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IM Igor Ivanov was Canadian champion at that time, and he may have been led to believe that this would entitle him to a Candidates' slot, automatic, as Canada was hosting the matches. Didn't work out that way. GM Kevin Spraggett was selected, and then did do very well in that Candidates cycle, beating Sokolov in their match, and losing to GM Yusupov only in extra games. I remember watching rounds one and two of that match live in Quebec City, where I believe IM Hebert was doing commentary. :)
A very difficult time in Canadian Chess. Igor and Kevin tied for 1st in the Canadian Closed, with Igor having better tie-breaks. A short match was held and ended in a tie, giving Igor the Canadian Closed title. However, I think Kevin probably had the higher rating (someone can check this).
Around this same time the Interzonals occurred (we had two spots) andthe players declined their spots, presumably both thinking they would get in the Candidates as the host country rep.
I don't remember whether Kevin was chosen by the President or the Executive.
While logic would suggest the Canadian Champion would be the Candidates representative, following the letter of the law in the handbook probably would suggest the highest rated player has priority on tournaments that aren't specified in the handbook.
This kind of reasoning worries me. If a decision wrong and unfair in principle turns out OK then it was a "good" decision ? Unfortunately too many people think this way until they get convicted.
Jean,
"The ends don't justify the means" is a common expression that highlights your sentiments exactly...
Jordan
No matter how big and bad you are, when a two-year-old hands you a toy phone, you answer it.
Re: Biggest chess scandal in Canadian chess history?
Responding to Jordan's question:
The 2004 Zonal pairing scandal was the round 8 situation involving GM Kevin Spraggett, GM Dmitry Tyomkin, IM (now GM) Pascal Charbonneau, and FM Goran Milicevic.
IA Mark Dutton was head arbiter; I had declined an earlier opportunity to be an arbiter for the event, with norm, once I heard he was selected, and I resigned from the OCA Executive because Barry Thorvardson, as President, didn't consult with his Executive on this decision. Thorvardson was Zonal organizer. Dutton is now CFC President. When I resigned I told Thorvardson I expected problems with Dutton at the Zonal, which proved correct.
These four players were tied for the lead after seven rounds. An even-numbered round (8) was coming up, so that colours could be balanced, heading into the final (9th round). A set of pairings existed for the scoregroup for round 8, which would have balanced the colours for all four leaders (in even-numbered rounds, one of the most important axioms of Swiss pairings), using a combination where the players had not faced any opponent before in the event (the primary axiom of Swiss pairings).
Yet, Dutton did not choose this option, and instead chose one which gave Milicevic five Whites after eight rounds, and Charbonneau five Blacks. :(
Milicevic had represented Dutton's Club, Dutton Chess, in team competition before the tournament, and would do so afterwards as well.
The tournament winner would advance to represent Canada in the next World Championship cycle. The top-scoring non-IM would receive the IM title should he score at least 6/9, as this regulation applied to FIDE Zonal events.
I (among many others) criticized the pairings at the time, and have ever since, posting on this site that they were incorrect and demanding they be changed to attain colour balance for the leaders. This had no effect. Every competent arbiter I have consulted on the matter has confirmed that I am right. :)
There are also a couple of quite nasty letters on this matter, sent to me, at the time, from Dutton and Thorvardson, which I have not yet made public, but may do so in the future. Dutton asserted that I, as a non-participant, unaffected by the pairings, had no right to try to correct the error, which he has never publicly owned up to, or apologized for, even nearly nine years later.
I was a CFC Governor at the time, had been head organizer and assistant arbiter for the 1992 Kingston Zonal, and an arbiter for the 2004 Kapuskasing Canadian Open the month previous to the Zonal. Since then, I have attained several more norms; some of which have possibly expired. I also enrolled in the first-ever Canadian FIDE Arbiters' Course, Toronto 2010, and passed its very tough four-hour exam. Yet, I remain untitled as an arbiter.
One thing we learned in the excellent FIDE course, from instructors IA / IO Hal Bond and IA Stephen Boyd, is that, under FIDE pairing rules, there is only one correct way to do the pairings at any particular point in an event.
FIDE-qualified arbiters must apply the Laws of Chess at all times, and remain strictly objective. To do otherwise is to risk losing one's title.
That pairing occured at the Toronto International in 1985.
But I wont go any further on this no matter how tempted I could be. This silly and ill intentioned thread seems to be aimed at opening old wounds for no positive purpose at all. It should be closed for good. We have enough current scandals to deal with :).
That pairing occured at the Toronto International in 1985.
But I wont go any further on this no matter how tempted I could be. This silly and ill intentioned thread seems to be aimed at opening old wounds for no positive purpose at all. It should be closed for good. We have enough current scandals to deal with :).
Jean,
Sorry for asking... I thought I had read 2004 Canadian Open, so when I saw you had been paired with Korchnoi at the 2004 Open, somehow I was thinking of the 1985 incident.
I need more sleep...
Be well, Jordan
No matter how big and bad you are, when a two-year-old hands you a toy phone, you answer it.
The Hébert-Korchnoi pairing "scandal" was a last-round pairing at the 1985 Toronto International. I'll let Jean tell the story, if he wishes to do so.
And did the 2004 pairing situation go to a higher level (the tournament appeals committee; National Appeals committee; FIDE)?
no, or at least not to the tournament appeals committee (of which I was one).
So, whatever the error was, if there was one, was not serious enough to make an appeal. There was also no disruption in the tournament hall prior to or during the game, so nobody was very vocal about being hard done by.
Re: Biggest chess scandal in Canadian chess history?
By far the biggest non financial scandal in CFC history was the blatant disregard of the rules in the 1995 Canadian Closed where the title of outright Canadian champion was stolen from Byron Nickoloff by the CFC. I was there and witnessed every last sordid detail in the championship. Glenn Johnstone resigned his game against Nickoloff and yet Johnstone was awarded the win. Deen Hergott never even showed up for his last round game and thus should have been forfeited but the game was annulled with neither player getting any points. Even so Nickoloff tied for first place. That episode proved to me that rules don't matter. Unless the CFC rights this injustice the organization will always be a laughingstock in my eyes.
Re: Biggest chess scandal in Canadian chess history?
What are scandals as opposed to disasters? Something done poorly or with evil intent? The dictionary says "public disgrace." Two items are not enough for a poll. Canadian Chess has had lots of dirty laundry:
There has been controversies throughout Canadian chess history, such as in the 1870s one city's team was playing telegraph matches with their opening chess book open. Disputes about where the Canadian Championship should be held. A Russian spy at the Ottawa CC. A chess & bridge club being used as a front for gambling. A master who worked with the Nazis. A player who was a pedophile and murderer. A punch being thrown at the Toronto CC. A GM not getting immigration papers to stay in Canada. What about Anderson not getting his GM norm at the Olympiad? When the Canadian Closed was a round-robin someone strong would be left out. Selections to the Olympiad team usually have a difference of opinion, but I don't think anybody has been selected because they're friends. And just last year a strong junior was prevented from representing Canada internationally. Is sending weak juniors to a master event a scandal?
Organizers have organized big events with poor turnout, losing lots of money. There has been organizers who didn't give out all the prizes or forward CFC memberships. The Toronto CC lost its money in being kicked out after renovating and the membership voted against moving to Bloor & Bathurst, leading to its decline. The Toronto Building Fund was swallowed by the CFC. The biggest financial scandal was lottery money going to Man versus Machine 1978. What about paying for a year subscription to a chess magazine that folded after 2 issues?
There has been players cheating. I remember one opponent going to the washroom with a pocket set; the TD refused to peak through the toilet stall. (Also Players peeing at the board.) There has been players in the Canadian Junior who played out a prepared game, player in the Canadian Closed who slept at the board and been woken up, players who have preentered but didn't show up, players who have withdrawn from a round-robin or rusty players who didn't prepare, resulting in preventing a more interested player from playing. A player quitting the Olympiad team mid-tournament. Is it scandalous to play 1. g4!?
There has been lost adjournment envelopes and pairing errors. An organizer deliberately mispaired Hebert in 1985 because he was losing money on the event. But the pairing in the 2006 Canadian Closed wasn't deliberate as it was a computer error. Likewise, the 2010 Canadian Open accelerated pairings barfed out a mispaired point group. So to me the bigger scandal is the CFC continuing to promote a defective product. At the very least, organizers should buy FIDE-recognized software (like Swiss-Manager) and do phantom pairings to double check what Swiss-Sys does. The scandal from that Closed was not paying the food bill to Master's Buffeteria for the closing banquet.
And what does one call the large-scale systemic scandals like the CFC not providing full service in both official languages, going to war with Quebec (Even in last year's agreement with the FQE, players' FQE rating doesn't count for the Olympiad team calculation and the number of FQE rated games doesn't count towards eligibility). The Fischer boom was an opportunity to get government and corporate support and the CFC failed, contributed to the collapse of the Chess Canada empire, and, while 20% of Canadians played chess, CFC had declining membership. Nowadays thousands play chess online, unconnected to the CFC. Hundreds of schools have chess teaches and buy equipment, unconnected to the CFC. At the Olympiad Canada has to compete with teams that get government funding. Canada couldn't afford to send a team to some Olympiads. We have no pension plans for those who have devoted their life to chess. We have no Canadian Hall of Fame chess museum. Canada is its own FIDE zone? Now that's scandalous.
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