18-01-2013, 10:06 PM
I have to say that I have no personal issues against andy muir whatsoever (unless you count my hard feelings about getting completely hammered by him at the Scottish blitz :p) but I have to say that it is a bit annoying that it is fairly easy for Hamilton to prepare against other teams but nigh on impossible to prepare for them, because of the dubious interpretation of the rules by the organiser of the event who just happens to be a member of the team that indisputably benefits the most from his interpretation of the rules. Whether this is deliberate or not is beside the point - it is easy to convince yourself that things that suit you are the way it should be but the fact is that the rule says current playing strength and in another thread I seem to recall (correct me if I'm wrong) that the reason that Hamilton varies its board order is that they want to give all their stronger players (who all are close in grade) a fair amount of games against decent opposition which is understandable but not within the rules! The rules say playing strength not preference! Even if the playing strength is very close it doesn't matter and there is no excuse of ignorance as there is a rating system designed for this purpose! Just want to reiterate that I have no personal issues whatsoever with any of the Hamilton team and that all the ones I have had the pleasure to meet I have found polite and friendly.