A number of you have asked me that what do some of the organizers look for when it comes to who to invite to an event. That is a tough question as organizers have different purpose, criteria, goals, missions, etc.
As an organizer for open events, all girls events, grand prix events and high level professional events, etc., here are some of the things that I think organizers would look for:
– Character of the players
– Personality of the players
– Personal conducts and behavior
– Fighting spirits (it is OK to draw a lot but it is not OK not to fight)
– Ability to handle the media, fans and fellow players
– Trustworthiness (record of dropping out or canceling at the last minute)
– Appearance (dress code and presentability)
– Titles (what titles do the players hold)
– Playing strength (levels would depend of types of tournaments)
– Financial conditions / demands
– Location of residence (sometimes it does not make sense if a player lives so far away), etc.
There are more factors but the above are just some of the examples of what organizers may look for.
What else would you look for if you are the organizer?
From the original post of the thread:
>- Character of the players
>- Personality of the players
>- Ability to handle the media, fans and fellow players
How would Grandmaster Korchnoi fare on those elements considering the following blitz video clip?
“Sofia Polgar defeats an upset Korchnoi”
Korchnoi: “That’s the first and last game you’ll ever win from me…in your life!”
Notice to Grandmaster Korchnoi:
As Grandmaster Susan Polgar says, “Win with grace, lose with dignity!”
p.s. The video appears to be from more than 1 game based on the colors and clock location.
I think your points are very reasonable.
I would imagine R.O.I. (return on investment).
Korchnoi has a fighting spirit. he does not like to lose to anyone. the video made me laugh.
I would think it would be fun to play him and win again. LOL.
yes susan has black at the beginning of the movie and white at the end.
The video isn’t of Susan, it is of her youngest sister Sofia. It also appeared when the players stood up from the table that Sofia was pregnant? (if not, I’m very sorry about my statement), so maybe Korchnoi thought that was unfair: 2 against 1! (lol)
What was Sofia’s last comment? I couldn’t quite hear it…something in response to Korchnoi saying first and last time in your life, she replies “Could be, one time…” ??
Although Susan’s “Win with grace, lose with dignity” is commendable, I imagine it is hard for Korchnoi! I remember years ago watching Women’s World Champion Xie Jun playing Black and holding Korchnoi to a draw…he wasn’t very happy back then either. Might Korchnoi have a thing about not winning all of his games against women players? If so, Korchnoi needs to read his chess history about The Menchik Club! lol
I must say, the video made me feel a bit uncomfortable, and I can only imagine that the Polgar sisters received many such “reactions” over their chess careers! Hopefully Korchnoi got over it! 😉
Upon further reflection, I would now say that Korchnoi might get upset when he loses to ANYBODY whether it be a Polgar or anyone else, and my comments about Korchnoi playing women chess players may have been ill-placed. As an organizer, I would like to have the living legend Korchnoi in my event.
Sofia and Viktor always had a love hate relationship 🙂 It was nothing personal 🙂
There is a chance I may be playing an exhibition against Viktor next June in Las Vegas.
He has always been kind to me.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
http://www.PolgarChess.com
http://www.SusanPolgar.com
Susan, thanks for your comments about Grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi! They were nice to read. Your possible exhibition next June would be fun for chess fans to follow!
Dressing casually and having a lousy temper don’t seem to belong to this list. As others have noted, chess greats like Korchnoi and Fisher would have to be eliminated for bad temper, and Carlsen would be eliminated for always appearing in the same sweatshirt. And both Kramnik and Leko would never get invites because they often draw.
It seems that there needs to be flexibility to accommodate eccentrics, mavericks, and people with less stamina who cannot play 7-hour games for 10 days in a row, and therefore agree to draws instead of playing out equal or lost positions.
Susan
As far as I can see Sofia won on time with K&R against K,R,&P. So she had at best a draw given the material. So that was bad enough for him to take. The video you posted has since been removed but I have seen other videos of the incident. As he gets up from the table, clearly upset at the loss, Sofia smiles and wags her finger and says something like “I did not want to lose respect…” Only then does he say “Excuse me?” and then “That’s the first and last time in your life you will win against me”. Yes he was wrong to say this, and I don’t know what she meant by her remark about respect, maybe it was a reference to an earlier remark between the two of them. But she could see he was upset and she should have said nothing, that was clear.
It takes two to make an argument and Sofia definitely made a remark to him after the game which fanned the flames in some way. Therefore, it is fair to give both sides of the story.