44th Olympiad, Chennai 28 July to 10 August 2022

[Chris Rice]

Nigel's got a complaint

Apparently Connor Eickelman was eligible because he is a US citizen according to the USVI president

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Apparently Connor Eickelman was eligible because he is a US citizen according to the USVI president"

Not convinced - otherwise our dear Channel Islands would strengthen their teams with GMs we don't use...

Hats off to Gerda for her win on board 1 for Guernsey, although she is under-rated.

Do we think the United States of Armenia will win, or one of the many Indian teams?

[NickFaulks]

Apparently Connor Eickelman was eligible because he is a US citizen according to the USVI president

Just to be clear, nobody has ever cared about strict eligibility issues for the little teams and they don't now. This is entirely political, with USVI being punished because their federation's President is a member of Verification Commission and has been asking awkward questions about where money has gone.

[JustinHorton]

We play on the first board tomorrow ! Good luck !

Outgraded by (I think) an average of 159 points each, could be a tough one...

[Nick Burrows]

I notice Alina Kashlinskaya has changed federation from Russia to her husbands federation - Poland.

[Chris Rice]

Apparently Connor Eickelman was eligible because he is a US citizen according to the USVI president

Just to be clear, nobody has ever cared about strict eligibility issues for the little teams and they don't now. This is entirely political, with USVI being punished because their federation's President is a member of Verification Commission and has been asking awkward questions about where money has gone.

OK the first sentence is interesting. Does that mean that as a British citizen I could for example change my federation from England to Guernsey and that even though I have no connection no one would really care because Guernsey is so weak? That would kind of justify what Nigel Short is saying on that point and presumably get Kevin (see above post) motivated to bring in a few GMs.

On the second sentence are you saying that Margaret Murphy is the one asking awkward questions with her Verification Committee hat on about where money has gone? If so, what has she alleged? According to Nigel Short's tweet here he's the one that seems to be asking the awkward questions about Ms Murphy and also alleging that she lives in the US anyway.

[David Sedgwick]

Does that mean that as a British citizen I could for example change my federation from England to Guernsey and that even though I have no connection no one would really care because Guernsey is so weak?

The Guernsey Chess Federation would care. They wouldn't allow it.

Nick Faulks is a very old friend of mine. However, I am at a loss to understand why he is defending Margaret Murphy's behaviour.

I did of course say that to him privately before posting here.

[JustinHorton]

and presumably get Kevin (see above post) motivated to bring in a few GMs.

I am not seeing Connor Eickelman's title and rating

[Roger de Coverly]

Does that mean that as a British citizen I could for example change my federation from England to Guernsey and that even though I have no connection no one would really care because Guernsey is so weak?

None of SCO, WLS, IRL, GCI and JCI have ever played the game of signing ENG players in the manner of Jack Charlton when he built a competitive Irish football team. Invariably they have rules on birth, residence and activity before considering players eligible for being registered under their federation and Olympiad or European selection.

Nigel it would seem has a personal feud with the woman in charge of USVI. It may go back to the Tromso elections where she was part of a small group ruling on who was the rightful delegate when this was contested. In every case they ruled in favour of the pro-Kirsan delegate against the pro-Kasparov one.

[JustinHorton]

None of SCO, WLS, IRL, GCI and JCI have ever played the game of signing ENG players in the manner of Jack Charlton when he built a competitive Irish football team.

Charlton signed nobody he wasn't entitled to sign

Nigel it would seem has a personal feud with the woman in charge of USVI.

Good Lord

[Mick Norris]

Round 3 board pairings Open and Women

Bo. 21 England (ENG) Rtg - 1 India (IND) Rtg
1.1 IM Houska, Jovanka 2360 - GM Harika, Dronavalli 2517
1.2 WGM Toma, Katarzyna 2303 - IM Vaishali, R 2442
1.3 WIM Yao, Lan 2274 - IM Tania, Sachdev 2399
1.4 FM Kalaiyalahan, Akshaya 2158 - IM Kulkarni, Bhakti 2373

Bo. 10 England (ENG) Rtg - 35 Lithuania (LTU) Rtg
10.1 GM Adams, Michael 2696 - GM Laurusas, Tomas 2561
10.2 GM McShane, Luke J 2649 - GM Stremavicius, Titas 2532
10.3 GM Howell, David W L 2650 - FM Juksta, Karolis 2412
10.4 GM Jones, Gawain C B 2652 - GM Pultinevicius, Paulius 2539

Good luck to both teams

[JustinHorton]

Fans of "what nonsense is Jobava going to play today" will not be disappointed

[JustinHorton]

On the play so far my major prediction is that Katarzyna will be rested for round 4...


(EDIT)...but wait, for her opponent seems to have tried to be too clever...

[JustinHorton]

Jovanka's opponent is eight months pregnant, by the way.

Those look like some well-spaced tables!

(On board four Akshaya is +2, the computer says. Looks like a clear pawn up for rather less than nothing. EDIT: nope, White's gone for level material but disastrous position instead.)

[Kevin Thurlow]

"The Guernsey Chess Federation would care. They wouldn't allow it."

Indeed - they insist on following the regulations. Any non-native players do the correct residential qualifying period. They also want to be fair to the local players.

On the live games, are they working now? The first round had so many wrong pairings or non-working boards, I gave up looking.