Lost skills

 One of the 'highlights' of Day 2 of the Global Chess League were a couple of games decided by time scrambles. With no increment for the games (G/20m being the time limit), flagging the opponent was part of the game strategy. This was combined with pieces being knocked over, players 'pre-moving' and the onsite spectators not being sure exactly what happened at the end. Online comments were generally negative, with a number of posters arguing that this wasn't 'real' chess. But I would argue that the problem isn't the format, but the age of the players.

Since the late 1990's, most chess has been played with increments, and this isn't a bad thing. But on the other hand, chess prior to that did not involve increments, and players just coped with this. Certainly the arbiters had to work a lot harder, but at the same time, the players also knew what the process was. In fact I still organise sudden death blitz and rapid events, and by and large, every (a) knows the process concerning illegal moves and positions and (b) accepts the outcome. So much so, that when it has been suggested we change to increments at Street Chess (13m+2s) this has rejected by the majority of regular players, on the well grounded reasoning of 'where is the fun in that'

Global Chess League 2

 I took the opportunity to drop into the Global Chess League event, which is currently being held in London. As I had no official role in the event, I donned my invisible tourist hat, and watched the action from the spectator gallery.

Borrowing heavily from T20 cricket (both in format and coverage) the event has a couple of interesting rules. Each team plays the other teams twice. However the colour for the first match is decided by coin toss, and then reversed for the return match. All gamed for a team are played with the same colour during the match (unlike the Olympiad), and wins with black are worth 4 points, while winning with white earns 3 points (1 for a draw, and 0 for a loss). To win a match a team just has to score more game points. And finally, there is no increment, with the time limit being G/20m.

This last point was particularly important when the Triveni Kings beat the Alpine Pipers where the games on the tops boards were decided by the Alpine players losing on time.

There are a number of other events alongside the main show, including changes to play GM's in blits, and take part in impromptu simuls. I witnessed one of these, which had the most unusual format of a clock tandem simul (G/5m!) across 6 boards. Even the GM's (including Gawain Jones) thought end in disaster, but in the end strength won out with a 6-0 win for the GM's

Zenon Franco Ocampos

 The well known author and GM Zenon Franco Ocampos has passed way at the age of 68. For a long time he was the No. 1 player from Paraguay, and there only GM. Although I first came across him as the author of some high quality chess books, I later discovered his exploits as a player (especially at Olympiads) were equally impressive.

But it was at one Olympiad he did have a remarkable escape. Papua New Guinea were paired against Paraguay in round 1 of the Dresden Olympiad (2008). On Board 1 Franco misplayed the opening an was soon down a rook against Stuart Fancy. Even after recovering a piece he was still in a position where he would have resigned against a higher rated opponent. But luck was on his side after Fancy donated back a rook to a bishop fork, giving Paraguay their expected point.

Fancy, Stuart vs Zenon Franco Ocampos
2008 Chess Olympiad, Round 1, 2008

The joy of train travel

 Post Olympiad I've been traveling back towards the UK via train. Although I have been to Europe plenty of times (for various chess olympiads and meetings), I haven't taken a proper holiday in Europe. So with that in mind, I decided to extend my stay for another month.

The itinerary was Budapest-Vienna-Prague-Berlin-Amsterdam. Each trip was by train, with each journey being longer than the previous one. For example, it is only around 2 hours between Budapest and Vienna, while my trip from Berlin to Amsterdam (today) took almost 12 hours from hotel to hotel!

Traveling by train in Europe is certainly more relaxed than flying. There is less hassle when boarding the train, and you get a better view from the windows. On the other hand it is certainly more chaotic, and often you are left on your own to work out where you need to be.

Today's journey involved changing trains 3 times, and a late arrival meant a missed connection. One of the changes was when we were told that the train we were on was being split in half at the next station, and I found myself in the wrong half. It turned out that almost everyone else was in the same predicament, as the platform was filled with two mobs of people heading in opposite directions, trying to find a seat on the right carriage.

But overall it has been an enjoyable way to see Europe. If the price is right, I do recommend going first class, although I will point out, that on a couple of occasions, no one checked my (or the other passengers) train tickets, so If your willing to risk it, then a self upgrade might work for you.