Tradewise Gibraltar Festival 2018

[David Robertson]

A rock must have fallen on Tarjan's head. Hard to explain his final move otherwise in Tarjan - Papp (0-1, 29)

[Tim Harding]

Big reversal in David Howell's favour this evening. Just after the time control, when it looked like he would struggle to survive against Saric, he had some surprising resources. Saric fell headlong into a trap so now Howell & Nakamura (who drew) share the lead on 6/7.
Both will be downfloated tomorrow to the large group on 5.5 points which includes MVL and Aronian (who won a wild game against Nigel Short).
Adams drew and is in the group on 5 points.

[Brian Towers]

Maybe it should be a requirement for the organisers to publish at the start of the tournament the details of which players have been granted half-point (or other) byes and in which rounds? And to update this information as the tournament progresses (this would make clear when people request 'emergency' half-point byes at short notice).

I think you are being a bit hysterical. By the way the information is always available every time the arbiters click the "update Chess-Results" button in Swiss Manager. They obviously need to keep a record of this information and it is uploaded to the web with the pairings and everything else. You just need to know where to look.

[Roger de Coverly]

You just need to know where to look.

That shows up a handful of withdrawals as well as a couple of dummy players, namely

http://www.chess-results.com/tnr301239. ... 21&snr=277
and
http://www.chess-results.com/tnr301239. ... 21&snr=278

They are late in posting pairings for Tuesday in the Masters (23:45 GMT without pairings)

[LawrenceCooper]

They are late in posting pairings for Tuesday in the Masters (23:45 GMT without pairings)

Possibly a problem with chess-results as they still don't show there but can be viewed on the tournament website:

Tuesday 30th January the Masters Round 8 will start at 15:00 regardless of weather conditions & road closures. Please take adequate precautions in order to arrive on time for your game. The default time will be 30 minutes, as usual.
Masters Round 8, Tuesday 30 January, 15.00 CET
Bo. Name Pts Pts Name
1 Wang Hao 5½ 6 Nakamura Hikaru
2 Rapport Richard 5½ 6 Howell David W L
3 Oparin Grigoriy 5½ 5½ Aronian Levon
4 Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 5½ 5½ Moussard Jules
5 Dubov Daniil 5½ 5½ Antipov Mikhail Al.
6 Tregubov Pavel V. 5 5 Navara David
7 Vitiugov Nikita 5 5 Gledura Benjamin
8 Gupta Abhijeet 5 5 Ivanchuk Vassily
9 Narayanan S. L. 5 5 Duda Jan-Krzysztof
10 Adams Michael 5 5 Sandipan Chanda
11 Ju Wenjun 5 5 Gelfand Boris
12 Sutovsky Emil 5 5 Vocaturo Daniele
13 Saric Ivan 5 5 Epishin Vladimir
14 Esipenko Andrey 5 5 Akobian Varuzhan
15 Lagno Kateryna 5 5 Grandelius Nils
16 Sethuraman S.P. 5 5 Praggnanandhaa R
17 Deac Bogdan-Daniel 5 4½ Motylev Alexander
18 Mikhalevski Victor 4½ 4½ Harikrishna P.
19 Dvirnyy Danyyil 4½ 4½ Le Quang Liem
20 Cheparinov Ivan 4½ 4½ Lalith Babu M R
21 Short Nigel D 4½ 4½ Swapnil S. Dhopade
22 Lei Tingjie 4½ 4½ Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo
23 Bosiocic Marin 4½ 4½ Antal Gergely
24 Nihal Sarin 4½ 4½ Georgiev Kiril
25 Papp Gabor 4½ 4½ Batsiashvili Nino
26 Bindrich Falko 4½ 4½ Goryachkina Aleksandra
27 Steinberg Nitzan 4½ 4½ Svane Rasmus
28 Debashis Das 4½ 4½ Buhmann Rainer
29 Donchenko Alexander 4½ 4½ Kobo Ori
30 Muzychuk Anna 4½ 4½ Venkatesh M.R.
31 Grigoriants Sergey 4½ 4½ Dragnev Valentin
32 Huzman Alexander 4½ 4½ Henderson De La Fuente Lance
33 Cuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando 4½ 4½ Peralta Fernando
34 Vasquez Schroeder Rodrigo 4½ 4½ Bakalchuk Johnatan
35 Prithu Gupta 4½ 4½ Michalik Peter
36 Paehtz Thomas 4½ 4½ Perez Ponsa Federico
37 Cramling Pia 4½ 4½ Pichot Alan
38 Kaidanov Gregory 4½ 4½ Paramzina Anastasya
39 Gopal G.N. 4 4 Ladron De Guevara Pinto Paolo
40 Wemmers Xander 4 4 Huschenbeth Niclas
41 Kosteniuk Alexandra 4 4 Martinez Martin David
42 Sonis Francesco 4 4 Baron Tal
43 Solomon Kenny 4 4 Moroni Luca Jr
44 Muzychuk Mariya 4 4 Batchimeg Tuvshintugs
45 Santos Ruiz Miguel 4 4 Kozak Adam
46 Kollars Dmitrij 4 4 Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh
47 Wallace John Paul 4 4 Gunina Valentina
48 Mkrtchian Lilit 4 4 Gagare Shardul
49 Haria Ravi 4 4 Christiansen Johan-Sebastian
50 Khotenashvili Bela 4 4 Hemant Sharma (Del)
51 Xu Yi 4 4 Sadhwani Raunak
52 Lazarne Vajda Szidonia 4 4 Zanan Evgeny
53 Bjerre Jonas Buhl 4 4 Saduakassova Dinara
54 Larino Nieto David 4 4 Mohota Nisha
55 Paehtz Elisabeth 4 4 Yoo Christopher Woojin
56 Perez Garcia Alejandro 4 4 Lou Yiping
57 Bellon Lopez Juan Manuel 4 4 Prasanna Raghuram Rao
58 Movileanu Daniela 4 4 Grinberg Eyal
59 De Haan Eric 4 4 Esserman Marc
60 Banusz Tamas 3½ 3½ Gara Anita
61 Libiszewski Fabien 3½ 3½ Lombaers Peter
62 Dzagnidze Nana 3½ 3½ Lopez Mulet Inigo
63 Blomqvist Erik 3½ 3½ Goriatchkin Jouri
64 Devereaux Maxim L 3½ 3½ Bellahcene Bilel
65 Blohberger Felix 3½ 3½ Suarez Gomez Julio
66 Renman Nils-Gustaf 3½ 3½ Salomon Johan
67 Gandrud Vegar Koi 3½ 3½ Yankelevich Lev
68 Cawdery Daniel 3½ 3½ Bliumberg Vladislav
69 Gara Ticia 3½ 3½ Zhukova Natalia
70 Padmini Rout 3½ 3½ Gavrilescu David
71 Perez Garcia Rodney Oscar 3½ 3½ Tarjan James
72 Merario Alarcon Andres 3½ 3½ Swayams Mishra
73 Gaehwiler Gabriel 3½ 3½ Antova Gabriela
74 Raja Harshit 3½ 3½ Gavilan Diaz Mario
75 Mannion Stephen R 3½ 3½ Vega Gutierrez Sabrina
76 Perez Flavio 3½ 3½ Pigott John C
77 Serarols Mabras Bernat 3½ 3½ Keymer Vincent
78 Melia Salome 3½ 3½ Oglaza Oskar
79 Hoolt Sarah 3½ 3½ Berrocal Ruiz Valentin
80 Sukandar Irine Kharisma 3½ 3½ Nandhidhaa Pv
81 Reuben Stewart *) ½ ½ Bullock Lee
82 Richards Heather S 3½ 3½ Erenberg Ariel
83 Sahl Sheila Barth 3½ 3½ Stark Lars
84 Anton Guijarro David 3 3 Maisuradze Nino
85 Kvisla Johannes Luangtep 3 3 Stefanova Antoaneta
86 Almagro Llamas Pablo 3 3 Barthel Ansgar
87 Estrada Nieto Julian 3 3 Studer Noel
88 Longa Yauca Javier 3 3 Cernousek Lukas
89 Gonzalez Gonzalez Alfonso 3 3 Akesson Ralf
90 Docx Stefan 3 3 Verneuil Pascal
91 Bendayan Claros Aaron 3 3 Shachar Ehud
92 Tate Alan 3 3 Pein Jonathan
93 Guthrie David 3 3 Bellin Robert
94 Pabalan Rocky 3 3 Jessel Stephen
95 Janiszewski Maciej 3 3 Papp Petra
96 Garcia Martin Marta 3 3 Maloberti David
97 De Francesco Klaus 3 3 Barrenechea Bahamonde Gustavo
98 Bergstrom Rolf 3 3 Spence David J
99 Heinemann Josefine 3 3 Hapala Elisabeth
100 Meszaros Andras 3 3 Cholleti Sahajasri
101 Lercel Michal 3 3 Cherigui Mourad
102 Plotkin Victor 3 3 Tejaswini Sagar
103 Roman Lopez Jesus 3 2½ Horvath Dominik
104 Byron Alan M 2½ 2½ Rapport Jovana
105 Midonet Matthieu 2½ 2½ Osuna Vega Enrique
106 Dasaolu Rotimi 2½ 2½ Semprun Martinez Fernando
107 Van Zyl-Rudd Jack 2½ 2½ Arroyo Rodriguez Jesus
108 Weisbuch Udi 2½ 2½ Coleman David J
109 Avila Fraire Ameyalli 2½ 2½ Baert Andy
110 Bopp Thomas Dr. 2½ 2½ Marder Simon
111 Bryant Richard B E 2½ 2½ Ranaivoharisoa Alain
112 Herzwurm Robert 2½ 2½ Bozinovic Boban
113 Cramling Bellon Anna 2½ 2½ Villar Reymundo Juan Antonio
114 Stewart Ashley 2½ 2½ Suez-Panama Gilles
115 Smith Andrew Philip 2½ 2½ Sajjadi Kimiya
116 Povah Nigel E 2 2 Sanjuan Garcia Miguel
117 Safarian Alek 2 2 Walton Alan J
118 Wilson Matthew R *) 2 2 Hewson Brian W R
119 Pinho Paulo 2 2 Burke Mitchell R
120 Gagare Shalmali 2 2 Barraza Caracuel Ignacio
121 Adewole Adeyinka 2 2 Lochte Thomas
122 Vilarnovo Caamano Jose 2 2 Makka Ioulia
123 De Graaf Dick 2 2 Van De Groep William
124 Ansari Athar 2 2 Veltkamp Gerben
125 Bjerre Tavs 2 2 Chibnall Alana
126 Kozarcanin Sead 2 2 Obiamiwe Paul
127 Hamer Martyn 2 2 Lochte Szilvia
128 Mayank Pal 2 1½ Bolt Graham
129 Odeh Kenneth 1½ 1½ Compton Alistair
130 Biegel Thomas 1½ 1½ Mozelius Peter
131 Gravett Alan D 1½ 1½ Dev Shah
132 Gillis Onieva Celia 1½ 1½ Helin Mikael
133 Francois-Haugrin Said 1 1 Edvardsen Ragnar
134 Yilmaz Kazim 1 1 Klementys Jerzy
135 Edouard Romain 4 0 -
136 Ibarra Jerez Jose Carlos 3½ 0 -
137 Quillan Gary 3½ 0 -
138 Sanchez Jerez Emilio Miguel 2 0 -
139 Schwartz Ylon 0 0 -
140 Mifsud T. ½ 0 -
141 Redondo Flores David 1½ 0 -
142 Opasiak Dustin Tennessee 1½ 0

[NickFaulks]

I think you are being a bit hysterical.

That's a harsh description of someone who merely wishes to know what the rules are. I must say that I thought by now one of the people who do know would have told us.

[Roger de Coverly]

I must say that I thought by now one of the people who do know would have told us.

It's in the description of the Masters tournament.

https://www.gibchess.com/masters

Players who wish to take up to two half-point byes in rounds 1-7 of the Masters may do so, provided they give adequate notice, but the second requested bye makes a player ineligible for a prize. No player may request a bye in the last three rounds.

They don't define adequate notice though.

The rule about taking two byes and not winning a prize is a good one and should be used in British weekend tournaments.

[NickFaulks]

https://www.gibchess.com/masters

Players who wish to take up to two half-point byes in rounds 1-7 of the Masters may do so, provided they give adequate notice, but the second requested bye makes a player ineligible for a prize. No player may request a bye in the last three rounds.

I've already quoted that

They don't define adequate notice though.

and said that. Our knowledge is not progressing.

[Brian Towers]

I think you are being a bit hysterical.

That's a harsh description of someone who merely wishes to know what the rules are.

If you take the trouble to read my post you will see that my "hysterical" remark refers not to his request to know what the rules are but to his request for full disclosure as soon as possible of all half point byes. I pointed out that this is already the default position for tournaments where Swiss Manager is used (i.e. the vast majority).

I must say that I thought by now one of the people who do know would have told us.

Again sufficient information is in the public domain, this time on the FIDE website.

8.3 Swisses
(4) In an L2, L3 or L4 tournament the rules may permit a player to take a half point bye in a given round. It is only allowed if adequate notice has been given and is agreed to by the arbiter.
Such permission might not be granted to a player who receives conditions, or who has been given a free entry to the tournament. It is not permitted in the last round of a tournament.

Note that Gibraltar is an L2 event - an event where norms are possible.

"Adequate notice" is, quite rightly, at the discretion of the arbiter and will depend on the circumstances. Further guidance is given by -

8.3 Swisses
(2) If a player cannot play a particular round it is essential to inform the Pairings Controller and CA before the pairings for that round are made.

So, if you want a half point bye in the next round for a day's sightseeing or because you're tired after a long hard game then tell the arbiter before he does the next round draw to avoid disappointment. Changing the pairings after they've been published is obviously physically much easier in these days of computer pairings but is highly undesirable and is only going to happen in exceptional circumstances in an L2 event, say a sudden outbreak of novovirus. In L3 events (bog standard FIDE rated) and L4 (not FIDE rated) you may be lucky.

[NickFaulks]

We now have some idea of what the rule would be if the CA in Gibraltar were Brian Towers. Fascinating as always, but it would still be nice to know what the rule actually is.

[Tim Harding]

Everyone on the top five boards is still a potential winner of the tournament, with MVL and Aronian probably hoping to get a shot at Nakamura in the last two rounds.

The race for the £15,000 top woman's prize is led by Ju Wenjun and Kateryna Lagno on 5 points, with chasers on 4.5.

[Tim Harding]

Aronian blitzed to a perpetual against Oparin.

[Tim Harding]

Gupta won with a brilliancy against Ivanchuk; interview coming up at 1535 GMT.

[Tim Harding]

Nakamura's board seems to have frozen. He played 13...Qg6 ages ago.
LATER: it's working again and Wang Hao spent nearly 40 minutes on his reply.

[David Robertson]

Two R8 master classes worth playing through, just superbly controlled crushes - aided by errors, as ever, but still most impressive

Vitiugov - Gledura

Ju Wenjun - Gelfand