If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
Policy / Politique
The fee for tournament organizers advertising on ChessTalk is $20/event or $100/yearly unlimited for the year.
Les frais d'inscription des organisateurs de tournoi sur ChessTalk sont de 20 $/événement ou de 100 $/année illimitée.
You can etransfer to Henry Lam at chesstalkforum at gmail dot com
Transfér à Henry Lam à chesstalkforum@gmail.com
Dark Knight / Le Chevalier Noir
General Guidelines
---- Nous avons besoin d'un traduction français!
Some Basics
1. Under Board "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQs) there are 3 sections dealing with General Forum Usage, User Profile Features, and Reading and Posting Messages. These deal with everything from Avatars to Your Notifications. Most general technical questions are covered there. Here is a link to the FAQs. https://forum.chesstalk.com/help
2. Consider using the SEARCH button if you are looking for information. You may find your question has already been answered in a previous thread.
3. If you've looked for an answer to a question, and not found one, then you should consider asking your question in a new thread. For example, there have already been questions and discussion regarding: how to do chess diagrams (FENs); crosstables that line up properly; and the numerous little “glitches” that every new site will have.
4. Read pinned or sticky threads, like this one, if they look important. This applies especially to newcomers.
5. Read the thread you're posting in before you post. There are a variety of ways to look at a thread. These are covered under “Display Modes”.
6. Thread titles: please provide some details in your thread title. This is useful for a number of reasons. It helps ChessTalk members to quickly skim the threads. It prevents duplication of threads. And so on.
7. Unnecessary thread proliferation (e.g., deliberately creating a new thread that duplicates existing discussion) is discouraged. Look to see if a thread on your topic may have already been started and, if so, consider adding your contribution to the pre-existing thread. However, starting new threads to explore side-issues that are not relevant to the original subject is strongly encouraged. A single thread on the Canadian Open, with hundreds of posts on multiple sub-topics, is no better than a dozen threads on the Open covering only a few topics. Use your good judgment when starting a new thread.
8. If and/or when sub-forums are created, please make sure to create threads in the proper place.
Debate
9. Give an opinion and back it up with a reason. Throwaway comments such as "Game X pwnz because my friend and I think so!" could be considered pointless at best, and inflammatory at worst.
10. Try to give your own opinions, not simply those copied and pasted from reviews or opinions of your friends.
Unacceptable behavior and warnings
11. In registering here at ChessTalk please note that the same or similar rules apply here as applied at the previous Boardhost message board. In particular, the following content is not permitted to appear in any messages:
* Racism
* Hatred
* Harassment
* Adult content
* Obscene material
* Nudity or pornography
* Material that infringes intellectual property or other proprietary rights of any party
* Material the posting of which is tortious or violates a contractual or fiduciary obligation you or we owe to another party
* Piracy, hacking, viruses, worms, or warez
* Spam
* Any illegal content
* unapproved Commercial banner advertisements or revenue-generating links
* Any link to or any images from a site containing any material outlined in these restrictions
* Any material deemed offensive or inappropriate by the Board staff
12. Users are welcome to challenge other points of view and opinions, but should do so respectfully. Personal attacks on others will not be tolerated. Posts and threads with unacceptable content can be closed or deleted altogether. Furthermore, a range of sanctions are possible - from a simple warning to a temporary or even a permanent banning from ChessTalk.
Helping to Moderate
13. 'Report' links (an exclamation mark inside a triangle) can be found in many places throughout the board. These links allow users to alert the board staff to anything which is offensive, objectionable or illegal. Please consider using this feature if the need arises.
Advice for free
14. You should exercise the same caution with Private Messages as you would with any public posting.
We have completed the first day of Rapid play at the Sport Accord World Mind Games here in Beijing. The Opening Ceremonies took place last night so our first day was only 2 rounds for the men and 2 for the women. The rapid event is a 7 round swiss, held over 3 days. We then move on to a blitz round robin followed by a 7 round blindfold swiss.
The schedule is extremely tight. I have not even stepped outside since I arrived on the 7th. The atmosphere is pleasant enough so far - everyone seems happy. We hit a few speed bumps yesterday but kept the car on the road.
We are here with Go, Bridge, Draughts and Chinese Chess. Enjoyed a chat with some Go folks this morning. They have 6 "countries" here, including Europe, playing 5 board matches.
Thanks Aris!
We are using Swiss Manager. Germany's Klaus Deventer is my Deputy. He also worked the European Teams with you. Bob Gibbons of New Zealand and KK Chan of Hong Kong are joined by 5 local IA's who are also excellent.
The Rapid tournament finished last night and provided some interesting results. In the Men's competition, top seeded Ivanchuk finished last with only 2/7. On the Women's side, the lowest seed Alexandra Kosteniuk finished first with 6/7! The medals went like this:
Men
1st Hao Wang 5.5; Gold plus $12,000
2nd Vugar Gashimov 5.0; Silver plus $10,000
3rd Gata Kamsky 4.5; Bronze plus $9,000
Women:
1st Alexandra Kosteniuk 6.0; Gold plus $9,000
2nd Kateryna Lahno 4.5 (tie break - more victories); Silver plus $7,000
3rd Nana Dzagnidze 4.5; Bronze plus $7,000 - cash shared within point groups
Klaus Deventer and I took advantage of the reduced Sunday traffic to visit the Forbidden City yesterday morning. It's a massive visual spectacle. The taxi dropped us off at the north gate, which is strictly an exit. We had to walk around the perimiter to the south entrance. Plenty of walking - no problem getting to sleep last night!
The Grischuk Mamedyarov game was a hair raiser. The final pawn capture by Black on move 127 in a Q+p ending left Mamedyarov trying to win with his Q and 7th rank rook pawn. On Move 177 Grischuk was in check and his Q en pris, so a trade of Q's would lose quickly. He claimed a 50 move draw. Claim awarded. Mamedyarov was not happy.
The Women's World Champion took her side of the blitz:
Blindfold started today, with a Beta version of the blindfold software(revised several times during our testing on site, as soon as 30 minutes before the start of the first round) which crashed in round 2 for the Women. We restarted and got thru the first 2 rounds for men and women. Ivanchuk is favoured and leads with 2 points. He has struggled here in the other events, and wept audibly after a late round blitz loss. Go Chukie!
The Grischuk Mamedyarov game was a hair raiser. The final pawn capture by Black on move 127 in a Q+p ending left Mamedyarov trying to win with his Q and 7th rank rook pawn. On Move 177 Grischuk was in check and his Q en pris, so a trade of Q's would lose quickly. He claimed a 50 move draw. Claim awarded. Mamedyarov was not happy.
The Women's World Champion took her side of the blitz:
Blindfold started today, with a Beta version of the blindfold software(revised several times during our testing on site, as soon as 30 minutes before the start of the first round) which crashed in round 2 for the Women. We restarted and got thru the first 2 rounds for men and women. Ivanchuk is favoured and leads with 2 points. He has struggled here in the other events, and wept audibly after a late round blitz loss. Go Chukie!
Interesting report Hal - thanks!
"wept audibly"??? Wow.
I'll check when I have a moment, but I wonder if the pgn files are available - I'd especially like to look at the Grischuk-Mamedyarov game...
Zoltan Almasi topped two other 5 pointers on tie break for Gold in the Men's Blindfold. Vachier-Lagrave took the Silver and Gashimov the Bronze.
Yifan Hou scored 5.5 to win the Women's event, a full point ahead of Viktorja Cmilyte and Alexandra Kosteniuk.
So ends this 58 round, 3 event competition. Whew! This was my first Chief Arbitership for FIDE and it kept me awake many a night beforehand, wondering how to deal with situation X or Y. In the end nobody died, no appeals, and the mood afterward was quite festive. I had to forfeit Vallejo -Pons and Ivanchuk for being late on two separate occasions, but they both accepted their fate. Mamedyarov, who was on the receiving end of the most crucial decision I have ever rendered was also the most appreciative afterwards. Some lessons were learned by all parties as we manouvered through this hybrid competiton but overall it was extremely positive. Most of the players wanted to take their name placards as souvenirs. Sport Accord stated at the Closing Banquet that they are most pleased with the World Mind Games Competition and that Beijing will host the 2012 rendition at the same time next year.
Hal, congratulations man! It seems this this was an intense concentrated marathon, and from all accounts, you rocked it as Chief Arbiter! Awesome representing of Canada! Have a safe trip home. I can just imagine you will then sleep halfway through to Christmas! ;)
Comment