2013 British Chess Championships (Torquay)

[Andrew Bak]

I don't think Glenn will win his, 53...Rc2 54.Rd6+ Kf7 55.Rxb6 Rxc4+ 56.Ke5 Rxa4 57.Kd5 looks drawn to me, and I don't see how else he makes progress.

[benedgell]

Owens, Megan R 0.0 WLS 1852 Duff, Rufus 0.0 ENG 2157 ½-½
Girdlestone, Paul C 0.0 ENG 2155 Wang, Maria 0.0 ENG 1817 0-1

are two notable results.

[Joey Stewart]

a 170 beating a 180 - is that such a freak occurrence?

[LawrenceCooper]

a 170 beating a 180 - is that such a freak occurrence?

It is when there's a 338 point difference in FIDE ratings, the lower rated player is black and it's her debut in the British.

[Jonathan Rogers]

Well, very good result, but it is not as though the higher rated (adult) player has any proper business playing in the British at all, let alone the top half. A much bigger deal, in my view, was Radha Jain beating Don Mason with Black last year. Incidentally, where is Radha this year?

[LawrenceCooper]

Well, very good result, but it is not as though the higher rated (adult) player has any proper business playing in the British at all, let alone the top half. A much bigger deal, in my view, was Radha Jain beating Don Mason with Black last year. Incidentally, where is Radha this year?

As far as I'm aware she hasn't played any chess since last year's British but hopefully she'll play again in the future.

[Andrew Bak]

Round 1 Report

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Round 2 pairings are up:

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/BCC/2013 ... rings.html

I wonder what the final clock times will look like in Howell-Rudd...

[Andrew Camp]

Oh, negativity on this forum.

Who would have thought it?

[Joey Stewart]

You are right, it is a bit negative, lets try and turn Things around.

I, for one, was highly impressed by the fighting spirit of the contestants in this first round- very few draws and plenty of exiting games, I don't think anybody copped out and took an early draw actually...

[Dragoljub Sudar]

...but it is not as though the higher rated (adult) player has any proper business playing in the British at all

What on earth is that supposed to mean?

I don't know the player Jonathan is referring to, but if he's qualified for the British then he's perfectly entitled to play, regardless of his grade, as he has earned his place. Less elitism please.

[Ben Purton]

Yeah common Jonathan , Paul is a good player who I've seen at the top of multiple Opens. Not in the British at all is a reach even 15 years ago! Top half is a fair comment.

[LawrenceCooper]

...but it is not as though the higher rated (adult) player has any proper business playing in the British at all

What on earth is that supposed to mean?

I don't know the player Jonathan is referring to, but if he's qualified for the British then he's perfectly entitled to play, regardless of his grade, as he has earned his place. Less elitism please.

He has been graded over 200 three times since July 2010 so if he has no proper business in the British then I suspect that he's not alone

[Andrew Bak]

...but it is not as though the higher rated (adult) player has any proper business playing in the British at all

What on earth is that supposed to mean?

I don't know the player Jonathan is referring to, but if he's qualified for the British then he's perfectly entitled to play, regardless of his grade, as he has earned his place. Less elitism please.

He has been graded over 200 three times since July 2010 so if he has no proper business in the British then I suspect that he's not alone

Don't we have this debate about whether the British should be an APA or a Swiss every year?

[Jonathan Rogers]

...but it is not as though the higher rated (adult) player has any proper business playing in the British at all

What on earth is that supposed to mean?

I don't know the player Jonathan is referring to, but if he's qualified for the British then he's perfectly entitled to play, regardless of his grade, as he has earned his place. Less elitism please.

He has been graded over 200 three times since July 2010 so if he has no proper business in the British then I suspect that he's not alone

Oh, he is definitely not alone!!

But you say it yourself - graded 200 only since 2010. See multiple other threads about grading inflation since 2009. He is an adult and had plenty of opportunities to reach 200 when the grading list had some credibility ....

I did make an elitist comment, I accept. But there it is. There are some of us (see other threads over the years) who still think that playing in the British should be rather special, and if that means only, say, 60 players mostly of genuine (old money) 210+ strength, plus talented juniors and qualifiers from genuinely competitive events, then so be it. It's how it used to be, of course. What exactly was wrong with it, apart from lack of revenue from the untitled players who didn't qualify?