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ICU Easter Open

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2

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    #32
    Retd.LoyolaCpt
    Registered Users Posts: 624 ✭✭✭Retd.LoyolaCpt


    With exactly 8 weeks to go, we’ve just hit 50 entries for the event with 17 nations represented!

    Entries can be seen and made here:
    https://www.icu.ie/events/1067

    We’ll be offering the winner of the major and challenger in Bunratty free entry to the Open while the best untitled Irish player in the masters will win free entry to the Jacob Aagaard training course from March 8-10.


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    #33
    sodacat11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭sodacat11


    Retd.LoyolaCpt wrote: »
    With exactly 8 weeks to go, we’ve just hit 50 entries for the event with 17 nations represented!

    Entries can be seen and made here:
    https://www.icu.ie/events/1067

    We’ll be offering the winner of the major and challenger in Bunratty free entry to the Open while the best untitled Irish player in the masters will win free entry to the Jacob Aagaard training course from March 8-10.

    Great prizes!! It's nice to see good prizes being offered to players outside the elite. We need more 19-2200 players at tournaments.


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    #34
    Tim Harding
    Closed Accounts Posts: 954 ✭✭✭Tim Harding


    It's make up your mind time this weekend for players who have been dithering over whether to enter the Irish International Open at Easter.

    The ICU website just posted a warning that the discount entry fee of 100 Euro ends in a few days; from 18 March, as the flyer says, the entry fee rises to 125 Euro.

    https://www.icu.ie/events/1067

    It is rather disappointing to me that so far the entry list shows only 64 names; I would have expected a field of 100+ for this very special event. It's only my personal view, but I doubt the event will be repeated if it's not much better supported by Irish club players and experts unattached to clubs.

    Perhaps at this point ICU need to give some firm indication of what grading prizes or other special prizes may be on offer (women, juniors and seniors in various age groups, best Irish untitled?) but maybe they find it hard to do this with the entry list so disappointing.


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    #35
    sodacat11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭sodacat11


    Tim Harding wrote: »
    It is rather disappointing to me that so far the entry list shows only 64 names; I would have expected a field of 100+ for this very special event. It's only my personal view, but I doubt the event will be repeated if it's not much better supported by Irish club players and experts unattached to clubs..

    Yes,compared to the numbers that turned up for Bunratty it is slightly disappointing. If people don't support this kind of tournament, full of elite players that they would rarely get a chance to meet, then we are unlikely to get such fantastic events organised for us in the future.


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    #36
    brilliantboy
    Registered Users Posts: 444 ✭✭brilliantboy


    Maybe to get Bunratty numbers you need to hold the tournament in Bunratty? 5 nights in a Dublin hotel and a €100 entry fee isn't an insignificant expense so perhaps it's no surprise a that weekender in a sleepy village halfway between nowhere and nowhere would be a more attractive proposition to some (most) people.

    No need for panic I'd say, we are still over a month out from the tournament. The list for Bunratty was surely looking somewhat sparse in the middle of January. I'm sure the numbers will pick up as we get closer. As someone still on the fence about entering I had no idea the early entry deadline was so soon and that's probably the case for some others as well.


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    #37
    sodacat11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭sodacat11


    Great to see such generous grading prizes being offered . This promises to be a really fantastic tournament!!


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    #38
    sodacat11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭sodacat11


    I notice that a couple of the entrants are from somewhere called CLOSELY ????? You have to wonder if this is just people messing .


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    #39
    sodacat11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭sodacat11


    No sign of the first round draw yet ???


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    #40
    sodacat11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭sodacat11


    There is a 1522 rated player on 3/3 having beaten players rated 2252, 2183 and 2285. Call me a cynic but I have often seen in the past that when there are very substantial grading prizes these freak results happen. I would be asking to see this guy's passport ,just to make sure that he really is who he is supposed to be, before handing over any prize money.


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    #41
    cdeb
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,144 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    Tis interesting alright. Lost to a 1250 and drew with two 1300s in a tournament in July - http://ratings.fide.com/individual_calculations.phtml?idnumber=5712467&rating_period=2018-08-01&t=0

    FIDE ratings can be wrong if they're off a small dataset of an improving player, but it's a heck of a jump from the tournament linked to 3 x 2200 wins


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    #42
    Pete Morriss
    Registered Users Posts: 212 ✭✭Pete Morriss


    sodacat11 wrote: »
    There is a 1522 rated player on 3/3 having beaten players rated 2252, 2183 and 2285. Call me a cynic but I have often seen in the past that when there are very substantial grading prizes these freak results happen. I would be asking to see this guy's passport ,just to make sure that he really is who he is supposed to be, before handing over any prize money.

    He's a medical student in Galway and won both the Bunratty under-1600 and Galway under-1800, after not doing that well in Kilkenny. I feel a bit better now about my loss to him in the Galway club championship! (I managed to beat him last year.) Of course I am not in Dublin, so cannot state for sure that someone is not impersonating him, but I would doubt it.


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    #43
    sodacat11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭sodacat11


    Well if it is really him then I would like to know (and so should the ICU) how he has gone from the level of performance that Cdeb mentioned to suddenly winning two tournaments and posting a 3000+ Rp after three rounds of this event ??????????
    I paid 100 euro to play in this thinking that I would be competing on a relatively level playing field for grading prizes yet now I find that none of us have a snowball's chance in hell of winning anything because this guy is playing off a rating hundreds of points below what it should be. I doubt that there is much that can be done about it but a such sudden improvement is about at credible as the effing easter bunny is.


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    #44
    Rathminor
    Registered Users Posts: 290 ✭✭Rathminor


    sodacat11 wrote: »
    Well if it is really him then I would like to know (and so should the ICU) how he has gone from the level of performance that Cdeb mentioned to suddenly winning two tournaments and posting a 3000+ Rp after three rounds of this event ??????????
    I paid 100 euro to play in this thinking that I would be competing on a relatively level playing field for grading prizes yet now I find that none of us have a snowball's chance in hell of winning anything because this guy is playing off a rating hundreds of points below what it should be. I doubt that there is much that can be done about it but a such sudden improvement is about at credible as the effing easter bunny is.

    He actually also won the Bunratty major in 2018 wit a performance rating of 1825, however as he hadn’t paid his ICU subscription at the time, his rating reset.

    He has had a very impressive run winning the countries biggest U1600 rated tournament the last two years, winning Galways U1800 and kept his rating under 1600!

    He had one draw in R5 of Bunratty last year, and then won 11 straight between this years Bunratty and Galway, before taking a GM draw in Galway round 6 as he already had the title won!


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    #45
    sodacat11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭sodacat11


    Why was he allowed to win prize money, or even enter Bunratty, when he hadn't paid his ICU subs??
    I think the whole thing is shameful and pathetic and I will be telling the "person" in question exactly what I think of him and his behaviour before the week is out.
    I used to play in Gibraltar regularly and the same thing used to happen there. A 2100 player used to turn up and put in a 2400 performance and go home with three or four grand in prize money then he would return the follow year , still playing off 2100, and do exactly the same again. I eventually wrote to both FIDE and the Gibraltar organisers and the guy was banned from ever playing there again. I have already made my views clear to this week's organisers and the to the ICU and in fairness to them they seem to be on the ball.


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    #46
    Pete Morriss
    Registered Users Posts: 212 ✭✭Pete Morriss


    Rathminor wrote: »
    He has had a very impressive run winning the countries biggest U1600 rated tournament the last two years, winning Galways U1800 and kept his rating under 1600!

    His ICU rating after the Galway Congress is 1723 (and was over 1600 before Galway), but of course his recent successes in Ireland aren't reflected in his current FIDE rating. He will probably have a more realistic rating after the Dublin tournament is finished and rated.


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    #47
    Pete Morriss
    Registered Users Posts: 212 ✭✭Pete Morriss


    sodacat11 wrote: »
    I think the whole thing is shameful and pathetic and I will be telling the "person" in question exactly what I think of him and his behaviour

    I think you should make sure of your facts before you accuse anybody of anything. It's not clear to me exactly what he is supposed to have done wrong - except play some good chess this week. Is that a crime?


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    #48
    sodacat11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭sodacat11


    When something looks like a duck. walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then usually it's a duck.


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    #49
    sodacat11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭sodacat11


    Pete Morriss wrote: »
    His ICU rating after the Galway Congress is 1723 (and was over 1600 before Galway), but of course his recent successes in Ireland aren't reflected in his current FIDE rating. He will probably have a more realistic rating after the Dublin tournament is finished and rated.

    Yes,and he will also have a few hundred euro in his pocket for playing off a rating that in no way reflects his playing strength.


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    #50
    Rathminor
    Registered Users Posts: 290 ✭✭Rathminor


    sodacat11 wrote: »
    Yes,and he will also have a few hundred euro in his pocket for playing off a rating that in no way reflects his playing strength.

    Seems the results of his first 3 wins have now been changed to losses, and he is not paired for round 6!!!


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    #51
    Rathminor
    Registered Users Posts: 290 ✭✭Rathminor


    sodacat11 wrote: »
    When something looks like a duck. walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then usually it's a duck.

    Quack Quack!!


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    #52
    sodacat11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭sodacat11


    The duck hunting season started today in Gonzaga and our friend rightfully got shot in the arse !!


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    #53
    sodacat11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭sodacat11


    To put what I have to say in context, result wise this tournament was one of my worst ever so that is probably tinting my view. On the other hand it could justifiably be argued that the reason I played so badly was because I was so unhappy with the tournament from day one. The organisation, venue,prize money, playing conditions, playing schedule, time control etc etc were all excellent, no complaints there but it is just the dynamics of a big open that are so frustrating.
    Round 1, after driving up from Kildare I played a non rated guy, won a piece on move eight and the game soon after,a complete waste of a night.
    Rd 2, drew with an I.M, fine for me but I wonder how much he enjoyed playing a much lower rated player.
    Rd 3 I lost to Henry Li, no shame in that.
    Rd 4 Another low rated opponent so just to make things interesting I tried 2 b3 against a Sicilian for the first time ever and without knowing any theory, not a good idea :(.
    Rd5 By now I had already lost interest in the tournament so I arrived more than a little under the weather after a night of merrymaking. I did however manage to beat yet another low rated opponent.
    Rd6 I came up against a Croatian kid rated 1500, but with a playing strength of around 2000, and got completely outplayed only to lose far more rating points than I really deserved to.
    Rd7 I beat another lower rated player.
    Rd 8 Yet another lower rated. I played quickly and without much interest and soon lost without a fight.
    Rd 9 I am spending on the golf course. I couldn't be bothered driving all the way to Dublin to face yet another lower rated player when even a win would earn me next to nothing. Many others are skipping the last round too.
    I believe that the ICU got nowhere near the number of entries that they had hoped for so hopefully there will be no more of this type of event. Last year's all play alls were far more enjoyable or if there has to be an open then at least have Masters, Intermediate and Junior sections. Quite a few players that I spoke to over the past few days said that they would think twice before entering something like this again.


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    #54
    cdeb
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,144 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    sodacat11 wrote: »
    Rd6 I came up against a Croatian kid rated 1500, but with a playing strength of around 2000, and got completely outplayed only to lose far more rating points than I really deserved to.
    ICU rated 1675, and you'll probably be rated against 1850+, so that'll help on the ratings front at least!

    Big opens can often be up and down like that. Even bigger ones that this. We'd all like a shot at someone 300 points ahead of us, but unfortunately it does cut both ways.


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    #55
    sodacat11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭sodacat11


    cdeb wrote: »
    ICU rated 1675, and you'll probably be rated against 1850+, so that'll help on the ratings front at least!

    Big opens can often be up and down like that. Even bigger ones that this. We'd all like a shot at someone 300 points ahead of us, but unfortunately it does cut both ways.

    Oh, I didn't realize that he lives here. Unfortunately his FIDE rating is only 1500+. I do wish that they would somehow merge FIDE and national ratings instead of people having two different ratings sometimes with a huge difference between them.


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    #56
    sodacat11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭sodacat11


    Pete Morriss wrote: »
    I think you should make sure of your facts before you accuse anybody of anything. It's not clear to me exactly what he is supposed to have done wrong - except play some good chess this week. Is that a crime?
    Using a computer during a chess tournament in order to gain money by fraud is indeed a crime. You have to wonder what kind of doctor this guy is going to make with such a lack of ethics. Doctors can distribute drugs,write false certs, take bribes in insurance cases, drug clients and assault them and even kill people secretly if they so wish. I certainly wouldn't want the infamous Dr Duck as my G.P:eek:


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    #57
    forgottenhills
    Registered Users Posts: 441 ✭✭forgottenhills


    sodacat11 wrote: »
    Using a computer during a chess tournament in order to gain money by fraud is indeed a crime. You have to wonder what kind of doctor this guy is going to make with such a lack of ethics. Doctors can distribute drugs,write false certs, take bribes in insurance cases, drug clients and assault them and even kill people secretly if they so wish. I certainly wouldn't want the infamous Dr Duck as my G.P:eek:

    A relation of mine was playing in this tournament and I heard him speak about the alleged cheating and about a guy who seemed to have been effectively booted out of the tournament. Really poor behavior on this person's part if true, hard to believe really.

    If this person is a student, and indeed a medical student to boot, I hope that someone is letting his university know about his behavior.


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    #58
    sodacat11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭sodacat11


    Punishing people who cheat at chess is a complicated issue. Banning a visitor to Ireland from Irish chess is completely ineffective as in most cases the offender won't be here for long. Publicly naming and shaming is good but in many cases the cheats are too young to be named and in others they arrive with a solicitor at their side to any disciplinary hearing leaving what are usually amateur ruling bodies too afraid to do anything. Probably the only time that any effective punishment can be meted out is when the guilty party is a professional player and a ban hits him/her directly in their pockets.
    Some years ago a very young student of mine was a victim of cheating at the Bunratty tournament, when he went to the loo his middle aged opponent put a rook back on the board. The offence was proved by the arbiter when he went through the scoresheets afterwards but the offender received no punishment and is still playing in our tournaments.
    It is hard to understand the mentality of people who gain any kind of satisfaction by cheating at sport but such pathetic behaviour seems to be on the increase these days whether it be in chess, soccer, golf, cricket, cycling, boxing or athletics. I think that no punishment can ever be too strong for the perpetrators.


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    #59
    prey
    Registered Users Posts: 27 ✭prey


    https://www.chess.com/blog/GaborHorvath/my-first-otb-game-against-a-cheater


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    #60
    zeitnot
    Registered Users Posts: 265 ✭✭zeitnot


    prey wrote: »
    https://www.chess.com/blog/GaborHorvath/my-first-otb-game-against-a-cheater

    An interesting link, thanks.

    He says that his opponent was a teenager. That wouldn't be much of an excuse, but in fact, according to FIDE, he was born in 1997. So over 21 years of age.


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    #61
    sodacat11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭sodacat11


    Why hasn't there been a report on the ICU or FIDE website about what went on? The cheat should be publicly named and shamed. Letting people get away with this sort of disgusting premeditated behaviour sends out the wrong message. To be honest I think that the Gardai should have been brought in, trying to obtain money by deception is fraud.


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