British Championship Congress 2022

[Geoff Chandler]

It is showing Justin drew in 6 moves (the Swiss Gambit!) good idea.
Sit on the beach whilst the rest tire themselves out.

Edit...more moves are appearing...slowly.

2nd Edit the ½-½ has now gone.

Electronic teething problems for round one. Or the arbiter pulled Justin off
the beach and told him he had to make more than six moves.

[Matt Bridgeman]

I can tell you it's three years since I last played a proper game of chess, which feels like less than adequate preparation right now

Given that, how did you get to qualify to take part? Just curious.

Good result in Paignton 2019.
https://www.britishchesschampionships.c ... ualifiers/

[Richard Bates]

It is showing Justin drew in 6 moves (the Swiss Gambit!) good idea.
Sit on the beach whilst the rest tire themselves out.

Edit...more moves are appearing...slowly.

2nd Edit the ½-½ has now gone.

Electronic teething problems for round one. Or the arbiter pulled Justin off
the beach and told him he had to make more than six moves.

The reality seems to have been far more embarrassing…

[JustinHorton]

I can tell you it's three years since I last played a proper game of chess, which feels like less than adequate preparation right now

Given that, how did you get to qualify to take part? Just curious.

I came second at Paignton in September 2019.

I came second today and all.

[David Sedgwick]

I came second today and all.

Bad luck Justin.

I found it difficult to get back to OTB after the pandemic, although so far I haven't had an experience like that since before the pandemic.

At least the S&B blog, with a certain column, is no more.

[IM Jack Rudd]

I can tell you it's three years since I last played a proper game of chess, which feels like less than adequate preparation right now

Given that, how did you get to qualify to take part? Just curious.

Runner-up at Paignton 2019 (the winner, Keith Arkell, was already qualified).

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Richard,

Yeah...just saw it.

Hi Justin,

A one move slip in a drawish position. Eddie Perry tried to console me after I made
a similar one move blunder and resigns with words like, you are good enough to know
when you are losing, At least this way it was so sudden you did not feel it for 30-40 minutes.
But as always after any loss. There are no words. Just look forward to the next game.
(and think of the games you have won in a similar way, you have to give one back every now and then.)

The site really was showing ½-½. and 6 moves. Actually for quite a while.

[JustinHorton]

It's the British Championship not a club game, you have to be tougher

[PeterFarr]

There was also a catastrophe in the top board game: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... 2022/1/1/1

And in the other game featuring one of our Olympiad players: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tourn ... 022/1/1/25

Edit: written in a spirit of sympathy, who hasn't let their guard down when everything seems safe.

[Paul Heaton]

At least to me-and ignoring the Olympiad induced split nature of the Championships as a whole- this years British feels like the worst of both worlds. In terms of the “head” of the Championship none of the top players are playing. And the reduced “tail” reduces your connection in terms of friends/team mates playing.

[Roger de Coverly]

. And the reduced “tail” reduces your connection in terms of friends/team mates playing.

There's am implicit minimum standard of a 2000 rating. For anyone prepared to sacrifice the time, the route via the Major Open is relatively soft.

[Matt Bridgeman]

If he was forfeited after 8 moves for cheating then it might not have been engine use. It could have been looking up the opening in a printed book, for example.

I don’t think the youth of today look at print books that much…

The rumour is he was caught coming out of a toilet with a mobile phone, and the phone had his current game position on it.

[Leonard Barden]

The rumour is he was caught coming out of a toilet with a mobile phone, and the phone had his current game position on it.

An email sent to me by the dissatisfied father of another U16 competitor alleged:

This particular player went to the toilet with his phone in every round and got away with visiting the toilet in every round with any anti cheating measures being flagged. But only to get caught in the last round by then the damage had been done.

Incidentally, what happened to the U18 championship? That's the oldest BCF/ECF junior title, first played for in 1923 (Milner-Barry) and won over the years by famous names in British chess.
It's not listed on the entry form. Has it been quietly ditched, a year short of its centenary?
If so, shame.

[Wadih Khoury]

Having talked to some of the juniors involved and various parents, it seems that:

• The suspected player dropped points in the first round in a normal game
• In the second round, when his opponent (2nd seed) went into a rare sideline, he started going to the toilet on nearly every single move. The moves were computer perfect.
• Concerns were raised to the arbiters, but no checks were made
• He allegedly went on on all subsequent rounds to go to the toilet on most moves. Beating along the way seed #1 with perfect accuracy. Players kept raising the issue to arbiters
• Arbiters decided after a certain round to do a scan. However they did it before the start of the game, and found a mobile phone on the player. He claimed that he was about to put it on display at the board. No further action was taken, the game was played normally.
• For the last round, the player allegedly came with a heavy jacket which he put next to him. He then did go to the toilet but took his jacket with him. An arbiter noticed, followed him and we know that he was shortly forfeited the game.

In hindsight, it does appear that arbiters should have taken the player and parent complaints more seriously and much earlier. I don't think it is unethical to run a quick scan on someone if there is a strong suspicion (like when someone goes to the toilet after every move). The issue could have been closed on round 2.

[Roger de Coverly]

I don't think it is unethical to run a quick scan on someone if there is a strong suspicion (like when someone goes to the toilet after every move).

Were the games on live boards? If so, technical difficulties could have been devised to abort the coverage of any particular player.

The position on in game scanning may not be so easy. When FIDE tried it, there were accusations that an arbiter with a feud against a player could use their scanning powers to break the concentration of the player, particularly if they were short of time.


Unlike Olympiads, the refreshment areas at Torquay are not segregated between players and spectators which presents a risk with live coverage.