Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2017

[Roger de Coverly]

I'm not yet seeing though why a limit on the number of FF pairings shouldn't be possible if deemed desirable.

It would be plausible, although to implement it would require well defined changes to the deterministic pairing methods. Alternatively you allow the arbiters to make it up as they go along. Personally I would have thought that if you have a separate championship or prize for the best female player, that you should favour FF pairings rather than restrict them.

[Paul Cooksey]

I though the allegation was manipulation, but having rewatched the interview I suppose Justin's interpretation could be correct. Most other commentators seem to be assuming "unfair" meant the former though.

Personally I wouldn't have thought much less of Hou Yifan if she had refused to play in the last round, even if it turned out her protest not well founded in fact. But deliberately playing bad moves is much worse in my opinion. Maybe not quite as bad as Nakamura's j'adoube in the candidates. But something in the same category that I will probably associate with her for her whole career.

[JustinHorton]

Not within a country mile of Nakamura in my view. Openly losing is unprofessional, but it's not trying to cheat.

[Paul Cooksey]

Deliberately losing is unethical IMO. Not as bad as cheating, sure. But closer to that than, say, turning up to play hungover isn't it?

[Joshua Gibbs]

Deliberately losing is unethical IMO. Not as bad as cheating, sure. But closer to that than, say, turning up to play hungover isn't it?

I'm very surprised people haven't raised the idea of match fixing, that was what was originally on my mind!

[Barry Sandercock]

I would think, whatever the pairings, the main thing is to play to win.

[Joshua Gibbs]

I would think, whatever the pairings, the main thing is to play to win.

Unless you are betting against yourself.

[David Sedgwick]

I'm very surprised people haven't raised the idea of match fixing, that was what was originally on my mind!

In that case It's a great pity that you didn't keep your thoughts to yourself.

Your suggestion is highly defamatory of Hou Yifan's opponent, GM Babu Lalith of India.

[Chris Rice]

Deliberately losing is unethical IMO. Not as bad as cheating, sure. But closer to that than, say, turning up to play hungover isn't it?

I'm very surprised people haven't raised the idea of match fixing, that was what was originally on my mind!

It certainly is a fine line, she definitely threw the game but not for any financial or any other kind of benefit as far as I can see. Certainly Babu Lalith had no part in it. In other sports such as horse riding I would imagine such an action would result in perhaps fines and suspensions. The nearest incident I can find to this is a football match in Madagascar in 2002. This turned out to be the most lopsided professional football match in history as AS Adema won 149–0 against SO l'Emyrne. This was a result of SO l'Emyrne intentionally losing the game in protest against the referee's action in a previous game. Season long bans and warnings not to do it again were the order of the day by the Madagascar FA.

[Joshua Gibbs]

Deliberately losing is unethical IMO. Not as bad as cheating, sure. But closer to that than, say, turning up to play hungover isn't it?

I'm very surprised people haven't raised the idea of match fixing, that was what was originally on my mind!

It certainly is a fine line, she definitely threw the game but not for any financial or any other kind of benefit as far as I can see. Certainly Babu Lalith had no part in it. In other sports such as horse riding I would imagine such an action would result in perhaps fines and suspensions. The nearest incident I can find to this is a football match in Madagascar in 2002. This turned out to be the most lopsided professional football match in history as AS Adema won 149–0 against SO l'Emyrne. This was a result of SO l'Emyrne intentionally losing the game in protest against the referee's action in a previous game. Season long bans and warnings not to do it again were the order of the day by the Madagascar FA.

she could easily have bet against herself!

[IM Jack Rudd]

Match-fixing is one hypothesis, but it's easy enough to disprove: the players in question would gain far more by fixing a Hou Yifan win than they would by fixing a Babu Lalith win - Babu Lalith is a GM already, so there's no norm at stake, and there would be much more prize money for them as a pair if Hou Yifan won and tied for the first women's prize.

[Joshua Gibbs]

Match-fixing is one hypothesis, but it's easy enough to disprove: the players in question would gain far more by fixing a Hou Yifan win than they would by fixing a Babu Lalith win - Babu Lalith is a GM already, so there's no norm at stake, and there would be much more prize money for them as a pair if Hou Yifan won and tied for the first women's prize.

what if backers in the far east bet a million pounds against her to lose against him?

[Ian Thompson]

Match-fixing is one hypothesis, but it's easy enough to disprove: the players in question would gain far more by fixing a Hou Yifan win than they would by fixing a Babu Lalith win - Babu Lalith is a GM already, so there's no norm at stake, and there would be much more prize money for them as a pair if Hou Yifan won and tied for the first women's prize.

what if backers in the far east bet a million pounds against her to lose against him?

If you were going to deliberately lose a game for that reason you wouldn't play some of the worst moves possible and then resign after 5 moves. You'd much more likely play 20 or 30 reasonable moves and then 'accidentally' play a serious blunder so you could resign.

[Alex Holowczak]

Personally I think I'm very much in favour of applying the rules as agreed at the outset of a tournament.

What a novel idea - it won't catch on.

[Chris Rice]

Jovanka Houska made some really interesting comments this morning (via FB) and its hard not to agree with them and put this matter to rest:

"Now it's all been verified that the pairings were correct,I think that Hou should make an official apology to the organisers (and to her opponent for keeping him waiting for 25 minutes).

Whilst I admire the strength of her convictions, she sacrificed a lot of money to make her point. I do think she should have fact checked with an arbiter before she made her point. I actually didnt realise how easy this is to do!

Hou also didn't turn up for her prize at the closing dinner which really didn't go down well. It wasn't fair to the people who had put so much energy and effort into making the tournament special. I also hope everyone can move on from this and remember the chess heroes of the tournament David Anton, Hikaru and Ju Wenjun.

On a separate note, Hou has really has been a wonderful role model for girls and women so I hope that commentators won't be too hard on her."