Igor ivanov

[Kerry Liles]

I suspect much of the animus out there about Kevin is simple jealousy over his great run of success;

Well, maybe not so much... The only time I met K.S. (albeit briefly) was when he gave a simul at the Mississauga Chess Club when it was at the Erindale Campus of UofT. I managed to eke out a draw in a horrible game (by me) where K.S. was distracted by other more interesting games. His lecture that evening before the simul was excellent and very thorough and he answered many questions from the floor. He was gracious enough when our draw was one of the last remaining games...

However, through his blog or column or website or whatever he has launched a tremendous amount of vitriol at nearly everyone who opposes his views or politics or opinions.
There are SO many examples of this.

Of course, I don't know K.S. and I can only comment on his online persona. Many people behave quite differently online than in person. I am sure Mr. Crowhurst has some legitimate complaints and his characterization of K.S. is hardly the worst profanity that has shown up in ChessTalk (wander through the cess pool that is the covid-19 discussion for recent examples). Most regulars here are adults (at least in physical age) and I hardly even noticed Crowhurst referred to K.S. as he did... In any case, K.S. has done exactly ZERO for Canadian Chess in a long time...

[Bob Armstrong]

Re Kevin:

In my view, Kevin in person, and Kevin on his website (Based in Portugal......hard to sue for libel) are two different Kevin's.

My in person experience was at a weekend tournament once he invited me to join he and Bryan Nikoloff for lunch. He was very personable and talkative (At the time I was a low A-class Player).

My online experience was during my 3 years as a non-executive CFC Officer: Public Relations Coordinator. The attacks published on his website, on the CFC, and me personally, were "off-the-wall".

Bob A

[Brad Thomson]

I wouldn't ask Spraggett for the time. We flew that asshole out here several times to play in a bunch of events, he was just a dick.

Kevin has seriouis mental problems, and I do not think he is completely responsible for his disturbed personality. He is to be pittied above all else, it seems to me. The man needs help, but will never realize it or seek it.

[J. Crowhurst]

I'm disappointed in Mr. Crowhurst's post, and that this site would allow profanity, defaming Canada's best-ever player.


Respectfully submitted,
Frank Dixon
NTD, Kingston

What part of what I said was defamatory, Frank?

[Frank Dixon]

Jeremy, I found the general direction of your post concerning GM Spraggett to be objectionable. Certainly, you are entitled to your opinion, but blanket negative characterization of someone, based on limited experience, is inappropriate. GM Spraggett, a public figure, has interacted with thousands of people during his chess career; probably most of those interactions were positive (as mine were), or neutral. A few of them were negative, as you describe. It is a sign of our times that these negative interactions now get posted, or shared. Kevin has also received many complimentary characterizations in print from former teammates, team captains, rivals, organizers, and so forth. My concern is for balance. In our chess world, elbows get extended in the corners, in the heat of battle, and during disputes, and it is very rare for someone with a life in chess to emerge unblemished -- probably GM Yanofsky and IA Phil Haley managed that.

I am also disappointed that a thread which started positively on GM Ivanov, which I contributed to, then trended negative on GM Spraggett.

By the way, I am curious about two matters; you can ignore if you wish.

1) I read online that you are the recipient of a kidney transplant. How is that working out for you?
2) And as an Abbotsford person, you have been experiencing dreadful disaster conditions for the past couple of weeks. I was born in Vancouver, have visited the lower mainland many times, and have a lot of family and friends in the area, but haven't lived there since my very early childhood. How are things looking for the community?

[J. Crowhurst]

I am also disappointed that a thread which started positively on GM Ivanov, which I contributed to, then trended negative on GM Spraggett.

...

1) I read online that you are the recipient of a kidney transplant. How is that working out for you?
2) And as an Abbotsford person, you have been experiencing dreadful disaster conditions for the past couple of weeks. I was born in Vancouver, have visited the lower mainland many times, and have a lot of family and friends in the area, but haven't lived there since my very early childhood. How are things looking for the community? [/QUOTE]

Yeah I think that might have been inevitable. Kevin's tribute was wonderful particularly considering my recollection is that there was more than a little bad blood there.

The thing with Kevin is we both have memories of him, yours far outweigh the bad, mine the opposite. He was a great person to have at a tournament. Zero drama. Talked to people, gave at least brief post-mortems even to really low rated players.

But I've been a prosecutor for 22 years. Anybody who falsely, repeatedly, accuses someone of sexual assault to advance their own vendetta, they're dead to me. That's the worst thing a person can do in a justice system because it's so hard for an innocent person to clear themselves, and it makes it that much harder to get the next guy who's actually guilty.

The way you feel about Kevin is probably very similar to the way I feel about Dan Scoones. When you're sitting at the director's table and he walked in, you just smiled because you knew the tournament was going to be that much easier. Also, Dan and I both had Crohn's disease, and I followed his condition carefully because it was more advanced than mine, hadn't responded as well to treatment, and he was older. Dan was on death's door many, many times, and that was one of them. Sitting there with Kevin, talking to him and getting to ask that question was probably a bucket list, highlight of his life kind of situation and Kevin just smacks him down in front of a half-dozen people.

How socially stupid, inept, ungrateful, and classless do you have to be to say something like, "It's been so long since I was as weak as you that I just don't remember?" You are supposed to be a pro. You can't just pull out of your ass, "Ah, endgame technique! That is the key!" Or, "When you go through an informant, don't read the openings you know, go through games where you don't know the opening!" I don't know, something.

Then a year later Yasser Seirawan came up. So far and beyond the call of duty it's unimaginable. He'd give three minutes to ANYBODY. Just the most generous and classiest guy you'll ever meet in the chess world (except I know there are lots more).

-----

I was fortunate enough to get a random match with a woman who saw the news coverage, that transplant happened on June 10th, 2019. Unfortunately, the kidney never made it out of the hospital. It wasn't a rejection, they don't know what the issue was, but they went back in on the 11th, and on the 12th it had to come out. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I got a kidney from a deceased donor on Thanksgiving of last year. It was a complete harvest, they kept him on life support so the operations could be done on Thanksgiving Sunday. I have fully recovered physically, took maybe three months.

The whole Fraser Valley could be in trouble. Hwy #1 was closed for several days between Abbotsford and Chilliwack, and stuff is getting through now. But a lot of livestock drowned in the flooding, crops ruined (blueberries here, corn in Chilliwack), so we'll see. We live on a hill, so we were spared any damage.

------

Sorry for the attitude. I have Asperger's, and my three kids are all severely autistic. I am not in a great state of mind these days.

[Marc Andre Beaudry]

Don't forget that Igor was robbed from his participation in the candidates matches. Igor was the true qualified from Canada, only Kevin`s misdeeds and plotting behind the scenes allowed the CFC to change its mind and robbed Igor.

Kevin on this website, for 3 years spoke utter nonsense on this site, attacking almost everybody in canadian chess, including first and foremost Larry. I don,t know what Larry did so bad for chess, I think he did truly amazing !

Kevin is not as bad, I think as Mr. Crowhurst say but certainly not as good as Mr Dixon thinks. Igor was robbed by Kevin's behind the scenes shenanigans and Igor left Canada for that reason

[Frank Dixon]

For Jeremy, this is such a heartfelt post. Thank you very much for sharing your intensely difficult personal experiences with readers. Perhaps your fighting spirit from chess helped you through your major health crisis! Delighted to hear the transplant worked out.

With Kevin, it seems there are a lot of complexities involved. I am not 'in the know' with many items referenced by other posters.

[Frank Dixon]

For Mr. Beaudry: I am not sure if your assertion is correct, concerning the qualification.
1) Ivanov and Spraggett tied for first in the 1986 Canadian Zonal Championship in Winnipeg.
2) Then, in their playoff match, according to data I have found, this was also tied, over five games.
Since no clear winner had emerged, over two competitions, the decision as to which player would receive the Candidate slot was then passed to the CFC Executive. They chose Spraggett. He was a GM and Ivanov was an IM, that may have been one factor. Also, Spraggett qualified directly as a Candidate in 1985; Ivanov had NOT done so previously. That may have been one factor.
My question from a previous post was whether Ivanov, having been rejected by the CFC Executive for a Candidate slot, could have still played in the Interzonal cycle in 1987, and qualified that way. No one responded; I don't know the answer.

[J. Crowhurst]

Weren't we granted a spot in the top 16 because we were hosting? I remember there were shots about Kevin not "earning" it, and how Sokolov was going to wipe the floor with him. Ha!

[Frank Dixon]

It wound up being one of "14" first-round Candidate slots for a Canadian nominated player, since we were hosting, in 1988 in Saint John, and putting so much in with resources, as I understand it (I could be wrong here, so would appreciate correction if necessary).
The Candidates was part of an enormous chess festival, with more spent than ever before. FM Robert Hamilton was the main man on the chess organizing side; he did an exceptional job!!
It was originally supposed to be 16 places, and in 1987. The event was delayed by a year, essentially as a result of the World Championship match situation, if one remembers.
The first Karpov vs Kasparov world title match was ended without decision after 48 games, Moscow 1984-85, with GM Karpov up 5-3 with 40 draws, but with GM Kasparov having won games 47 and 48. Huge controversy; chess was slammed around the world for lack of integrity. So, then they played a new match, fall 1985, Moscow, of 24 games, starting from scratch. GM Kasparov won that, but GM Karpov had arranged a rematch clause, in the wake of the unprecedented situation with the first match, should he lose the new match (which he did). So, they played the rematch in 1986, also 24 games, split evenly between London and Leningrad, and GM Kasparov won. But, as part of the deal from that, GM Karpov was seeded into a Candidates super-final, since he wasn't able to participate in the qualifying Candidates' cycle as losing champion, since he was playing the rematch. The super-final brought GM Karpov up against the winner of the Candidates' cycle, GM Andrei Sokolov, in 1987, and GM Karpov won that match, so he then faced GM Kasparov again in 1987 -- that match was drawn, over 24 games, Seville, with GM Kasparov keeping the title as champion in a drawn match. But GM Karpov had also negotiated that he would join the NEXT cycle as defeated champion NOT in the round of 16, but in the round of 8. So, to accommodate this, there could be only 14 Candidates' slots in the opening round of the 1988-90 series, producing seven winners from those matches, which Karpov would then join.

GM A. Sokolov was the top seed in the 1988 Candidates' first round matches, since he was the losing finalist from the previous cycle (except for GM Karpov). That brought GM A. Sokolov up against Canada's GM Kevin Spraggett, who was the lowest seed of the 14, at that juncture. Certainly, most people expected GM A. Sokolov to win that match. But GM Spraggett defied expectations, to win in extra games in Saint John. One of the grandest achievements in Canadian chess history!! I was there for the end of the playoffs, having taken an overnight train Kingston to Saint John, transferring in Montreal with an efficient connection, for a trip just over ten hours. Thrill of a lifetime for me, as well as for many others who were there.

[Fred McKim]

For Mr. Beaudry: I am not sure if your assertion is correct, concerning the qualification.
1) Ivanov and Spraggett tied for first in the 1986 Canadian Zonal Championship in Winnipeg.
2) Then, in their playoff match, according to data I have found, this was also tied, over five games.
Since no clear winner had emerged, over two competitions, the decision as to which player would receive the Candidate slot was then passed to the CFC Executive. They chose Spraggett. He was a GM and Ivanov was an IM, that may have been one factor. Also, Spraggett qualified directly as a Candidate in 1985; Ivanov had NOT done so previously. That may have been one factor.
My question from a previous post was whether Ivanov, having been rejected by the CFC Executive for a Candidate slot, could have still played in the Interzonal cycle in 1987, and qualified that way. No one responded; I don't know the answer.

I was involved with the World Chess Festival (volunteer Vice-President of Operations) and to the best of my recollection I was on the CFC Executive at that time. I think it's entirely possible that the choice for our representative in the 1988 Candidates (and we would have to search historical records to see exactly when we knew we would have a direct Candidate) had not been decided by the time that names had to be submitted for the 1987 Interzonals. We had 2 representatives in the Interzonals that year (perhaps because of Kevin's placement in the 1985 Candidates Tournament). The third and fifth place finishers from the 1986 Canadian Closed, Fletcher Barager and Denis Allan, went and represented Canada. In any event, Kevin had been selected as our Candidate by the summer of 1987, as I travelled on behalf of the WCF, to the Canadian and Quebec Open to encourage players to come, and our biggest mission in Montreal was to secure Igor's participation, which we did. In any event I can't speak to the exact mechanism as to how Kevin was chosen over Igor. I kind of recall we were hoping they would play a second play-off, but it never happened.