Grand Chess Tour St Louis Rapid & Blitz

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David Sedgwick
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Location: Croydon

Re: Grand Chess Tour St Louis Rapid & Blitz

Post by David Sedgwick » Thu Aug 16, 2018 3:49 pm

Anthony Taglione wrote:
Thu Aug 16, 2018 1:53 pm
For the four players below Nakamura to leap-frog him in the Sinquefield Cup in the most Naka-unfriendly way possible we'd have: Aronian winning with 20 points; So second with 15 points; Karjakin third with 12 points and MVL fourth with 10 points

Their standings would then be...Aronian 39, So 38, Karjakin 36 and MVL 35. Naka is currently on 33 and would need to score 2 points to qualify for London above MVL, by virtue of his two GCT wins. As such, Naka is in for London unless he comes dead last in the Sinquefield Cup or the four behind him fail to secure their positions in the most Naka-unfriendly order. He's guaranteed at least 1 point more.
From where does that come?

If there is a tie for one or more of the first four places, playoffs will be held.

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Alex Holowczak
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Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 5:18 pm
Location: Oldbury, Worcestershire

Re: Grand Chess Tour St Louis Rapid & Blitz

Post by Alex Holowczak » Thu Aug 16, 2018 4:15 pm

David Sedgwick wrote:
Thu Aug 16, 2018 3:49 pm
If there is a tie for one or more of the first four places, playoffs will be held.
In my opinion, it would have been better and simpler to have a countback system in the event of a tie on GCT points. They use that in a number of sports where there are a series of events that earn points towards an end-of-season points tally. Formula One was the example that immediately came to my mind; although there has never actually been a tie for the Championship.

Tim Harding
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Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 8:46 pm
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Re: Grand Chess Tour St Louis Rapid & Blitz

Post by Tim Harding » Fri Aug 17, 2018 4:32 pm

David Sedgwick wrote:
Thu Aug 16, 2018 3:49 pm
Anthony Taglione wrote:
Thu Aug 16, 2018 1:53 pm
For the four players below Nakamura to leap-frog him in the Sinquefield Cup in the most Naka-unfriendly way possible we'd have: Aronian winning with 20 points; So second with 15 points; Karjakin third with 12 points and MVL fourth with 10 points

Their standings would then be...Aronian 39, So 38, Karjakin 36 and MVL 35. Naka is currently on 33 and would need to score 2 points to qualify for London above MVL, by virtue of his two GCT wins. As such, Naka is in for London unless he comes dead last in the Sinquefield Cup or the four behind him fail to secure their positions in the most Naka-unfriendly order. He's guaranteed at least 1 point more.
From where does that come?
The player who comes last in the Sinquefield Cup get one point. So Hikaru is indeed on minimum 34.
The above calculations are based on the two bonus points available for an outright win, so if Aronian wins the Sinquefield Cup only after a tiebreak he will be on 37 not 39.
Realistically, Nakamura is home unless Magnus fails to finish in the top four.

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Current totals at https://en.chessbase.com/post/saint-lou ... day-5-2018
Tim Harding
Historian and FIDE Arbiter

Author of 'Steinitz in London,' British Chess Literature to 1914', 'Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography', and 'Eminent Victorian Chess Players'
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