I wonder, when was the last time a player lost six games but still managed to at least share the lead for the tournament?
Magnus Carlsen won thirteen games, lost six, and drew only three (!) in the 2010 Melody Amber tournament. He tied with Vassily Ivancuk for 1st with 14.5/22. In Bilbao points (three points for win, one point for draw), he scored 42 to Ivanchuk's 36.
Looking at the extended standings makes the feat less impressive. Against the bottom six in the standings, Carlsen scored 11.5/12, but against the top five, he only scored 3.0/10. By contrast, Ivanchuk did not lose a single game and finished 7.0/10 against the top 5.
Vladimir Kramnik finished in 3rd place with 13.0/22. Usually regarded as a careful and pragmatic player, like Carlsen, Kramnik finished with just a few draws, only five.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Class Norms and Titles
This is a cool thing I learned about a couple weeks ago. USCF is implimenting new lifetime titles for players both masters and amateurs. The highest title is Senior Master, followed by National Master, Candidate Master, and then 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th category.
Players can earn norms by playing well in tournaments with at least four games.
A norm is achieved if a player scores more than one point more than what the performance is suggested (National Master level is 2200, 1st category is 1800, 4th category is 1200). If a player earns five norms at that level, they earn the life-time title. Here's the formula.
Norm is achieved if S > X + 1
Where S is the score of the player in the tournament and X is the expected score of all games at norm level N.
X = X1 + X2 + ... Xa where a is the number of games in the tournament. a > 3
If Rz > (N + 400), Xz = 0.0
If N < Rz < (N + 400), Xz = 0.5-(Rz-N)/800
If N = Rz, Xz = 0.5
If (N - 200) < Rz < N, Xz = 0.5+(N-Rz)/400
If Rz < (N - 200), Xz = 1.0
Where Xz is the expected score of a game with opponent z at norm level N and Rz is the rating of said opponent.
As can be seen by the formula, players are punished for playing players below the norm level. A player trying to get a 1800-norm who plays a 1600 player, the expected score is 1.0, even though his true expected score is really only about 0.75. If the same player played a 2000 player, the expected score for that game is 0.25. So a player who played two games, one against a 1600, one against an 2000 (an average of 1800), his expected score for an 1800 norm is 1.25.
It is somewhat easier to score norms in longer tournaments, as the one point barrier that a player must exceed the norm by becomes less and less important. A player playing in a 4 round A section (1800-1999) basically needs to score 4.0/4 (100%) to earn a Candidate Master Norm. However, a player in a 9 round A section could earn said norm with a more modest 7.5/9 (83%)
To date I've earned the 2nd category (1600) title with one 1st category (1800) norm.
Players can earn norms by playing well in tournaments with at least four games.
A norm is achieved if a player scores more than one point more than what the performance is suggested (National Master level is 2200, 1st category is 1800, 4th category is 1200). If a player earns five norms at that level, they earn the life-time title. Here's the formula.
Norm is achieved if S > X + 1
Where S is the score of the player in the tournament and X is the expected score of all games at norm level N.
X = X1 + X2 + ... Xa where a is the number of games in the tournament. a > 3
If Rz > (N + 400), Xz = 0.0
If N < Rz < (N + 400), Xz = 0.5-(Rz-N)/800
If N = Rz, Xz = 0.5
If (N - 200) < Rz < N, Xz = 0.5+(N-Rz)/400
If Rz < (N - 200), Xz = 1.0
Where Xz is the expected score of a game with opponent z at norm level N and Rz is the rating of said opponent.
As can be seen by the formula, players are punished for playing players below the norm level. A player trying to get a 1800-norm who plays a 1600 player, the expected score is 1.0, even though his true expected score is really only about 0.75. If the same player played a 2000 player, the expected score for that game is 0.25. So a player who played two games, one against a 1600, one against an 2000 (an average of 1800), his expected score for an 1800 norm is 1.25.
It is somewhat easier to score norms in longer tournaments, as the one point barrier that a player must exceed the norm by becomes less and less important. A player playing in a 4 round A section (1800-1999) basically needs to score 4.0/4 (100%) to earn a Candidate Master Norm. However, a player in a 9 round A section could earn said norm with a more modest 7.5/9 (83%)
To date I've earned the 2nd category (1600) title with one 1st category (1800) norm.
Monday, March 22, 2010
25th North American Masters
The World Amateur has been a disapointment, but the accompaning master tournament is fairly strong and may result in a norm or too.
The 9-round swiss has twenty players participating, including five grandmasters and four international masters. Untitled player Mackenzie Molner (although he has met the requirements for FIDE Master), is well on his way to a 3rd IM norm and perhaps his first GM norm. He's scored 5.0/6, including two defeats of GMs. His FIDE rating is already over 2400 so barring a complete collapse he should earn the IM title at the end of this tournament.
There's not too many swiss tournaments in the US that have norm possibilities (Philadelphia Open, Chicago Open (this year), Philadelphia International, and the World Open), so it's good to see there's another chance for norm-hunters.
25th North American Masters
The 9-round swiss has twenty players participating, including five grandmasters and four international masters. Untitled player Mackenzie Molner (although he has met the requirements for FIDE Master), is well on his way to a 3rd IM norm and perhaps his first GM norm. He's scored 5.0/6, including two defeats of GMs. His FIDE rating is already over 2400 so barring a complete collapse he should earn the IM title at the end of this tournament.
There's not too many swiss tournaments in the US that have norm possibilities (Philadelphia Open, Chicago Open (this year), Philadelphia International, and the World Open), so it's good to see there's another chance for norm-hunters.
25th North American Masters
Sunday, March 21, 2010
World Amateur Championship
World Amateur Championship began this week, and ouch! Somebody's taking a bath.
The $20,000 guaranteed prizes were based on hopefully an attendance of 400, with an extra $10,000 in prizes for each additional 200 players.
However, only 124 players showed up to play, and not all of those paid their entire ($120) entries, as each country was allowed one male and one female entry free of charge.
Shouldn't be too surprised that not many players are playing, the tournament is seven days long (longer than the normal three day and four day tournaments that CCA runs, and even longer than the 6-day and 5-day schedules that both the US and World Opens run), top prize is only $3,000, and top class prize is $1,000. With the hotel fees and travel costs, it's just too darn expensive for a mediocre tournament.
The $20,000 guaranteed prizes were based on hopefully an attendance of 400, with an extra $10,000 in prizes for each additional 200 players.
However, only 124 players showed up to play, and not all of those paid their entire ($120) entries, as each country was allowed one male and one female entry free of charge.
Shouldn't be too surprised that not many players are playing, the tournament is seven days long (longer than the normal three day and four day tournaments that CCA runs, and even longer than the 6-day and 5-day schedules that both the US and World Opens run), top prize is only $3,000, and top class prize is $1,000. With the hotel fees and travel costs, it's just too darn expensive for a mediocre tournament.
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