BIG-BUCKS TOURNEYS TO BAN QUICK DRAWS
By ANDY SOLTIS
December 2, 2007 — FOR most people who play chess, a game is decided when one of the players makes a game-losing blunder. The easiest way for you to improve is simply to cut down on your blunders.
But for the elite players, the most common way a game ends is with a draw offer. Now, to improve their lot, there is an effort to eliminate them and attract draw-hating sponsors.
The world chess federation (FIDE) is accepting bids for six big-bucks “Grand Prix” tournaments during 2008-2009. The winner of each elite 14-player round robin will earn Grand Prix points and the overall point leader will play a match against the winner of the larger World Cup tournament, now being held in Siberia, to see who challenges the world champion in a 2010 match for the world title.
Source: NY Post
How does this work?
Doesn’t Topalov get the World Cup winner and Anand gets Kramnik and then The winner of those two matches meet to unify the title?
Make the games NOT rated so the players do not have to worry about their rating.
Now score one point for a win and zero points for a loss or draw.
These guys will find ways to take risks to win the games. There will be no reason not to go all out for the win.
The only real fair method is to change the rules to eliminate the draws. Have all games end with a decisive winner and loser. As long as everyone is playing the same rules there should be no complaints. All attempts to make the games decisive without changing the rules are going to fail.
The title is unified when we have a Kramnik Anand winner. We do not need the other part to unify.
In the present cycle, the winner of the world cup plays Topalov but in future cycles the winner of the world cup plays the winner of the grand prix.
Draws are a natural part of chess – keep them. At most, ban short draws by agreement. Fischer said something to the effect of “I don’t need an arbitor to tell me when a game is a draw.”
First syria, now some unknown country, next siberia? where after that, the moon ?
“First syria, now some unknown country, next siberia? where after that, the moon ?”
No, the most remote place on earth: located at the location of all the financial receipts of the USCF for the last 10 years. Probably the same place where all the extra ballots were thrown away from Dade county US Presidential election fraud. May as well be the moon.
some commentors make the most idiotic statements. Scoring a draw the same as a loss would lead to massive numbers throwing games for profit. Why not? If the game is a draw, why should both players get nil? Find a way that one of you cana get the point.
Personally, I like short draws. Some short draws are the result of the position in which the 2700s know the outcome is inevitable so why waste energy.