Having covered Bridge and Go in recent days, I don't want draughts players to feel left out.
Their exciting bit of news is that they have been causing a bit of a rukus in Singapore, carousing late into the night, and blocking covered walkways that public use in the wet season. This lead the local council to put up signs banning them from the area, but in an outrageous piece of confusion, the signs only banned the playing of chess!
Whether it was the eventual realisation that chess and draughts are not quite the same game, or the council just felt foolish, but the signs have now been removed. Instead a request that players be quiet and courteous has been posted instead.
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Hiliarious board picture. The checkers go on the third rank, with kings on a4/b4/g4/h4 and reflectively for Black.
Oops g4/h5/g5/h4 for White, and a4/b4/a5/b5 for Black.
!! CHESS RUMBLE !!
http://chess-news.ru/node/21237
Live in Odessa! Female Ukranian champion's trainer takes out her opponent with two hits to the face after she was going awry in an endgame!!
Bizarre, she takes her coach's side of it, and even asks them to "disqualify Vladimir Sakun [her opponent] for non-compliance and ethics of fair play, not only on the chessboard, but in life." His crime, as it were, was to play out a drawn endgame and/or play 30-40 time-wasting moves in a slightly better ending before making a "real" winning attempt, I guess hoping for a blunder (which occurred, as she for some reason had a nervous breakdown?!). And to get punched twice in the face for it. There's also various backstory about existing animosities between the principals, but...
Maybe I misjudge the situation, but her above sentiment leaves me thinking that "special snowflake syndrome" has extended beyond USA university students. Will FIDE will have to take new ideas of "fair play" into account in its next rule modifications?
It is sad to say, but in ex-Soviet states in particular, arbiters do still forfeit players (one way or another) for playing out "draws" in some cases. There's a certain "respect" issue, and it's largely politics, but it does happen.
Now in the English language press. https://www.rt.com/news/337671-ukrainian-chess-fistfight-tournament/
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