The Irish International Open 2019

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John McMorrow
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The Irish International Open 2019

Post by John McMorrow » Fri Dec 28, 2018 4:41 pm

Hi All,

We will be running the Irish International Open over Easter from 17-22 April in Dublin. The event will be a FIDE rated 9 rounder played over 6 days with a 10,000 euro prize fund. For those who have played in the Gonzaga Chess Classic (played in January – this year from 25th-27th) before, it is the same venue with the top 5 boards played and displayed in a 400-seat theatre. We will be aiming to broadcast 25 games in all. Initial details including dates, schedule and entry rates can be found here: https://www.icu.ie/events/1048

We have secured a discount rate with the Beacon Hotel for a limited number of double/twin rooms which is 100 euro per night (room only). Just mention the Irish Chess Union when you call.

Would appreciate if you could spread the word to your club-mates, friends, family, mortal enemies and people you run into on the street.

Any further questions/suggestions to [email protected].

The current list of titled entries includes:
1 2600 confirmed:
GM Seb Maze

5 2500s confirmed:
GM Vladimir Epishin
GM Ognjen Jovanic
GM Robert Ruck
GM Ante Saric
GM Nicholas Pert

3 2400 GMs Confirmed:
GM Aleksa Strikovic
GM David Larino
GM Bragi Thorfinnsson

8 IMs/FMs:
IM Valer Krutti
IM David Fitzsimons
IM Bjorn Thorfinnsson
IM Mark Quinn
FM Conor O'Donnell
FM Stephen Brady
FM Colm Daly
WFM Manuela Schmitz

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JustinHorton
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Re: The Irish International Open 2019

Post by JustinHorton » Fri Dec 28, 2018 4:44 pm

John McMorrow wrote:
Fri Dec 28, 2018 4:41 pm

We have secured a discount rate with the Beacon Hotel....which is 100 euro per night (room only).
Am I reading this right?
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

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Allan Hodgkinson
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Re: The Irish International Open 2019

Post by Allan Hodgkinson » Fri Dec 28, 2018 11:04 pm

A quick check on the hotel’s website suggests that, unfortunately, you are. Your pound doesn’t go so far now!

Tim Harding
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Re: The Irish International Open 2019

Post by Tim Harding » Thu Jan 17, 2019 8:04 pm

Here is an update on the Irish International Open which starts in Dublin three months from today (round 1 at 6pm on Wed 17 April) and will be played over the Easter weekend, ending on Monday 22 April.

There will be good opportunities to earn FIDE title norms. So far 9 GMs, four IMs, four FMs and one WFM have signed up.

However, we are hoping for more entries from Britain. Maybe Brexit and sterling weakness are causing people to hesitate but it should be a great event, the first international open in Ireland for many years.

So far there is only GM Nick Pert from England but a lot of entries from the continent and we expect entries from Irish amateurs to pick up in the next few weeks as many expressed an interest when the tournament was first mooted last year.

For more details and to enter online, see https://www.icu.ie/events/1067. See also the first post in this thread.

There is still plenty of time to enter, with a fee of 100 Euro to the end of March, which goes up to 125 Euro from 1 April.

If anyone is going to be playing Reykjavik just beforehand, you can fly direct to Dublin with WOW.
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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Tim Harding
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Re: The Irish International Open 2019

Post by Tim Harding » Tue Feb 12, 2019 2:25 pm

The Irish Chess Union has now put up a chess-results page showing entries received up to Sunday:

http://chess-results.com/tnr414002.aspx?lan=1

A few more have come in since. There are ten GMs and six IMs so far.

Irish club players tend to enter events quite close to the deadline before fees increase, so we can expect numbers to rise in the second half of March.
We are still hoping for more entries from Britain and further afield. You can enter online at

https://www.icu.ie/events/1067

Also you can download the flyer with details of the event, or contact the ICU direct from that link.
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

John McMorrow
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Re: The Irish International Open 2019

Post by John McMorrow » Thu Feb 21, 2019 9:11 am

With exactly 8 weeks to go, we’ve just hit 50 entries for the event with 17 nations represented!

Entries can be seen and made here:
https://www.icu.ie/events/1067

Martin Crichton
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Re: The Irish International Open 2019

Post by Martin Crichton » Mon Apr 22, 2019 8:53 am

looks like another case of cheating in an international event. I do not have specific details but I have noticed the following:
A 1520 rated Malaysian player was on 3/3 with a rating performance of 3100 after 3 rounds. He then lost the next 2 rounds and has not played any further games. Now when you go to the chess results server his results have been expunged from the event.

http://chess-results.com/tnr414002.aspx ... MAS&snr=78

Presumably it took the organisers until after round 5 to deal with the situation? no doubt they were watching his performance very closely after round 3.

That aside it looks like a great event although not from an Irish perspective as after 8 rounds none of the Irish players are performing well...at best a few are maybe performing close to par.
Member of "the strongest amateur chess club in London" (Cavendish)

my views are not representative of any clubs or organisations.

Martin Crichton
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Re: The Irish International Open 2019

Post by Martin Crichton » Mon Apr 22, 2019 9:06 am

his rise in the chess world has been somewhat meteroic.....
a snippet from the Galway chess congress report:
http://www.galwaychess.com/galway-chess ... 19-report/
It has been a very good couple of months for player X: he won the Bunratty Major (1200-1600) section last month with a faultless six wins from six, and has also ensured that he will be the new Galway Winter League champion, again with a round to spare after winning his first six games in that tournament. So that is a cumulative record this year of seventeen wins, one draw, and not one loss.
(and the draw was only a quickie to collect the prize money it seems....my comment)
Member of "the strongest amateur chess club in London" (Cavendish)

my views are not representative of any clubs or organisations.

Tim Harding
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Re: The Irish International Open 2019

Post by Tim Harding » Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:18 am

For the record, player X beat higher-rated opponents on the board in rounds 1-3 and 5. These results have all been reversed by the Chief Arbiter for tournament purposes but it remains to be decided how they should be rated.
The first complaints about X were received after round 2.
The round 3 opponent fell into an opening trap very early on so there was little or no conclusive evidence from this game.
In round 4 X was playing a GM on stage; precautions were taken and the situation was very closely monitored by the arbiters. The GM managed to outplay his opponent.
After round 5, sufficient evidence having been gathered, the Chief Arbiter took the decision to suspend the player. I was not present during that round or when the player was confronted.

I agree that in the light of what happened here the recent successes of the same player in minor tournaments appear to be compromised.

This case, which involved signalling by assistants, will be dealt with by the Irish Chess Union.
If any further discussion is appropriate in this Forum, let's do it in the Cheating in Chess thread under General Chat.
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

Alex Holowczak
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Re: The Irish International Open 2019

Post by Alex Holowczak » Mon Apr 22, 2019 12:53 pm

Tim Harding wrote:
Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:18 am
These results have all been reversed by the Chief Arbiter for tournament purposes but it remains to be decided how they should be rated.
Why does it remain to be decided? The relevant FIDE guidelines are clear enough as to what should happen in this case, aren't they?

David Sedgwick
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Re: The Irish International Open 2019

Post by David Sedgwick » Mon Apr 22, 2019 1:21 pm

Tim Harding wrote:
Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:18 am
These results have all been reversed by the Chief Arbiter for tournament purposes but it remains to be decided how they should be rated.
Alex Holowczak wrote:
Mon Apr 22, 2019 12:53 pm
Why does it remain to be decided? The relevant FIDE guidelines are clear enough as to what should happen in this case, aren't they?
Rounds 1 - 3, yes. Rounds 4 and 5, perhaps less so.

I discussed this with Nick Faulks this morning. I'll leave him to comment if he wishes, either publicly or privately.

Tim Harding
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Re: The Irish International Open 2019

Post by Tim Harding » Mon Apr 22, 2019 8:39 pm

It's also a matter for how the Irish rating system will handle these games. I am not on the ICU committee or a ratings expert.
I only said what the Chief Arbiter told me.

I would have thought the fairest thing is to rate these games for the opponents as won by them, or treat them as wins by default (except for the win genuinely score by the GM against him).

One obvious issue is that if player X gets, say, a 3-year ban and then returns, what will his new Irish and FIDE rating be?

If the games are, for him, rated as they actually finished on the board, he will return with a higher rating which will make it harder for him in future to win prizes in rating-restricted events, whereas if they were rated as lost by him then this would facilitate him competing for such prizes in future.

How were similar cases handled in the past?

Since we are discussing a player who is temporarily resident here (a student) but is not an IRL-reg player, presumably there will also have to be some contact with his home federation who may take a different view.

** I am not sure I understand David's final point. It is not the case that the alleged cheat lost round 5 on the board.
Round 5 was won by X on the board but the Chief Arbiter scored it for the opponent and then reversed the results of 1-3. In effect he reversed four results.
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

Roger de Coverly
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Re: The Irish International Open 2019

Post by Roger de Coverly » Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:08 pm

Tim Harding wrote:
Mon Apr 22, 2019 8:39 pm
I would have thought the fairest thing is to rate these games for the opponents as won by them, or treat them as wins by default (except for the win genuinely score by the GM against him).
Under what may have been parallel circumstances, the ECF didn't submit the results of the player excluded for cheating in either the FIDE or ECF rating and grading systems.

The ECF haven't yet said much about how it happened and how it was detected in their recent case. Someone has run an analysis which shows a much higher correlation with engine "best play" than normal with players of that presumed standard. It was a minor section, so the match up for opponents was about 1 in 5, as opposed to 4 in 5 or better for the suspected player.

David Sedgwick
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Re: The Irish International Open 2019

Post by David Sedgwick » Tue Apr 23, 2019 11:33 am

Tim Harding wrote:
Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:18 am
If any further discussion is appropriate in this Forum, let's do it in the Cheating in Chess thread under General Chat.
As you yourself subsequently posted again in this thread, I hope that I may be forgiven for doing likewise.

Tim Harding wrote:
Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:18 am
These results have all been reversed by the Chief Arbiter for tournament purposes but it remains to be decided how they should be rated.
Alex Holowczak wrote:
Mon Apr 22, 2019 12:53 pm
Why does it remain to be decided? The relevant FIDE guidelines are clear enough as to what should happen in this case, aren't they?
Alex is referring to the following provision of the FIDE Guidelines:

"In an individual Open tournament, the offender shall be excluded from the final ranking . Each of the offender’s games shall be considered a loss, but the score for the opponent shall remain unchanged . All games shall be reported as unplayed."

Tim Harding wrote:
Mon Apr 22, 2019 8:39 pm
It's also a matter for how the Irish rating system will handle these games.
I think there is some linguistic confusion here. In England we tend to use the term "rating" to mean FIDE rating. For our national system we refer to "grading".

How the games are handled for the purposes of the Irish rating system is of course entirely up to the ICU.

David Sedgwick wrote:
Mon Apr 22, 2019 1:21 pm
Rounds 1 - 3, yes. Rounds 4 and 5, perhaps less so.
Tim Harding wrote:
Mon Apr 22, 2019 8:39 pm
I am not sure I understand David's final point. It is not the case that the alleged cheat lost round 5 on the board.
Round 5 was won by X on the board but the Chief Arbiter scored it for the opponent and then reversed the results of 1-3. In effect he reversed four results.
From the game score shown on ChessBomb, I had concluded that the Chief Arbiter had intervened to disqualify X before the Round 5 game had otherwise concluded. I stand corrected.

Hence that game falls to be treated in the same way as the Rounds 1-3 games.

The Round 4 game may be a different matter, particularly if it is clear that X could not have cheated during that game.

However, that is a decision for Nick Faulks, not for me.

The Irish Chess Union and the organisers and arbiters have put in a great deal of work to arrange a series of tournaments which seem to have been very successful in every other respect. From my own experience I know how upsetting such an incident can be for everyone involved in dealing with it. You have my sympathy and my support.

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JustinHorton
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Re: The Irish International Open 2019

Post by JustinHorton » Wed May 01, 2019 8:28 am

Tim Harding wrote:
Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:18 am
For the record, player X beat higher-rated opponents on the board in rounds 1-3 and 5. These results have all been reversed by the Chief Arbiter for tournament purposes but it remains to be decided how they should be rated.
The first complaints about X were received after round 2.
The round 3 opponent fell into an opening trap very early on so there was little or no conclusive evidence from this game.
In round 4 X was playing a GM on stage; precautions were taken and the situation was very closely monitored by the arbiters. The GM managed to outplay his opponent.
After round 5, sufficient evidence having been gathered, the Chief Arbiter took the decision to suspend the player.
His Round 1 opponent writes
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

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