Hastings International Chess 29 Dec 2014 - 6 January 2015

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Hastings International Chess 29 Dec 2014 - 6 January 201

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Wed Jan 07, 2015 6:44 pm

This discussion makes one wonder - who has come closest to achieving the GM title without actually doing so?
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Re: Hastings International Chess 29 Dec 2014 - 6 January 201

Post by Alex Holowczak » Wed Jan 07, 2015 7:03 pm

Matt Mackenzie wrote:This discussion makes one wonder - who has come closest to achieving the GM title without actually doing so?
I think this depends on how you define "closest".

Jonathan Hawkins had the norms and the rating, the problem was that all of his norms were made outside of the foreigner requirement; and one of them needs to be made in accordance with the rules.

Is being out by 1 foreigner in a valid norm closer than 1 rating point out in TPR that would otherwise be a norm?

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Paolo Casaschi
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Re: Hastings International Chess 29 Dec 2014 - 6 January 201

Post by Paolo Casaschi » Wed Jan 07, 2015 7:10 pm

David Sedgwick wrote:
Alex McFarlane wrote:Gudmunder Kjartansson needs 2/2 v 2524 rated opponent in rd 9
Christopher Kreuzer wrote:However, he played Mark Hebden (2523) in the final round. Does that mean that Kjartansson missed out on a GM norm by one rating point and the overall TPR (even raising the rating of the lowest-rated player) fell agonisingly short? :?
NickFaulks wrote:It does look one rating point short to me. Pity, because he's just come off another very unlucky miss.
LawrenceCooper wrote:I believe that the average is 2379.44 but one more rating point would take the average to 2379.55 and therefore sufficient to be rounded up to 2380.
All the above posters are correct, sadly.
If I remember correctly, FIDE used to consider (and approve) title applications with such results missed by a small margin, especially when combined with other norms exceeding the requirement or with higher than required Elo. Unless this changed, there is still hope this might be used by Kjartansson (provided his federation is up for it); still it does not help at this moment the Hastings congress to boast norm level results.

Roger de Coverly
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Re: Hastings International Chess 29 Dec 2014 - 6 January 201

Post by Roger de Coverly » Thu Jan 08, 2015 12:45 am

The SCCU website reports that Keith Arkell and Jonathan Hawkins share the 2014-15 SCCU title awarded at the Hastings Masters. I was aware that Jonathan had moved "south" as confirmed by the ecfgrading site which has a Hendon connection. Keith plays everywhere, but no SCCU eligibility is immediately apparent.

http://www.sccu.ndo.co.uk/new.htm

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Re: Hastings International Chess 29 Dec 2014 - 6 January 201

Post by Chris Rice » Thu Jan 08, 2015 4:45 am

Great pictorial report on ChessBase which includes pictures of all the leading players. One other thing I did notice was Theo Slade's remarkable gain of 113 Elo. http://en.chessbase.com/post/zhao-jun-b ... s-congress

E Michael White
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Re: Hastings International Chess 29 Dec 2014 - 6 January 201

Post by E Michael White » Thu Jan 08, 2015 10:20 am

The Tournament Website shows:-

GM Jonathan Hawkins ENG with a start grade of 2552, a Tournament TPR of 2549 and a (W-We) of +0.16.

So a performance less than his current rating will result in an increase to that rating. This is unusual but not completely unexpected considering the way these things are calculated.

Edit. now if a junior with k=40 had hit this anomaly ..... see next post by RdeC.
Last edited by E Michael White on Thu Jan 08, 2015 10:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

Roger de Coverly
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Re: Hastings International Chess 29 Dec 2014 - 6 January 201

Post by Roger de Coverly » Thu Jan 08, 2015 10:23 am

Chris Rice wrote: One other thing I did notice was Theo Slade's remarkable gain of 113 Elo.
That shows the positive side of the K=40 rule as it brings his FIDE rating to within 50 points of his converted August 2014 ECF. The negative side is shown by the effect on any Junior who appeared to have a poor tournament and lost around 80 points.

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Re: Hastings International Chess 29 Dec 2014 - 6 January 201

Post by David Sedgwick » Thu Jan 08, 2015 11:49 am

Roger de Coverly wrote:The SCCU website reports that Keith Arkell and Jonathan Hawkins share the 2014-15 SCCU title awarded at the Hastings Masters. I was aware that Jonathan had moved "south" as confirmed by the ecfgrading site which has a Hendon connection. Keith plays everywhere, but no SCCU eligibility is immediately apparent.
He plays for Drunken Knights Surrey in the Border League when available. It's two or three years since he last did so, but he assured me that he remains a current member. On this basis the SCCU confirmed his eligibility.

Whether this should be a sufficient criterion to be eligible for the SCCU Championship is in my opinion doubtful. However, the Executive Committee recently reviewed the issue and decided to retain the status quo.

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Re: Hastings International Chess 29 Dec 2014 - 6 January 201

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Thu Jan 08, 2015 12:09 pm

"On this basis the SCCU confirmed his eligibility."

Keith likes a challenge - so here's one. How many different "Union" titles can he win in a year!?

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IM Jack Rudd
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Re: Hastings International Chess 29 Dec 2014 - 6 January 201

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Thu Jan 08, 2015 1:17 pm

Birth in MCCU and current residency in WECU gives him another two. In fact, I think he may now have lived in Paignton for so long that he's permanently eligible for the WECU title.

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Re: Hastings International Chess 29 Dec 2014 - 6 January 201

Post by NickFaulks » Thu Jan 08, 2015 1:49 pm

Paolo Casaschi wrote: If I remember correctly, FIDE used to consider (and approve) title applications with such results missed by a small margin, especially when combined with other norms exceeding the requirement or with higher than required Elo.
I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the days when a title could be gained on the back of a near miss and a bit of political horse-trading are gone, hopefully forever.
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Re: Hastings International Chess 29 Dec 2014 - 6 January 201

Post by Mick Norris » Thu Jan 08, 2015 2:27 pm

IM Jack Rudd wrote:Birth in MCCU and current residency in WECU gives him another two. In fact, I think he may now have lived in Paignton for so long that he's permanently eligible for the WECU title.
Keith plays for Marple in the Manchester League, which makes him MCCU eligible in any event

He used to play for Heywood, which would have made him NCCU eligible
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Re: Hastings International Chess 29 Dec 2014 - 6 January 201

Post by Richard Haddrell » Thu Jan 08, 2015 4:31 pm

Mick Norris wrote:
IM Jack Rudd wrote:
Kevin Thurlow wrote:How many different "Union" titles can [Keith Arkell] win in a year!?
Birth in MCCU and current residency in WECU gives him another two. In fact, I think he may now have lived in Paignton for so long that he's permanently eligible for the WECU title.
...He used to play for Heywood, which would have made him NCCU eligible
Let's hear from the EACU. I don't know the qualification rules of any Union other than SCCU, but I agree with David Sedgwick in thinking the SCCU ones due for an overhaul. The big reason is that they shouldn't unquestioningly follow the ECF's County Championship rules, which Home Directors can change on a whim every year.

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Re: Hastings International Chess 29 Dec 2014 - 6 January 201

Post by Richard Bates » Thu Jan 08, 2015 6:05 pm

:mrgreen:
NickFaulks wrote:
Paolo Casaschi wrote: If I remember correctly, FIDE used to consider (and approve) title applications with such results missed by a small margin, especially when combined with other norms exceeding the requirement or with higher than required Elo.
I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the days when a title could be gained on the back of a near miss and a bit of political horse-trading are gone, hopefully forever.
Perhaps ironically, twenty years ago he wouldn't have needed the help! He would (i think) have had a (category) norm anyway. What's more it would have been of more value than the (performance) norm that he just missed out on!

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