Board order

[Victor Plotkin]

1. GM E.Bareev
2. GM A.Kovalyov
3. GM A.LeSiege
4. GM E.Hansen
5. IM T.Krnan

[David Ottosen]

Re: Board order

1. GM E.Bareev
2. GM A.Kovalyov
3. GM A.LeSiege
4. GM E.Hansen
5. IM T.Krnan

This is a joke, right? Lesiege above Hansen? And the CFC wonders why their top GMs suddenly stop participating in the Olympiad.

[Tom O'Donnell]

Re: Board order

This is a joke, right? Lesiege above Hansen? And the CFC wonders why their top GMs suddenly stop participating in the Olympiad.

It's not necessarily bad strategy. For example if you have two players who are both relatively good with the same colour it is better to separate them by a board than have them play on successive boards, imo.

[Tony Li]

Re: Board order

It's not necessarily bad strategy. For example if you have two players who are both relatively good with the same colour it is better to separate them by a board than have them play on successive boards, imo.

Is the idea to win all the games when GM Bareev's black?

[Tom O'Donnell]

Re: Board order

Is the idea to win all the games when GM Bareev's black?

The idea is to maximise the number of "right" colours with the specialists.

I have no idea if this is the strategy but in the Olympiads I played on the board order was shuffled to try and get favourable colours.

So players like Roman Pelts would get more Whites and players like Deen Hergott and Lawrence Day would get more Blacks.

[Alex Ferreira]

Re: Board order

Hi,

It shouldn't be SO surprising...
Victor also swapped Sambuev with Gerzhoy last time to maximize certain colours.
Obviously I don't know what the logistics were here, but as of a couple weeks ago (pre-great-result Le Siege has in Quebec), the Canadian National team was going in with 3 pretty amazing and consistent players (Bareev, Kovalyov and Hansen) and 2 players who... have not been performing up to their potential recently. Like Tom said, swapping a couple of players in what I consider the "border zone" makes a lot of sense to maximize colours of X or Y player, while allowing for a decent ladder of ratings in case everyone happens to start performing amazingly or above their pre-tournament expectations.

Alex F.

[Alex Ferreira]

Re: Board order

On a follow-up note, I am looking forward to seeing this Olympic team in action :)
I usually follow the elite tournaments live if they have live coverage with commentary somewhere, and will certainly do a bit of that with the Olympiad.
It would be expected that... Canada will not get much coverage by neutral broadcasters, unless we're playing against some top 5 team.
An idea would be, or at least I'd be interested in watching... could or would any strong player comment on our team's games? Same style that they do the elite tournaments? Covering ideas, tactics, opening themes relevant to the specific games? Be it live or video summary afterwards, would be pretty cool. Not sure where it would be done but it would have significant value over just replaying the games with an engine, or having to wait... 6-12 months for it to come out on the webzine.
Alex F.

[Denis Allan]

Re: Board order

And having the option of using Hansen on either board 3 or 4 seems useful.

[Peter McKillop]

Re: Board order

And having the option of using Hansen on either board 3 or 4 seems useful.

Denis, I'm not sure I understand the significance of the board order Victor posted. Is the board order like a starting lineup that baseball managers are required to file, pre-game, with the umpire? Once the board order has been posted, are there restrictions on players being moved to different board numbers once the Olympiad has started?

[Alex Ferreira]

Re: Board order

Denis, I'm not sure I understand the significance of the board order Victor posted. Is the board order like a starting lineup that baseball managers are required to file, pre-game, with the umpire? Once the board order has been posted, are there restrictions on players being moved to different board numbers once the Olympiad has started?

Right. Once the board order is submitted, it's final. Bareev will always play Board 1. Kovalyov will always play Board 2 unless Bareev sits out, in which case everyone moves up a board, with Kovalyov on Board 1, etc... this "order" cannot be reversed.
4 players play at any given time, and 1 will always sit out. If Krnan sits, Hansen plays Board 4. If someone else sits, Hansen plays Board 3.

Alex F.

[Andy Shaw]

Re: Board order

Smart decision. Victor Plotkin is a known strategic specialist. Putting Eric Hansen on board 4 guarantees at least 1 point every round. Alexander Lesiege on any board equates to 0 points.

[Fred Harvey]

Re: Board order

Smart decision. Victor Plotkin is a known strategic specialist. Putting Eric Hansen on board 4 guarantees at least 1 point every round. Alexander Lesiege on any board equates to 0 points.

After Lesieges very solid win at the Quebec Open, I wouldn't say that! Neither would I say "the other" that...... But at least we have the novel situation of discussing Canadian bred players, which is so difficult these days?

[Peter McKillop]

Re: Board order

Thanks, Alex.

[Mathieu Cloutier]

Re: Board order

Alexander Lesiege on any board equates to 0 points.

Sounds a little harsh. I thought his nomination on the team sort of came out of the blue given the options available and the fact he's been out for a while.

But his recent performance at the Quebec Open speaks for itself.

Putting Lesiege ahead of Hansen definitely sounds like a board order strategy to maximize results based on colors/pairings. Hansen on board 3/4 with the white pieces is just lethal.

[Rene Preotu]

Re: Board order

What do you mean by this?

... given the options available ...

What was wrong with the other "non-Quebec" option?

b) The Selection Committee shall select three players to be eligible for the National Team in a ranked order and three players to be eligible for the Women's team in a ranked order, taking into account the players' recent results, potential for improvement and such other factors as they consider relevant.

How can you select a player who came back from a 10 year retirement and dropped 31 ELO points in 19 games?
http://www.burlingtonchessclub.com/FIDERating.JPG

Why do you presume to know the information the committee had at their disposal in this or any other year?
Brian

Maybe IM Brian Hartman can explain what other information the committee had at their disposal this year.

I'm also wondering if this part of the CFC handbook will be updated before the next Olympiad.

905. The Selection Committee

The CFC Executive shall appoint a Selection Committee consisting of three well known and respected individuals who are of at least master strength and have knowledge of the Canadian chess community. [Motion 2012-V Barron/Zeromskis]

a) The Selection Committee shall be appointed no later than 180 days before the start of the Olympiad.

b) The Selection Committee shall select three players to be eligible for the National Team in a ranked order and three players to be eligible for the Women's team in a ranked order, taking into account the players' recent results, potential for improvement and such other factors as they consider relevant. These selections shall be made no later than 165 days before the start of the Olympiad. [Motion 2011L Bluvshtein/Zeromskis; amended by McDonald/von Keitz]

c) [Motion 2004-05 GL6 Harper/Feng] Neither member of the Selection Committee may play for the Canadian National Team in the Olympiad in question.