Caterham Congress

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J. Moore
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Caterham Congress

Post by J. Moore » Sat Oct 17, 2009 9:15 pm

I have just come back to chess after a break of around 28 years, but all I seem to hear is bickering between everyone. So typically this afternoon at the Caterham Congress a heated agrument broke out, with Alexander Cherniaev, who started arguing that the draw was incorrect, although this did not effect himself, it just brings home how so many players should just get on with their games and not get involved with the politics. This incident just makes me feel as if should not have started back

James Coleman
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Re: Caterham Congress

Post by James Coleman » Sat Oct 17, 2009 9:28 pm

It would have been more newsworthy if the tournament had happened with Cherniaev not complaining about the pairings :)

Peter Rhodes
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Re: Caterham Congress

Post by Peter Rhodes » Sun Oct 18, 2009 3:42 am

Would it not help if there were clear standards from conducting pairings ?

I suppose it would, but it might remove the ability of the controller(s) and/or arbiter(s) to make **special** adjustments to the draw which is of course very important for the smooth running of a tournament.
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Sean Hewitt

Re: Caterham Congress

Post by Sean Hewitt » Sun Oct 18, 2009 3:51 am

Cherniaev was banned from all e2e4 events following the last Uxbridge event.

He complained vociferously about the final round pairings. Both Jack Rudd and I attempted to explain the pairings to him but he was having none of it, and he was having none of it in a very loud and rude manner! I therefore told him that the pairings would not be changed, that he could play or default (I didn't care which), that I would explain the pairings to him in writing and that he was no longer welcome at our events.

I then wrote the letter to him, and pinned a copy on the wall next to the pairings.

After the round had entered he came in, handed in his scoresheet and conceded that the pairings were "probably right."

Too little too late for me. We don't need people like that in our events.

Neill Cooper
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Re: Caterham Congress

Post by Neill Cooper » Sun Oct 18, 2009 10:24 am

J. Moore wrote: So typically this afternoon at the Caterham Congress a heated agrument broke out, with Alexander Cherniaev, who started arguing that the draw was incorrect, although this did not effect himself, it just brings home how so many players should just get on with their games and not get involved with the politics.
So the many juniors playing at Caterham may come away with the view that Grandmasters are ****. (I think Cherniaev is the only GM playing there.)

Roger de Coverly
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Re: Caterham Congress

Post by Roger de Coverly » Sun Oct 18, 2009 10:44 am

Peter Rhodes wrote:Would it not help if there were clear standards from conducting pairings ?
There are of course rules on how to do pairings. Here for example http://chessarbiters.co.uk/pairings.aspx

A problem with the British rules in particular is that they need the application of judgement or discretion. This results in two side effects
(a) that different arbiters given the same data might come up with different pairing
(b) that writing a reliable program to do the pairings may not be possible.

There are relatively few examples of discretion in the latest rules. Here's one that remains
In round 1, pairings between relatives, players from the same club, distant local area or foreign country are best avoided. The extent to which such pairings are avoided in later rounds is at the discretion of the arbiter.
Arbiters have made the point that sets of rules which work well for allowing reliable programs to be written do not always produce what they would regard as the "best" pairings.

J. Moore
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Re: Caterham Congress

Post by J. Moore » Sun Oct 18, 2009 1:47 pm

"So the many juniors playing at Caterham may come away with the view that Grandmasters are ****. (I think Cherniaev is the only GM playing there"

No not really, as the incident took place before the start of the third round and not that many players were in the hall at the time.

Alex Holowczak
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Re: Caterham Congress

Post by Alex Holowczak » Sun Oct 18, 2009 1:50 pm

Does Cherniaev have any experience as an arbiter himself?

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Anthony Higgs
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Re: Caterham Congress

Post by Anthony Higgs » Mon Oct 19, 2009 8:48 pm

Alex Holowczak wrote:Does Cherniaev have any experience as an arbiter himself?
Just visualising it now... :shock:
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Ben Purton
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Re: Caterham Congress

Post by Ben Purton » Mon Oct 19, 2009 9:26 pm

Dont know how bad it was here....But he was a bloody disgrace at Uxbridge...
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