Monday 15 February 2021

The transitive properties of chess

 One of the things that makes chess interesting is the uncertainty of the result in any one game. Normally 'stronger' players beat 'weaker' players, but not all 'stronger' players beat all 'weaker' players. And more interestingly, just because player A beats Player B, and Player B beats Player C, sometimes Player A won't beat Player C.

A practical example of this is in the current ACT Junior Chess League Summer Swiss. This event is designed to provide some serious (long time control) play for promising Canberra juniors, and has succeeded in doing so. With 1 round to player Fred Litchfield leads on 5/6, half a point ahead of Harry Press on 4.5. The key game from round 6 (given below) was between Press and Malik Amer. After a tough struggle the game ended in a draw, which saw Press drop back from equal first. It was also a relief for Amer, who had suffered a loss to young Minchen Yang during the week at the Gungahlin Chess Club. But Yang (playing in this event as well) wasn't able to repeat that result, instead suffering a loss himself to bottom seed Hunter Sanchez!

 

Press,Harry (2076) - Amer,Abdulmalk (1847) [C84]
ACTJCL Sunday Summer Tournament Canberra AUS (6), 12.02.2021


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