English Chess Forum

Leading sports betting exchange 'Betfair' have installed a market on the 2009 British Championship.

This means that anybody over 18 can go on-line and bet for(back) or against(lay) any of the players winning the Championship.

The market is ''in-play'' for the entire duration of the event,so that for example you can bet while watching the games live(with Rybka turned on of course!).

Interesting prices include Howell 3.25; Hebden 24(good value IMHO);Trent 32;Conquest 7 and Williams 14(nice price there).

The simplest way to explain these prices is to deduct 1 point. That 1 becomes your stake and what is left is your potential winnings;so for example if you back Howell at 3.25 you are in effect betting 1 v 2.25(or eg a pound against 2 pounds 25p),or if you bet on Trent at 32 you risk a pound to win 31 pounds. Of course these prices will change during the course of the event,and you are not obliged to take the price on offer,you can instead make your own offer,or put up a ''lay'' in the hope that someone will accept it.

Exciting stuff,but probably those of us who are actually playing shouldn't get too involved!

Classic!!!!!!!!

You have to respect Betfair, for putting up this market. Ive asked for sub markets. after the nakamura backing last week they might do it because a chess market turned over 200000£ which @ 5% meant betfair got enough.

Ben

Keith,

I am willing to bet (and this will be my first one since my dawn of time) £10,000 that you will draw all eleven games and, if you do, you can have £5,000 of my winnings. Is that legal?

J.

The penny has just dropped! So all I need to do is offer everyone a draw,hope they accept,and walk away with 5k....the only thing is first prize isn't 5k it's 6.5k(it includes 1.5K for the top English player)

I wonder what odds you would get on a Hebdon Double, Scottish and British?

I would price him at 6:4 to win in Scotland ( or 2.5 in Betfair speak). So that would make his price for the double about 58

Keith Arkell wrote:so for example if you back Howell at 3.25 you are in effect betting 1 v 2.25

Or what we used to call 9/4, correct?

JustinHorton wrote: Or what we used to call 9/4, correct?

Yes, and 1.02 means that some joker is offering odds of 50/1 on that quite a few named players will win the event!

so who everybody tip this year for the championship? there seems to be a few bets going on keith tips i noticed on betfair! .

Steve Gordon NAP!

You have to make Howell the favourite. He's the strongest rapidplay in the tournament by a long way (at least, according to the grades). He'll back himself in a playoff under rapidplay conditions. So he only has to tie for 1st, and the odds are in his favour in the playoff. Add to that the fact that he's the highest rated player in the tournament, and the most rapidly improving (by all accounts), I think he's very likely to take the title.

I said in another post that Simon Williams would e a good each way bet (I say each-way because Howell looks like a strong favourite and seems to have a good record against Williams to boot).

Of course there are up to ten others who might finish in the top two instead. Not much point in going through each of them. But 14-1 on Williams looks generous, especially if he can have three Whites in the second week.

Howell might run away with it the way he did at the British Rapidplay

If not, I would suggest Williams and Arkell will be the best bets

Keith won a clock simul 7-0 on Tuesday night, beating Ben Hague and Alan Walton quickly in the process - he was in good humour when we were out on Sunday night (even before we got the meal and drinks for free) and he's confident too

Is the money on the British, and/or English, titles?

I hope Stephen Gordon does well too

Don't care about the odds, I hope Keith wins. He deserves it. He must be the best advocate for English chess for the last 25 years.