Anton Kovalyov in ch-ARG

[Jonathan Berry]

http://201.216.215.172/torneos/FINAL...posiciones.htm

At this writing, he's in a 5-way tie for first with 5/7 in the 12xRR. I'd have to say that his chances look pretty good, as among his future opponents are two also-rans, along with two contenders.

This is the (83rd) Argentine Closed, so doesn't his participation mean that he continues to represent that country, rather than the hoped-for-by-many conversion to Canadianism?

--- Edit stuff:

On a related matter, on the old board it was announced that IM Eduard Porper is settling in Edmonton. That has to be good news, but I went to the FIDE website and found that three other IMs are transferring their national allegiance to Canada. We already knew about the two most recent Canadian Junior Champions, Leonid Gerzhoy and Artiom Samsonkin. In addition, IM Stanislav Kriventsov (whom I remember twice from TD gigs at the US Closed Championship) has applied.

The fee for an IM to change feds seems to be 1600 Euros. If all 4 convert to CAN, that's 4x1600 = 6400 Euros, which pretty much kills $10,000. That's more expensive than sending a team to the Chess Olympics. I'm wondering who pays these fees? Our poverty-stricken CFC is ultimately on the hook for all FIDE fees.

It seems to me that Samsonkin and Gerzhoy might become strong enough to represent Canada at the Olympics. But Porper and Kriventsov are not teenagers. In ye olde days, it was considered a plus for a player living in Canada to have a different national affiliation. He could then be extra useful in a norm tournament, which typically lacks players from other than the host federation--at least here in North America.

Kovalyov continues to show as ARG, and I see no transfer application for him.

So does the CFC have a policy on this or ... as seems to happen so often, are important decisions taken be a single person because he thinks they are a "good idea"? No, no, just the first question: does the CFC have a policy on who pays for federation transfers?

[Vlad Dobrich]

Re: Anton Kovalyov in ch-ARG

Yet another cash grab by FIDE. That's what you get from monopolies. Is it time to secede?

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: Anton Kovalyov in ch-ARG

What about IM Artem Samsonkin? The April FIDE rating list shows his federation as Belarus - but the July list has his federation as Canada.

http://ratings.fide.com/fedchange.phtml?year=2008 (scroll down to "Samsonkin")

Did the CFC pay (1600 Euros) for this federation switch? Did anyone pay yet? Possibly he was not an IM at the time of the switch, and the cost was less (or nothing)?

Several other "new Canadian" players show up on the list ("Transfers in 2008"). Were the fees paid for them?

Brestoiu, Doina (WFM from Romania; no transfer fee)
Kriventsov, Stanislav (IM from USA; Russian citizenship; 1600 euros transfer fee)
Lacau-Rodean, Iulia (from Romania, no title, but 325 euros transfer fee)

IM Leonid Gerzhoy (from Israel; 1600 euros) was on the 2007 list.

No sign of Anton Kovalyov on any recent list - I would assume that means that he/the CFC has not applied to FIDE for a federation transfer, and remains ARG.

Would the USCF pay for a federation switch for IM Dave Ross if he wanted to switch? (he's been living in Jackson, Mississippi the last couple of years).

[Jonathan Berry]

Re: Anton Kovalyov in ch-ARG

The time may have been ripe to secede from FIDE a few years ago (but hardly anybody supported or even considered it). FIDE've got their act together considerably since then.

If Canada dropped out of FIDE, GM Kevin Spraggett would have to pay 3200 Euros (some $5,000) to affiliate with a new federation, presumably Portugal. Wait, I can hear the wheels spinning ....

I will briefly play Devil's Advocate, defending FIDE. AFAIR, this issue arose in 1976 when Viktor Kortchnoi defected. The USSR wanted compensation for their investment in Kortchnoi's chess career. Nothing came of that, but decades later, Mikhail Gurevich switched from Leningrad to Belgium (which was understood by most), but then to Turkey (which might have been seen as a purely professional move). The rest is easy to understand: FIDE as the Arctic Wolf, money as the lemming. Apologies to Farley Mowat and to the Arctic Wolf. It's a business tax.

[Larry Bevand]

Re: Anton Kovalyov in ch-ARG

The questions that Hugh and Jonathan are asking are valid. There is no doubt that the CFC requires a policy on this. Bob Gillanders...can you give us some insight?

[Gary Ruben]

Re: Anton Kovalyov in ch-ARG

The time may have been ripe to secede from FIDE a few years ago (but hardly anybody supported or even considered it). FIDE've got their act together considerably since then.

If Canada dropped out of FIDE, GM Kevin Spraggett would have to pay 3200 Euros (some $5,000) to affiliate with a new federation, presumably Portugal. Wait, I can hear the wheels spinning ....

I will briefly play Devil's Advocate, defending FIDE. AFAIR, this issue arose in 1976 when Viktor Kortchnoi defected. The USSR wanted compensation for their investment in Kortchnoi's chess career. Nothing came of that, but decades later, Mikhail Gurevich switched from Leningrad to Belgium (which was understood by most), but then to Turkey (which might have been seen as a purely professional move). The rest is easy to understand: FIDE as the Arctic Wolf, money as the lemming. Apologies to Farley Mowat and to the Arctic Wolf. It's a business tax.

The amount for the transfer depends on the amount of time a player has resided in his new country. I posted some of the data on the old site. The longer a player is a resident of his new country the smaller the transfer fee, but still high for a GM or IM.

Leaving FIDE would have been a dumb move, in my opinion. Possibly you have some logic for that move, which would make up for the loss of our zone and title opportunities for players. I'd be interested in reading it.

I suppose there would be some justification for players to foot the cost of their federation transfers and titles. Certainly player transfers aren't our problem as there are few enough opportunities for the players who now play under our flag.

In any case, the CFC has to decide the services they will provide and set their fees for this. Without a proper internet presence, and that includes a server, I can't see the membership getting up to the past numbers. That probably means less services or higher fees, or both, for the current membership.

It might also be an idea to drop the honourary members. There aren't enough paying members to cover the costs of running the federation, much less subsidize so many honourary members.

[Jonathan Berry]

Re: Anton Kovalyov in ch-ARG

Thanks, Larry. I don't know whether to be happy for the support that this question merits an answer, or to question why the other questions might not have.

The tournament itself has taken quite a turn. Kovalyov and Felgaer came to the fore, winning two games each, but then in the penultimate round the sprint became a quagmire, as both leaders lost! A golden opportunity missed by Kovalyov, as he had White against an "also-ran". Going into the last round, there is a four-way tie for first with 7-3. Felgaer looks to have the easiest last round game, while two of the co-leaders, the new ones, Lemos and Flores, meet each other. Lemos is only 18--two years older than Kovalyov, but still pretty young!

Edit, August 11th. The final round games are broadcast at:
http://201.216.215.172/torneos/FINAL...g-sup/game.htm
Felgaer has ceded the bishop pair, but he has space, and attacking potential.
The leader-leader game is a Benko Gambit where White gave up his QB in aid of setting up a light-square bind. Kovalyov's game is also monochromatic. Visually, White looks good, with control of the d-file, but if that were a decisive advantage, nobody would play the Sveshnikov (this game started as a Najdorf, but you get the drift)!

Update. The three games of interest are at the bottom of the drop-down box. Kovalyov broke the monochromy. Now both sides have a protected passed pawn, but K's isn't blockaded.

[Jonathan Berry]

Re: Anton Kovalyov in ch-ARG

Kovalyov, Flores and Felgaer tied for first in the 83rd ch-ARG. Each had 8-3. At this instant, the games broadcast shows only truncated scores of at least two of the final-round games.

Congrats!

[Jonathan Berry]

Re: Anton Kovalyov in ch-ARG

In the RR playoff, Flores and Felgaer drew each other, and both defeated Kovalyov. I don't know how 1st-2nd was broken after that, but the results page shows Felgaer 1st, Flores 2nd.

Normally, I'd expect a performance like 8-3 would earn a place on the Argentine olympic team. But hardly anything is normal.

[Craig Sadler]

Re: Anton Kovalyov in ch-ARG

what's the advantage to having them join the Canadian federation?

[Vlad Dobrich]

Re: Anton Kovalyov in ch-ARG

What a question! The answer should be obvious - the more top players we have, the better we will do internationally. And the better we do, the more sponsorship both commercial and government. What this thread was originally addressing was the cash-grab by FIDE.
The fair resolution would be for FIDE to remit half the transfer fee to the federation losing its titled player! Thus if Spraggett transfers to Portugal, Portugal pays $5,000 and the CFC gets $2,500! :)

[Jonathan Berry]

Re: Anton Kovalyov in ch-ARG

Vlad,

I agree with your suggestion of what FIDE should do with the transfer Euros. We can hope.

In starting the thread, I wanted to find out why Kovalyov, who moved to Canada with his mother in mid-2007, with the intention of settling here, did not in the end represent Canada. There ended up being considerable discussion on the Dark Board.

So far as I can tell, in our 141 years, the only chess pros who have ever emigrated to Canada are ones who also had a "day job". The different factors in this case seem to be: 1) the abject state of the CFC; 2) the extreme youth and promise of Kovalyov.

[Aris Marghetis]

Re: then this is something else for the CFC executive to consider

Excuse my ignorance, but how has this funding philosophy been working? If not at all, then, and I know some might find this sacriligious, should we be spending such sums of money on incoming players, or at least set up some realistically mitigating guidelines?

Just an idea. If it's a bad one, feel free to explain why without swinging an axe at me! ;)

[Vlad Dobrich]

Re: Anton Kovalyov in ch-ARG

A.M.:Please clarify your post. T Y

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: Anton Kovalyov in ch-ARG

In starting the thread, I wanted to find out why Kovalyov, who moved to Canada with his mother in mid-2007, with the intention of settling here, did not in the end represent Canada. There ended up being considerable discussion on the Dark Board.

As I wrote in a previous post, no application has been made to FIDE (as of July 1) for a federation transfer for Kovalyov.

So far as I can tell, in our 141 years, the only chess pros who have ever emigrated to Canada are ones who also had a "day job". The different factors in this case seem to be: 1) the abject state of the CFC; 2) the extreme youth and promise of Kovalyov.

What about Igor Ivanov?