GM Yury Shulman just captured his first US Championship. IM Anna Zatonskih captured her second US Women’s Championship by winning the dramatic Armageddon playoff over the defending US Women’s Champion IM Irina Krush.
GM Ivanchuk won the 2008 prestigious Mtel by 1.5 point over the defending champion GM Topalov. It was one of the most impressive performances in chess history.
There is still no news about the Topalov – Kamsky match. I hope everything can be worked out as I am excited to see this match between 2 great players with contrasting styles.
It’s Saturday Open Forum. What would you like to discuss? The forum is yours.
Have you finished inviting everyone for the 2008 SPICE Cup?
Will any of the tournament be taped and posted to the web?
Will you give a video recap of events?
Here are the confirmed players so far:
USA – GM Onischuk, Alexander 2728 USCF / 2663 FIDE
USA – GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2666 USCF / 2612 FIDE
USA – GM Kaidanov, Gregory 2697 USCF / 2611 FIDE
USA – GM Becerra, Julio 2644 USCF / 2601 FIDE
GER – GM Kritz, Leonid 2667 USCF / 2600 FIDE
ISR – GM Mikhalevski, Victor 2679 USCF / 2597 FIDE
ISL – GM Stefansson, Hannes 2597 USCF / 2583 FIDE
POL – GM Miton, Kamil 2703 USCF / 2581 FIDE
USA – GM Perelshteyn, Eugene 2623 USCF / 2549 FIDE (Defending Champion)
The 3 latest additions to the 2008 SPICE Cup are: GM Julio Becerra of Miami, GM Victor Mikhalevski of Israel, and GM Hannes Stefansson of Iceland.
This will be a category 15 event (Approximately 2600+ FIDE and 2670+ USCF) which is the highest rated 10-player International RR tournament in U.S. history. The last invitation will go out right after the July 1, 2008 FIDE rating list is published.
This was what she posted a few days ago.
Susan:
My question has to do with SPICE, and the part that you mention will be devoted to “chess research”. What does this mean exactly? Does it, for example, mean conducting studies on how chess affects people and mentality? Does it mean conducting research also on game aspects like opening theory? And are these going to be publishable in peer-reviewed journals? What exactly is the plan, and is there appropriate staff to carry it out? Thanks!
Thanks!
I have been working in the coal mine and haven’t had a chance to read earler blog entries.
One would think a university would have enough research staff. I am sure the staff at TTU will love to do chess research with Susan. Who wouldn’t?
In the Irina Krush final blitz match, who was the Jack-Ass laughing at her just before she knocked the king out?
She was under so much stress.
She deserves better than to lose to the flippers of Shamu.
Irina deserves better…I completely agree! She was undefeated in the match. People are blowing the incident way, way out of proportion. She didn’t do anything that bad.
Listen to the video…all she said was, “Aw, C’mon” and knocked a piece off the board.
Big deal!!! She plays in many, many tournaments and is a fine person.
If you want to worry about something, worry about the economy or finding a cure for cancer. Stop trashing IM Krush over such an inconsequential lapse in judgement….something that happens to us all.
That’s all it was and ever will be.
For those that have met her, they know she is a very nice and kind person. Don’t judge someone from one incident that occurred after hours and hours of stress.
Why do people concentrate on Irina’s reaction on not on the unfair way Anna won- by moving in her opponent’s time. I can tell you it is very nasty to lose this way- with your opponent pressing the clock as soon as you press yours leaving the clock practically only running on your side. I would have complained if I were Irina.
Ioannis, we have a large number of students / professors / researchers who are interested in doing research in many different areas involving chess (education, math, computer, high performance computing, psychology, medicine, etc.). It has nothing to do with chess moves. They can either do it as collaboration with SPICE through their universities or do it directly with SPICE. A number of them have applied for various grants for specific research through chess.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
Thanks Susan, I appreciate your reply! Sounds interesting and rather unique.
IM Krush should lodge a formal complaint, if possible, because her opponent was making moves while Irina’s clock was ticking. Irina has every right to be frustrated and her reaction was nothing at all bad. To lose the title in such a manner, with an undefeated score (which is also tied at 7.5 points), in a silly version of chess called “Armageddon,” is not right.
In the background you clearly see people gawking and laughing, which disturbs one’s concentration. People should not have been allowed that close to the players at such a critical time.
The final game was not fair to Irina, and in a sense, it wasn’t fair to the winner.
Why could she not be declared co-champion? Is there not a method to appeal especially since Anna was moving while Irina’s clock was ticking.
Thus, due to this fact, Irina and Anna should be declared co-champions.
I was in Tulsa in the final 2 days of the US Championship. Bill Goichberg was there to run the show. He should have handled this fiasco but didn’t. He didn’t really care how the players feel. You can’t run the US Championship the way you run Foxwoods or World Open.
She did more than just knock some chess pieces off the board, which was an understandable expression of frustration at having lost. What WAS unfortunate was that she turned her back and strode out of the room without shaking her opponent’s hand. Hopefully, she did personally congratulate the new champion a short time later.
As for Shamu’s flippers, it was interesting to hear Zatonskih discuss moving her pieces closer to the clock as time grew short–a tactic she had been taught.
They are both terrific players. Too bad only one could win.
For some years now, the USCF has distanced itself, probably for financial reasons, from the process of determining its own champion. It is time for the federation to step up and do something, right now. Especially considering that moving pieces on another’s clock is pointedly illegal. I call upon the USCF TODAY to simply devalidate the Armageddon result and declare both co-champions. There is no reason at all why they do not have that authority. Will someone of an official capacity simply call Zatonskih on the phone and ask if she would cede 1/2 the title for this coming year? Surely there would be those who would come out and bark that the rules were changed after the fact, but I bet that being a nice lady who knows right from wrong, Anna would not be among the barkers. If it was to help save the face of American chess, be fair to her own personal friend in Irina, and help wipe Armageddon off the face of chess, I bet you 100 dollars to 1 there’s no reason Anna wouldn’t go for it.
“which was an understandable expression of frustration at having lost.”
This is not understandable and not acceptable behaviour. In Russia she would be laughed out for lack of chess culture, in UAE she would be banned from playing chess again.
Krush wouldve been “banned from chess…”? ROFL. The whole idea of burdening either player with a format like the one they were dealing with nor the idea that Zatonskih was cheating that system is stuff that wouldnt fly even at the nightly Humpty Dumpty quads at the local patzer club. The fact that Zatonskih was awarded a trophy minutes later was ludicrous and the fact that she accepted it she should be ashamed of.
If the players didn’t like the Armageddon match they should’ve decided it during the tournament, or during the rapids, or during the blitz. Score 0.5 more points and you avoid it altogether.
The above post misses the point. Ties will happen. Players will have no control over how its broken unless the organizers give them more input. But ties will happen and this was just the wrong way to break one.
I just started taking up chess a few months ago. Im not very good but ive tried hard to take it serious. I wastn rooting for 1 player or the other but if i tried real hard and was a master one day n had a chance to play for somethin like this id hate to think somethin like this could happen to me. if they let anna keep the whole title after whatever she did at the end im sure im not thew only young player whos thinking about quitting chess right now if this is whats all ok. Im ok with Irena getting mad and relly i think Anna looked like she prolly felt either embarased or guilty.
Moving your pieces closest to the clock when running out of time is a known Blitz technique perfected by Genrikh “Chip” Chepukaitis a non titled player but a blitz Giant killer.
Anna being well schooled in chess was aware of the technique.
I am sure Irina will not forget this hard learned blitz lesson
Why should you shake hands and congratulate an opponent who cheated?
Irina’s only mistake was not stopping the clock and protesting about Anna’s ‘playing’ technique.
In Russia the arbiters would have the ‘chess culture’ in a game with serious importance to follow the rules.
And I have watched Chepukaitis many times, he was always in control and never broke the rules for playing.
@anon 9:46:
Players absolutely do control whether they tie or not. If you fail to play better than your opponents in many instances, you in essence subject yourself to the tiebreak. I also bet that the players knew about how tiebreaks were performed before the tournament started.
In this particular instance I’d rather see a short match organized to decide the victor. This “Co-women US champion” idea is bad. If it is found that Anna broke the rules, I think the match idea would be a good way to solve the problem. The women’s championship is already devalued enough without it being devalued further with co-champion status. People would think it was a joke.
I do think Irina owes an apology to a few individuals, and then let that be the end of it. Players have no room to complain about a format they agreed to after the fact(not saying Irina did), and those that do get no sympathy from me.
Interesting, is it fair to let pieces fall during the game? I always thought that you have to adjust it on your own time. Irina’s rook was swimming on board 2 or 3 moves without any attempt to adjust it.
In chess, if you are not agree with something, you have to say it during the game. You always can stop the clock, call arbiter and complain about whatever it is.
“In Russia she would be laughed out for lack of chess culture, in UAE she would be banned from playing chess again.”
–Well, we’re not in Russia or the UAE and I doubt if anyone cares what the Russians “would do” or what the UAE “would do” to Irina. She is an American now.
She deserves to be angry and to lose the title in such a manner, that is, the silly “Armageddon” version of chess along with the fact that her opponent was violating the rules, is unspeakable. Some have severely criticized IM Krush and this simply is not warranted. She did nothing wrong considering that her opponent was breaking the rules and, after a long day of playing chess, was under a lot of stress.
The USCF most certainly has the power to do something about this. The most logical thing to do, since both players had 7.5 points, is to declare both co-champions.
Or, do something else that is fair. The WORST thing to do is ignore the situation and just let it fade into history. This would be the worst injustice to the sport and to IM Krush.
Can the Board do anything? Who in the USCF has the authority to review the situation and, if possible, declare Irina and Anna co-champions?
It’s not about Irina losing the title. It’s that she did not lose it fairly due to her opponents illegal moves in the game that decided the championship. It’s about what is right and wrong. It’s simply not right to allow someone to lose the title when it’s caught on film that her opponent was making illegal moves!
Anna doesn’t own the title. Thus, there’s no reason to “ask” her to share it. The USCF has the power to simply negate the last game and declare them both co-champions.
This would be the most ethical thing to do.
I heard that Irina had atleast 6 seconds to Anna’s 2- so maybe Irina probably felt that something was wrong when she was flagged given how fast she herself was moving- maybe she misjudged it and thought that she would win despite Anna’s ‘cheating’ and so thought it best to just get the job done- and hence reacted the way she did at the end when it was too late.
This is a lesson never to accept and play on if you feel there is something wrong, below board, going on. Always stop the clocks and then say what you think- even if you are winning on the board and the clock.
Is there a quick way to stop the digital clocks? I mean the analogue you just put it so that neither side was pressed. Say you had just 4 seconds left- you would need to be able to stop the clock as soon as you touch it otherwise you might end up running out of time trying to work it!
Anon says
“I have watched Chepukaitis many times, he was always in control and never broke the rules for playing.”
Chekupaitis sometimes playfully turned dead drawn opposite colored Bishop into same colour Bishop without his opponent noticing:
“After changing the colour of the bishop, I make dozen of pointless moves until my opponent notices the sharp transformation of the position on the board … then I move to decisive action.”
(Smart Chip of St Petersburg – Sosonko, G)
To be truthful the Men’s Championship Swiss format is more of a joke to choose a National Champion. At least the Women’s Championship was a round robin format which provided some excitement.
We cannot seem raise the money in this country for match play due to a lack of chess culture. May be we should lobby the government to award grant to Chess as it does for other Art form to fund national events like the US Championship or the Chess Olympic Team.
It is the officials who need to apologize for this travesty. Both Irina and Anna looked worn out from their effort that day. Irina showed remarkable restraint if all she did was mutter “C’mon” and storm off, and I doubt Anna even realized she was moving on Irina’s time.
Will someone care to identify the RUDE PIG who laughed during the game? He was as disgraceful as the officials.
Hopefully the USCF will take a hard look at its tiebreak system after this disaster. What we saw might be appropriate for a local weekend Swiss, but to decide a NATIONAL CHAMPION? It is understandable to use some sort of fast time control to ensure a decisive result, but what we saw was ridiculous.
You can’t change the tie-break system. Goichberg is in charge of the USCF and this is his baby with the Berry brothers. They’ll do anything he says. If you wanna blame someone it’s Goichberg.
I thought things were supposed to be “civil” on the Susan Polgar Blog?
Yes, Chepukaitis was a joker and a funny guy, but NEVER in an official tournament game.
Has Irina made any public statement of congratulations to Anna?
To the above post- I sure hope not. Also in a previous post, its not that Anna owns the title and needs to be asked, but it WOULD be a civil way that she can just have the class to make all of this easier.
It has a reason that it’s called Armageddon! 🙂 We cannot expect that an “Armageddon game”, after FOUR insufficient tiebreak rapid and blitz games, is cool and perfectly cultivated.
Instead, we should be grateful that we saw them fighting an emotional battle, for a chess title. If I recall the reports correctly, Zatonskih won after having only 3 versus 6 seconds, in the end.
The video from it is an excellent advertisement for the chess sport! Let’s not debate about a few tenth of seconds please. Much more important is, that many people can see that chess is a game that involves so much emotion, and is not just a cold, machine-like calculation excercise.
nad the reason its callewd Armageddon has no business in chess, especially where cheating even Armageddon was invlolved
Again some people talking about things they know nothing about.
Read the rules of chess (about blitz). Only the player can protest during the game. The arbiter is not allowed to do anything on his own (even if the players would make ilegal moves)! Krush didn’t complain so the result stands.
You can argue about if this is a good method to break the tie, but everyone knew (well at least those who read the regulations) how it will be done. All was known before players signed up for the tournament and by signing they did accept.
How would you break the tie? by playing “normal” games until the decision is made? Then we could see another neverending match like 1984’s Karpov-Kasparov. Co-champions? What if 5 or 6 players tied for first? Would you have 6 champions???
Yes 6 co-champions in fact could be fine every thousand years or so that it ever worked out that way anyhow. Any federation has the right to intervene against any blatant injustice or organizational flaw. Players who “accepted” a format did so not as a result of a players meeting giving them any input at all but when Mr. Berry or whomever weeks or months earlier shoved it down their throat and said take it or leave it.
And what exactly is this blatant injustice and organizational flaw?
If by blatant injustice you mean that Zatonskih made her moves too early than that is too bad. Why didn’t Krush complain about it DURING the game? Obviously she didn’t think Zatonskih was “cheating”. Complainig or changing the result is impossible after it is finished.
Organizational flaw? Let me guess, you probably mean that they had to play tie-breaks on the same day as the last round. It is usually done this way. Thats why the last round always starts 2 or 3 hours earlier than all other rounds. If this is a flaw, then pretty much all tournaments are flawed and we must anulate them all.
So please, enlighten me, what blatant unjustice and what organizational flaws have been done.
Irina loves Anna.