Post
by DFernandez » Mon Nov 05, 2018 6:25 am
Obviously, whatever tiebreak is used, 3/5 of the people involved will probably end up feeling aggrieved. In my case, this was mitigated ever so slightly by two facts: having qualified in 2016, also on tiebreak; and having been dead lost in no fewer than 5 rounds (2,3,6,7,9) from which I ended up scoring 50% against a 2470 average! Which, incidentally, will be my next (Dec) rating.
It would be less easy to be philosophical, I think, if I were Richard Pert- he took risks and outplayed a grandmaster "on demand" and had the place completely in his grasp before being swindled in bizarre fashion.
That all being said, WELL DONE to both the qualifiers- both of whom showed good nerves and stable play. Williams was the only person to beat the giant-slaying Indian IM Ravi Teja; while Turner, who should have scored more than 1/2 against myself and Ravi Haria, replied with his own strong rearguard action in the penultimate round, which he actually won.
As with most of the players who played by genuine means, I welcome the body-scans that were randomly done throughout the tournament. Of course, as a first iteration in a British congress, there were probably loopholes (I remember noticing once or twice that people could hang their jumpers on their chairs before getting scanned, and then it would be possible to put the jumper- possibly containing a phone- on later.)
Also, even though Alex and his metal detector rightly focused on the Open (where several thousand pounds were at stake for some), one artefact of the system we have here- where the Majors, Intermediates and Minors all have significant prizes of their own-is that (as we have seen) cheating can be an issue in those sections as well. For my 2p worth, a blanket transmission delay of 15 minutes and a random metal-detector check on spectators seem like two things to bear in mind for the next iteration, and they should prevent a high percentage of casual but computer-based cheating attempts. It surprises me that a transmission delay isn't common practice yet, actually.
Anyway- enough of that! Good to have seen everyone again and to have had "a seat at the table". Back to the day job for me...