Thurlow
Posts: 5821
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:28 pm

Re: British Chess Championships 2010

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:18 pm

"The players aren't neccesarily "weak", but u2200 are weak in this type of tournament normally"

The one time I played, I was rated 2205, and seeded about 75th out of 83! That was probably an exceptional year...
"Kevin was the arbiter and was very patient. " Nick Grey

Matthew Turner
Posts: 3600
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 11:54 am

Re: British Chess Championships 2010

Post by Matthew Turner » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:24 pm

I have tried downloading the games from round 1, but there were no moves. Are other people having the same problem, or is it just me?

Eoin Devane
Posts: 517
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2009 5:21 pm
Location: Cambridge

Re: British Chess Championships 2010

Post by Eoin Devane » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:29 pm

Matthew Turner wrote:I have tried downloading the games from round 1, but there were no moves. Are other people having the same problem, or is it just me?
Yes - I have the same issue. Even for the games that were transmitted live.

User avatar
Wilf Arnold
Posts: 91
Joined: Sun May 31, 2009 9:36 pm
Location: Munich
Contact:

Re: British Chess Championships 2010

Post by Wilf Arnold » Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:31 pm

Eoin Devane wrote:
Matthew Turner wrote:I have tried downloading the games from round 1, but there were no moves. Are other people having the same problem, or is it just me?
Yes - I have the same issue. Even for the games that were transmitted live.
You need to download the file from the PGN files page - it is called bc2010r1.pgn - this has the moves in it - including the correct end to Simon Williams' game yesterday

Post Reply