Scottish Chess Championships 2013

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Andy.

Yes. Super - now watching the rest of the Scottish lads games to see if there is a tie.

If there is - is there a play off or do one of these Sandy Burger rules come into action.

Did not finish work till 5.00 am too knacked to make it. Pity would have liked to catch up
with some old faces.

If there is PGN's that need entering you can send them to me - I'll PM my address.
(notice the PGN page is still coming soon ) =)

Mrs C wants on the computer as Sunday is E-Bay day - can't you get these games on the radio?

Will have to wait to later to see what has happened.

Geoff

[George Neave]

Great coverage and looks a great event; an all too rare norm opportunity on home soil. So commendations to the organizers. Concerning the actual games, I have to confess I am disappointed with the performance of the Scots. Honestly I expected better but with exception of Roddy's game today the Scots have been outclassed time after time. How come?

[William Hulme]

Here are the 202 games from the live boards....
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[amuir]

Congratulations to Roddy - several people say he is their all-time favourite Scottish player.
He saved the embarrassment of a tie-break

My AGM proposal
Suggested method:The method of tie-break for the Championship will be (a) the results between the players involved (b) if this is indecisive then the Tournament Performance Rating (TPR) of the players involved.
Current method greatly favours a lower rated player and is unfairThe method of tie-break for the Championship will be the FIDE performance (w-we) of the players involved.)

I played below par as I have done in about 85% of my Scottish performances. Watching Andy Murray in round 2 was better than insipidness. My record says it all. O wins v GMs in Scotland. 8 wins v GMs abroad.
Disappointed the general public didn't watch. A grand crowd of 3 people turned up to watch the epic Buchanan v Muir round 9 game (Walter is my most common opponent, having first played him in 1970)

[Alex McFarlane]

He saved the embarrassment of a tie-break

I laughed at this as it was Andy who campaigned long and hard to have tie-breaks introduced!

I do however agree that TPR as used for norm calculations will be used in future. At the time the current method was introduced there were several different ways of counting TPR. ChessBase often produced a different calculation than other methods and there was whether the actual grade difference should be used or should the difference be capped at 400. As it stands Andy's suggestion does not deal with any of these complications.

May I suggest that any player who has any criticism of an event that I run should speak to me first before rushing to get a motion passed by the AGM. I doubt if there is anything which is more likely to force the resignation of any Director than to have their hands tied by a motion that is fatally flawed.

[Matthew Turner]

This was my first time at the Scottish Championships and it was pretty good. Helensburgh was very pleasant and the playing conditions were excellent. I think the chess was very competitive with very few quick draws and there was a nice finish with Roddy whupping Mark Hebden to take the Scottish title.

I do think there are a few areas to think about for next year

1. Andy Muir is right, the tiebreak for the Scottish Championship was frankly ridiculous. It really put the status of the Championship on a par with a grading prize - that cannot be right

2. I think there needs to be some thinking about the pairings. There were a few little problems and it was difficult to see the benefits of accelerating (the pairings that resulted in round 3 looked very odd). Perhaps 'keeping it simple' is the way ahead

3. On a personal note, I would really like the games to start at a different time. 1pm really cut the day in half, so it was tricky to do anything touristy in the mornings and the games usually finished at an in between time, too early for supper, but no time to really do anything.

Many thanks to everyone who put a lot of work in to make the Championships such a success.

[Alex McFarlane]

The point about the tie break has been conceded now that there is a more established TPR than was the case when 'performance' was introduced.

I am happy to word future events to say that Acceleration will only be used if numbers are over 100. Acceleration is a complicated issue. The top players don't like it - some argue it means some more tough games for them - but it does stop potential norm seekers meeting very weak opposition in the first round and therefore having an even tougher task in a 9 round event. The ordinary punter tends to like it as it produces top games quicker and also gives them a beter chance at a good scalp if they are playing well.

The start time can be financially driven. I have priced venues where a two o'clock start would have almost doubled the cost of venue hire. When asking for quotes I usually assume a 1pm and 2pm start.

[Alan Tate]

First of all congratulations to Roddy, it was great to see him play like he used to towards the end.

Have to say I really liked Helensburgh as a chess venue, not too busy and amazing views. Looking out across the sea made it feel more like Italy than Scotland at times! Thanks to everyone who organised it.

There were some definite improvements this year:

The boards were all good quality, nice to have good wooden boards and pieces. Time control was also an improvement. Having the big tv screens for the top 4 boards was a nice touch too, although the actual lighting on those boards was poor. Having the tennis on was a nice addition Saved many a short draw I feel. There was also an excellent atmosphere towards the end - competitive and with tension.

Have to say though I basically agree entirely with Matthew's ideas for ways to improve, and to some extent Andy's:

The first rule of tiebreaks is: there is no fair tiebreak. TPR still favours the lower rated player. Results between the players does not work because one had Black and one had White. The only way is to have a playoff - not sure of the time limit but maybe 2 game rapid would be fine, say 15+10. Gibraltar do it and it works fine. I seriously doubt that any player in contention for the title enjoys winning or losing it due to some random thing they had no control over.

The pairings were very strange, and it was just about a case of whoever beats up the most bunnies is Scottish Champion. Personally, I would like to see a round robin alongside the open but failing that, perhaps something could be changed so that players play more around their level instead of the yo-yo that many of us faced.

Maybe the round times happened during lunch for a reason, such as the venue was only available at these times, but it would be great to see the standard times of 3pm introduced for next year.

I hope this is not overly critical, massively appreciate the time and effort that goes in to organising and running an event like this!

[Andy Howie]

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I still have 4 jobs to complete that I will do today, namely do the final blog, do the grading for the weekender and upload the remaining photos and upload the final results. Should all be done by the end of the day, I was just too tired last night.

On the subject of tiebreaks, I would prefer a shared title if I am honest. I was dreading having to tell Colin, Andrew, Clement, Roddy or Alan that they would not be Scottish Champion despite performing equally as well. We have had shared titles in the past and I think we should continue with them.

There is no fair way to tie break. One system will always favour one group of players.

I was laughing at Alans comments on the TV screens, it took me 5 days to get them working and there was an obvious solution that I missed! Glad they were appreciated!

[P Griffin]

Its disappointing to read Mr Tate referring to fellow chess players as 'Bunnies' The
only consolation is if that's typical of top player thinking then relative to the GM's of this
world then that's what he is.