Michael Yeo wrote:So for the only round starting in the afternoon, Nigel has been rested.
Actually there are at least two good reasons why Nigel was rested in round one.
1) Round one, when they would clearly be playing much weaker opposition, was an obvious opportunity for reserve, team captain and sponsor Terry Chapman to get an early game while one of the GMs sat it out.
2) Nigel played six games at Bunratty over the weekend (finishing joint second behind Wesley So) and then had to wait for a ridiculously delayed prizegiving - which So (though he was staying at the hotel another night) could not be bothered to attend. Nigel had to get to Dublin for a very early Monday morning flight out to London, so my wife and I drove him; he didn't get to his hotel until about 11.30pm.
3) Nigel also had then to write his weekly newspaper column, probably about Bunratty, so he was hoping to miss round one in order to recuperate and get time to do that. He told me he would be quite happy to play the other eight rounds.
It's good that the top match in each tournament is being shown live. With a little luck, that should mean the England 50+ games will be shown live throughout the event.
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'
http://www.chessmail.com