Spraggett: Canada's top International Arbiter...

[John Upper]

I regularly visit Spraggett's Blog. His games and tactics selections are excellent.

In today's Blog, KS says: "My blog is your unique passport to the on-line Canadian chess community: literally its eyes and ears (as well as to an enormously large international following)."
I think that's a fair description: is is one-of-a-kind and it probably is the most-visited chess blog by a Canadian.

I generally ignore his posts on Canadian chess, which are almost invariably criticisms of the CFC, but today's post is wonderfully revealing. The main entry is a review by Serge Archambault of Canada's past Olympic teams and short eval of the players expected to be on this year's team.

At the end Spraggett says about the author: "IA Serge Archambault is Canada's top International Arbiter (IA)... "

I don't mean to slight Serge Archambault -- he was arbiter at the 2011 Quebec Open and I don't recall any complaints about that -- but "top IA"?

Some of Spraggett's international following might have noticed Canadian IA Hal Bond on stage every round at the World Championship.
...or at the Topalov-Kamsky World Championship Candidate's Final in 2009.
...or as Deputy Arbiter at the Anand-Kramnik World Championship in 2008.

If you are a long-time reader of the KS Blog you'll not be surprised that Hal isn't recognized as a super-competent IA, because you will have noticed that Hal Bond appears there only in the role of evil and/or incompetent former CFC President.

Up til now I'd just assumed Spraggett would try not to draw attention to how his animosity toward the CFC makes his reports about Canadian chess so unreliable. But maybe he doesn't recognize it. Or doesn't care.

[Alex Ferreira]

Re: Spraggett: Canada's top International Arbiter...

Hi John,


I agree with you on the chess content in Spraggett's blog. Quality stuff. Some of the humour and random historical / news articles are also definitely worth running through.

About the recent publishing on Olympiad on his blog, some things jumped to my mind.

That list of Top Canadian Players with the caption "Most of Canada's top players routinely decline to participate on the National Team" is totally misleading. That list includes active and long inactive players, who don't qualify to represent Canada. Certainly a couple of players have declined, but I am under the impression that, even though CFC often struggles to raise the moneys, Canada always sends a team with most expenses paid. Apart from that, Canada sends a team of respectably strong players, given that we're a weak chess nation.

The other thing which I thought was interesting was the mention of "lack of international experience" in recent months / years. This seems to be somewhat, though to my mind not entirely true. Yes, some or most of the players may not play much outside of Canada, and USA is the only neighbour. This may very well be because Canada is such a massive country and not everyone can / is willing to move to Europe and pursue the life of a chess professional.
However... in my opinion some of the tournaments our Olympians play in are very much of international calibre. Alberta and Quebec host very strong invitational tournaments where our Olympians play in, and they do get the opportunity to play opposition from around the world. There were also two Canadian Opens in Toronto recently, and any CO should be considered an international tournament. Perhaps these aren't frequent enough and our top players may only have such opportunities 2-3 times a year. But when they play in them, seem to hold their own in terms of results (against their international peers), this definitely should count for something.
To what extent does "lack of international experience" play a role? Hopefully the fewer opportunities (compared to some other countries) provide additional motivation to succeed.

Go Team Canada!


Alex Ferreira

[Kerry Liles]

Re: Spraggett: Canada's top International Arbiter...

I regularly visit Spraggett's Blog. His games and tactics selections are excellent.

In today's Blog, KS says: "My blog is your unique passport to the on-line Canadian chess community: literally its eyes and ears (as well as to an enormously large international following)."
I think that's a fair description: is is one-of-a-kind and it probably is the most-visited chess blog by a Canadian.

I generally ignore his posts on Canadian chess, which are almost invariably criticisms of the CFC, but today's post is wonderfully revealing. The main entry is a review by Serge Archambault of Canada's past Olympic teams and short eval of the players expected to be on this year's team.

At the end Spraggett says about the author: "IA Serge Archambault is Canada's top International Arbiter (IA)... "

I don't mean to slight Serge Archambault -- he was arbiter at the 2011 Quebec Open and I don't recall any complaints about that -- but "top IA"?

Some of Spraggett's international following might have noticed Canadian IA Hal Bond on stage every round at the World Championship.
...or at the Topalov-Kamsky World Championship Candidate's Final in 2009.
...or as Deputy Arbiter at the Anand-Kramnik World Championship in 2008.

If you are a long-time reader of the KS Blog you'll not be surprised that Hal isn't recognized as a super-competent IA, because you will have noticed that Hal Bond appears there only in the role of evil and/or incompetent former CFC President.

Up til now I'd just assumed Spraggett would try not to draw attention to how his animosity toward the CFC makes his reports about Canadian chess so unreliable. But maybe he doesn't recognize it. Or doesn't care.

Agreed, the chess content is very good; the chess politics content is dubious at best. I wonder what these statements (from Serge A. about E. Porper) means:

"Furthermore, and here I’ll try to stay as respectful as possible in this case, let’s just say that it is well known that IM Porper has a dubious reputation on the European circuit. That might have been part of IM Teplistsky’s concern. Granted he has a lot of international experience (over 20 years !!) and might be able to help the youngster’s in our team greatly (back in his young days, I can even go as far as to say he was considered a very promising World level player), it is not clear to me his presence will be positive for the team spirit and cohesion. In fact, unless he changed dramatically over the last 5 years, anybody having crossed his path in the past would tell you it is to be expected life will be much more complicated for his teammates, if he is to join the Canadian Team."

Clearly, Serge A. is not thrilled with the choice(s) made by the selection committee, but that cannot be a surprise either.

[Christopher Mallon]

Re: Spraggett: Canada's top International Arbiter...

Did Serge really count the Team Captain as if he were a playing member of the team and complain about how low his rating was in that case?

[Kerry Liles]

Re: Spraggett: Canada's top International Arbiter...

Did Serge really count the Team Captain as if he were a playing member of the team and complain about how low his rating was in that case?

It looks like V.Plotkin is the captain (according to the info on the CFC web page about the olympic team) ... this is what Serge said about that:

"As far as FM Victor Plotkin (photo above) is concerned, even though his 2243 FIDE rating is quite low for Canadian standards, and his qualification somewhat controversial, I believe according to the CFC rules he deserves to be there (I also think the qualification system is broken) and I hope he will enjoy this unforgettable moment in his chess career. As our 6th player, he shouldn’t be of a real impact to the team results."

[Fred McKim]

Re: Spraggett: Canada's top International Arbiter...

It looks like V.Plotkin is the captain (according to the info on the CFC web page about the olympic team) ... this is what Serge said about that:

"As far as FM Victor Plotkin (photo above) is concerned, even though his 2243 FIDE rating is quite low for Canadian standards, and his qualification somewhat controversial, I believe according to the CFC rules he deserves to be there (I also think the qualification system is broken) and I hope he will enjoy this unforgettable moment in his chess career. As our 6th player, he shouldn’t be of a real impact to the team results."

It would seem clear that Serge mistakenly considered Victor to be our 6th board, even though there have only been 5 boards for quite a number of years now.

As per the CFC rules, the players select the team captain.

[Kerry Liles]

Re: Spraggett: Canada's top International Arbiter...

It would seem clear that Serge mistakenly considered Victor to be our 6th board, even though there have only been 5 boards for quite a number of years now.

As per the CFC rules, the players select the team captain.

I guess that might help explain why Hal is at the World Championships and Serge is guest writing Spraggett's blob

[Normand Arsenault]

Re: Spraggett: Canada's top International Arbiter...

I guess that might help explain why Hal is at the World Championships and Serge is guest writing Spraggett's blob

Touché Kerry.

Norm

[Jonathan Berry]

Re: Spraggett: Canada's top International Arbiter...

Pour encourager les autres.

[Ed Zator]

Re: Spraggett: Canada's top International Arbiter...

It would seem clear that Serge mistakenly considered Victor to be our 6th board, even though there have only been 5 boards for quite a number of years now.

As per the CFC rules, the players select the team captain.

There is only the 4 boards, and 1 reserve player.

The captain is allowed to play, though it is a little
unclear from the regulations whether or not he can
actually be a 6th player:

1.1.7 Participants

1.1.7.1 FIDE and the Organizing Committee shall appoint
• officers, and/or
• specialist sub-committees to control the play and conduct
the administrative business of the Olympiad, as specified in
further detail in the organization plans (D.II.07 Annexes A, B and C).
1.1.7.2 Players
The national teams of federations affiliated to FIDE.
Open: 4 players, 1 reserve
Women: 4 players, 1 reserve
1.1.7.3 Captains
Each team shall have a captain, who may also be one of the players (or reserve).
Duties:
• Leadership of the team matches
• Liaison with the Chief Arbiter
1.1.7.4 Chiefs of delegations
The federations take full responsibility for the conduct of their players. Each
federation may be represented by a Chief of delegation; it may either
appoint a person exclusively to this office, or entrust the team captain, or
one of the players or reserves, with this function.
Duties:
• Administrative supervision of the team
• Liaison with the organizing authorities and Tournament Director.

[Fred McKim]

Re: Spraggett: Canada's top International Arbiter...

There is only the 4 boards, and 1 reserve player.

The team captain, is indeed a 6th player when needed, as per the
official list of participants

1.1.7 Participants

1.1.7.1 FIDE and the Organizing Committee shall appoint
• officers, and/or
• specialist sub-committees to control the play and conduct
the administrative business of the Olympiad, as specified in
further detail in the organization plans (D.II.07 Annexes A, B and C).
1.1.7.2 Players
The national teams of federations affiliated to FIDE.
Open: 4 players, 1 reserve
Women: 4 players, 1 reserve
1.1.7.3 Captains
Each team shall have a captain, who may also be one of the players (or reserve).
Duties:
• Leadership of the team matches
• Liaison with the Chief Arbiter
1.1.7.4 Chiefs of delegations
The federations take full responsibility for the conduct of their players. Each
federation may be represented by a Chief of delegation; it may either
appoint a person exclusively to this office, or entrust the team captain, or
one of the players or reserves, with this function.
Duties:
• Administrative supervision of the team
• Liaison with the organizing authorities and Tournament Director.

Each team is only allowed 5 players. One of the five may also serve as captain.

[Ed Zator]

Re: Spraggett: Canada's top International Arbiter...

Each team is only allowed 5 players. One of the five may also serve as captain.

Granted, it is a little ambiguous, but it does not actually say that.
(If it did, it would use almost your words exactly.)

It says that in addition to the players, a team will have a team captain,
who may also be a player or reserve. No stipulation that he has to be
one of the players aforementioned.

So I think the IA was right after all.

[Alvah Mayo]

Re: Spraggett: Canada's top International Arbiter...

Judging from John's original post, I'd have to say Kevin Spraggett is 50% right.

In my considered opinion, Hal Bond is totally incompetent as an arbiter.

Then again, I've reached the same conclusion regarding Serge Archambault.

I think it is a real shame that both of them have somehow managed to obtain an IA title (CrackerJack box, perhaps?).

If you want the best IA in Canada, I have two words for you: Jonathan Berry.

[Christopher Mallon]

Re: Spraggett: Canada's top International Arbiter...

It says that in addition to the players, a team will have a team captain,
who may also be a player or reserve. No stipulation that he has to be
one of the players aforementioned.

So I think the IA was right after all.

You are finding meaning out of nothing there. It says that the captain is allowed to be a player or reserve player (which numbers are limited immediately above that clause). Nowhere does it say the captain specifically is allowed to play by virtue of being captain.

[Kerry Liles]

Re: Spraggett: Canada's top International Arbiter...

Judging from John's original post, I'd have to say Kevin Spraggett is 50% right.

In my considered opinion, Hal Bond is totally incompetent as an arbiter.

Then again, I've reached the same conclusion regarding Serge Archambault.

I think it is a real shame that both of them have somehow managed to obtain an IA title (CrackerJack box, perhaps?).

If you want the best IA in Canada, I have two words for you: Jonathan Berry.

Since this is starting to look like a contest best conducted in dark suits, perhaps you can grace us with your qualifications for judging arbiters.