There is more to this story then what I wrote in the first post. If one looked at the positions and analysis, he could see that it was an interesting endgame. I wanted to share some of my thoughts on the game itself, and I did not want that to get lost in what occurred during the game, after the game, and on the following day.
At times I let my inner coach and TD go places that perhaps she should not go. I've had discussions with my blog readers when recounting these incidents. In this particular case I was dealing with my opponent, and I was trying to keep the tournament director out of it. I did not feel it was necessary to get the TD involved. I thought I could make the point of not talking in the tournament room, and staying focused on one's game without getting anyone in trouble. What I had not counted on was my idiomatic English being misconstrued as a cheating accusation, and butting heads with an overly protective chess parent.
After I went back into the playing room and the tournament director gave the mom a "polite lecture" about her son being mature enough to play with adults, she decided she would camp out by the door. This way she could keep an eye out on her son, and make sure his "mean and nasty opponent" was not going do anything else to him. It was rather annoying to look up from my game and see this woman staring at me like I was the devil incarnate. At one point I said something to the tournament director about not liking her giving me the evil eye from across the room. I think he was kind of aggravated by the whole thing and said to me, "What do you want me to do? Gouge her eyes out?"
I decided it was not worth asking him to tell her she could not sit by the door. I may have won the battle on the talking issue, but I was clearly going to lose the psychological war if I did not just ignore her. However it's hard to ignore this type of thing when the kid has an entourage of coaches, parents of coaches, and other assorted people who come in during the game check up on him. Nobody said anything, but people would bring him water and snacks or just stand around and watch. I felt like it was me versus my opponent and the chess academy that he is part of. Are these kids like Hollywood actors who need their entourage to look after them? Do my people need to talk to their people to smooth things out. The problem is, I don't have any people.
One may be thinking, "Ohhh, Polly let herself get psyched out by a nine year old." No it was not getting psyched out by the kid. It was getting intimidated by his entourage, and feeling guilty about being thought of as a bully accusing a nine year old of cheating. After the game was over I made a point of going out of the room with my opponent, congratulating him on outstanding play, apologizing to the mother and him for the misunderstanding, and explaining what I had meant. Apology accepted. End of story? Not quite.
On Monday I had taken a bye for round 5 so that I could play in the action tournament. That tournament was fairly uneventful except one game against a guy whose "elevator doesn't go to the top." Perhaps a post on that event will follow. The short version is; I scored 2.5 - 2.5 and won $16 tying for top under 1800. Woo hoo! That paid for dinner at LAX on Monday night. The action tournament was being played on the other side of the room, so I didn't have to deal with the kid, his mother or his entourage.
In round 6 I'm back to the main event. Taking a 1/2 point bye did not protect me from the dreaded full point bye when I only have 1 point out 5. A last round bye in a tournament where I purposely take a red-eye to avoid worrying about making my flight is really annoying. Originally the director paired me against a kid from the action who had also gotten a bye. However it seemed like he left, so the director found the player in the Open section who was getting the bye in that section.
While I'm waiting for the director to find me an opponent I got talking to the mom who had stuck up for me on Sunday. I thanked her for backing me up. She told me I was absolutely right for saying something. She knows that kids tend to talk too much with the other kids, and she's always concerned that her son might say something about a game accidentally. I told her that I felt bad that I upset the kid, and that he felt it necessary to go crying to mommy. She said something to the effect of "he plays her (you) like a fiddle." I'm not sure if she was saying I got suckered, or that he goes running to mommy over every little thing. Which ever, I guess this may be part of his game. I should mention that this woman's son is friends with the kid, and they both seem to go to the same chess program.
During his sixth round game the kid was seated directly behind me on another row of tables. Another one of his friends was seated next me. The friend's opponent was a no show, and got a forfeit win after an hour. Later on mommy comes into the playing room, and sits down next to me to watch her son play. I didn't say anything to her. I just acted as if she was a random spectator watching another game. Every once in awhile she'd get up and give him something to eat or drink. Sometimes he'd get up from the board and have a conversation with her. To me that is so wrong, but I wasn't going to say a thing. I wasn't playing him, so it his opponent's problem not mine. I made my point the day before, and if she wants to condone, even encourage her son's behavior that's her business not mine.
Maybe it's a southern California thing, but I saw way too many parents getting involved with their children's games while in progress. (My people will talk to your people, and our people will deal with the tournament director's people.) In one round there was a dispute about whether somebody had made the time control or not. The mother of one of the players in the dispute starts talking to the director and the opponent. The kid was probably 12 or 13 years old. Why is his mother butting in like that?
I've seen my share of crazy chess parents argue with the director when they don't like how a ruling was handled. I've also seen neurotic parents at open tournaments hover over their child's game when they're playing. My feeling on the matter is; if the child is strong enough to play adults then he needs to behave accordingly. That means not running around the room, or chit chatting with his friends because he's bored. That means not relying on mommy or daddy to fetch water or snacks for him during the game. That means if he has a problem with the opponent, try to work it out with the opponent, or go to the tournament director. The parent should not be involved at all while the child is playing. Chess is a game between two individual players. Parents, coaches, spouses, significant others, etc should play no part in what happens during game. After the game is over then those people can provide whatever support is needed.
Most scholastic tournaments impose certain rules regarding player conduct. Some examples are, no parents in the room while games are in progress, no wandering around the room during the game, no talking with other players, and no returning to the playing room once their game is done. Rules like this would not go over too well in an open event. "I'm sorry Grandmaster Shabalov, your game is over you can't come back in and watch Grandmaster Akobian's game." The problem is parents and kids take advantage of the less rigid structure regarding player conduct in the playing room.
This past weekend I saw too many incidents with kids having conversations with their friends, or parents not just in the playing room, but right at the board while the opponent was on move. At one point during my game with the kid, he was trying to correct his score sheet. I had given him my Mon Roi so he could see what moves he was missing. His clock was running since it was his move. A kid comes up and starts asking him questions. I said "Excuse me, we are still playing. You should not be talking to him."
I suppose it would be easy ask "Where were the tournament directors?" There was one tournament director. He was responsible for pairings, and running not only the main event, but the various side events. It was hard for him to be everywhere at once. He could only deal with what he saw, or what was reported to him. I probably caused him enough aggravation with my "cat fight" with mommy. I didn't need to tell him how to run his tournament too.
As players we need to take responsibility for our own actions. If we are parents or coaches then we need to make sure we have taught our youngsters to behave in an appropriate manner regarding etiquette, sportsmanship, decision making and all the other stuff involved in being a tournament chess player. If we can take care of these things ourselves it makes the tournament director's job a whole lot easier.
Showing posts with label Chess Etiquette. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chess Etiquette. Show all posts
Friday, May 29, 2009
Rd. 4 Lost In Translation - Part 1
After getting slapped around by a high school kid in round three, I had to play a nine year old with a 1778 rating in round four. He had gotten paired up in his first three rounds. I was his first "down pairing". He started off with a queen side castle on the wall chart. 0-0-0. I had managed to avoid the same fate with with my first round draw.
This was my first round in the merged schedules with the 40/2, G/60 time limit. This is the part that's sometimes difficult for me to slow down. I can get kind of antsy when the opponent is going into deep thinks on every move. I was getting antsy because he was staring off into space on his move. He looked either tired or bored, it was hard to say. Even in the opening he'd be staring into space or fiddling with his watch on his time. After awhile he kept getting up and leaving the board when it was my move. Every time I'd look up he'd be hanging around with this one kid, and talking in the playing room. They'd go over and look a friend's game and continue their conversation over there. I'm sure they weren't discussing our game. I have no idea who the other kid even was. He may have been playing in the scholastic tournament that was being on Sunday also.
This type of behavior by kids, especially higher rated kids who should know better just bothers the hell out of me. Parents and coaches should be constantly reminding their children and students to take the game seriously and not be using the opponent's thinking time to run around the playing room and socializing with other kids.
As I left the room at once point to go get water, the two of them are having a conversation. I did not raise my voice, but I did tell the kids that is was inappropriate to be having conversations in the playing room. I also told the kibitzer that he was doing his friend no favors by talking to him while he's in the middle of a game. I guess I should watch my use of idioms such as "doing one no favors" when speaking to a kid whose first language is not English.
I guess this got interpreted as doing a favor by helping his friend in giving moves. I certainly didn't think the kids were cheating. If I thought that I would have gone straight to the tournament director. The inner coach was coming out and saying, "Stop talking to your friends, and go play your chess game." If he had been one of my students, I would be very upset with him for not being at the board staying focused on the game.
I also feel it's important for a player not give appearance of unethical behavior. One could be discussing the weather or what happened in last night's baseball game, but in the midst of a tournament the opponent may be thinking the worst. For all the opponent knows, the player might be saying to his higher rated buddy "I just played my knight to e5, what should I do if he attacks it with Bd6?" I've been guilty of chit chatting with friends in the playing room and having an overly concerned opponent check up on me.
The kid had been away from the board for awhile, and when I went to go to the bathroom I see the kid with his mother. She starts screaming at me for yelling at her kid. I told her I did not yell at him, but told him he should not be talking to friends during his game. I also didn't feel he should be going out and talking to his mom during the round. I didn't want to tell her that if he's going to play with adults he needs to act like an adult, and not running off to mommy if he doesn't like what his opponent said to him. (The tournament director told me later that he essentially said that exact thing to the mother, though in a nice way.) Some things are best unsaid in the heat of the moment. At this point I decided I would let the tournament director deal with it. He told the kid to get back into the playing room, and play the game. He told the mother and me to stop the arguing because he couldn't make any judgment on what was said. I was really pissed off at that point, but went back into the room. As I went back into the room, another mother whose son is friends with the kid said, "You were absolutely right." I thanked her and went back to play.
Sometimes I think it would be better if I just kept my mouth shut. However it just irks the hell out of me when these kids just think it's okay to have non-stop conversations with their buddies, parents and whoever else they decide to speak with. Maybe it's a California thing. Everybody seems to seem it's okay to hang out with friends and talk in the playing room between moves. My editorial comments on the subject will come later.
After the TD told him to go to the board and play, he became super focused. It was a really interesting game. If anyone tells you kids are all tactics and no endgame, don't listen. These days kids are more diversified, and they know a lot more about endgames then you think. I felt like I went wrong when I traded queens, but when I analyzed with Fritz later it still had me equal. Here are a few of the key positions in the ending.
In this position I played 49...d5. What followed was 50. exd5 Rxd5 51. Rd2 Kd6 52. Rxd5+ Kxd5 53. Kd3 e5
I felt I should have not allowed the rook trade, and instead play 49... a5 50. Rc4 h5. Keeping the rooks on the board makes it difficult for either side to make much progress, however the rook trade was not the losing move. After White's move 54. f3 we reached this position.
54...h5 was probably my best try, but instead I played 54...f5. 55. a4 h6? 55...h5 is still the best move here. Possible continuation would be 55... h5 56. g5 h457. Kc3 e4 58. fxe4+ fxe4 59. a5 e3 60. Kd3 e2 61. Kxe2 Kc4 62. Kf3 Kxb4 63.Ke4 Kxa5 64. Ke5 Kb4 65. Kf6 a5 66. Kxg6 a4 67. Kh5 a3 68. g6 a2 69. g7 a1=Q70. g8=Q Qd4 71. Qg4 Qxg4+ 72. Kxg4 Kc5 73. Kxh4 Kd6 74. Kg5 Ke7 75. Kg6 Kf8 76. h4 Kh8 77. h5 Kh8 78. h6 Kh8. Reaching this position which is typical rook pawn drawn ending.
Unfortunately the game went this way instead. 56. h4 fxg4 57. fxg4 g5 58. hxg5 hxg5 59. b5 axb5 60.axb5 e4+ 61. Ke3 Kc5 62. Kxe4 Kxb5 63. Kf5 Kc5 64. Kxg5 Kd6 65. Kh6 Ke6 66. g5 Kf7 67. Kh7 to reach this position. Sames pieces as above, but significant difference since Black can not prevent White from queening the g pawn.
Once he played 67. Kh7 it was very clear to me that he knew how to win this ending. 9 year old kids don't get to high 1700s without knowing how to promote in this position and execute the queen and king checkmate. It's forced mate in 10. At this point I decided to take the graceful way out, and resign. I could have been a schmuck and played out to mate. However I just think it's insulting the opponent's intelligence, especially with lots of time on the clock. I think he was surprised I resigned. I'm sure anyone he's played in a scholastic tournament would have played out hoping for stalemate or a gross blunder of hanging the queen.
This was my first round in the merged schedules with the 40/2, G/60 time limit. This is the part that's sometimes difficult for me to slow down. I can get kind of antsy when the opponent is going into deep thinks on every move. I was getting antsy because he was staring off into space on his move. He looked either tired or bored, it was hard to say. Even in the opening he'd be staring into space or fiddling with his watch on his time. After awhile he kept getting up and leaving the board when it was my move. Every time I'd look up he'd be hanging around with this one kid, and talking in the playing room. They'd go over and look a friend's game and continue their conversation over there. I'm sure they weren't discussing our game. I have no idea who the other kid even was. He may have been playing in the scholastic tournament that was being on Sunday also.
This type of behavior by kids, especially higher rated kids who should know better just bothers the hell out of me. Parents and coaches should be constantly reminding their children and students to take the game seriously and not be using the opponent's thinking time to run around the playing room and socializing with other kids.
As I left the room at once point to go get water, the two of them are having a conversation. I did not raise my voice, but I did tell the kids that is was inappropriate to be having conversations in the playing room. I also told the kibitzer that he was doing his friend no favors by talking to him while he's in the middle of a game. I guess I should watch my use of idioms such as "doing one no favors" when speaking to a kid whose first language is not English.
I guess this got interpreted as doing a favor by helping his friend in giving moves. I certainly didn't think the kids were cheating. If I thought that I would have gone straight to the tournament director. The inner coach was coming out and saying, "Stop talking to your friends, and go play your chess game." If he had been one of my students, I would be very upset with him for not being at the board staying focused on the game.
I also feel it's important for a player not give appearance of unethical behavior. One could be discussing the weather or what happened in last night's baseball game, but in the midst of a tournament the opponent may be thinking the worst. For all the opponent knows, the player might be saying to his higher rated buddy "I just played my knight to e5, what should I do if he attacks it with Bd6?" I've been guilty of chit chatting with friends in the playing room and having an overly concerned opponent check up on me.
The kid had been away from the board for awhile, and when I went to go to the bathroom I see the kid with his mother. She starts screaming at me for yelling at her kid. I told her I did not yell at him, but told him he should not be talking to friends during his game. I also didn't feel he should be going out and talking to his mom during the round. I didn't want to tell her that if he's going to play with adults he needs to act like an adult, and not running off to mommy if he doesn't like what his opponent said to him. (The tournament director told me later that he essentially said that exact thing to the mother, though in a nice way.) Some things are best unsaid in the heat of the moment. At this point I decided I would let the tournament director deal with it. He told the kid to get back into the playing room, and play the game. He told the mother and me to stop the arguing because he couldn't make any judgment on what was said. I was really pissed off at that point, but went back into the room. As I went back into the room, another mother whose son is friends with the kid said, "You were absolutely right." I thanked her and went back to play.
Sometimes I think it would be better if I just kept my mouth shut. However it just irks the hell out of me when these kids just think it's okay to have non-stop conversations with their buddies, parents and whoever else they decide to speak with. Maybe it's a California thing. Everybody seems to seem it's okay to hang out with friends and talk in the playing room between moves. My editorial comments on the subject will come later.
After the TD told him to go to the board and play, he became super focused. It was a really interesting game. If anyone tells you kids are all tactics and no endgame, don't listen. These days kids are more diversified, and they know a lot more about endgames then you think. I felt like I went wrong when I traded queens, but when I analyzed with Fritz later it still had me equal. Here are a few of the key positions in the ending.
In this position I played 49...d5. What followed was 50. exd5 Rxd5 51. Rd2 Kd6 52. Rxd5+ Kxd5 53. Kd3 e5I felt I should have not allowed the rook trade, and instead play 49... a5 50. Rc4 h5. Keeping the rooks on the board makes it difficult for either side to make much progress, however the rook trade was not the losing move. After White's move 54. f3 we reached this position.
54...h5 was probably my best try, but instead I played 54...f5. 55. a4 h6? 55...h5 is still the best move here. Possible continuation would be 55... h5 56. g5 h457. Kc3 e4 58. fxe4+ fxe4 59. a5 e3 60. Kd3 e2 61. Kxe2 Kc4 62. Kf3 Kxb4 63.Ke4 Kxa5 64. Ke5 Kb4 65. Kf6 a5 66. Kxg6 a4 67. Kh5 a3 68. g6 a2 69. g7 a1=Q70. g8=Q Qd4 71. Qg4 Qxg4+ 72. Kxg4 Kc5 73. Kxh4 Kd6 74. Kg5 Ke7 75. Kg6 Kf8 76. h4 Kh8 77. h5 Kh8 78. h6 Kh8. Reaching this position which is typical rook pawn drawn ending.
Unfortunately the game went this way instead. 56. h4 fxg4 57. fxg4 g5 58. hxg5 hxg5 59. b5 axb5 60.axb5 e4+ 61. Ke3 Kc5 62. Kxe4 Kxb5 63. Kf5 Kc5 64. Kxg5 Kd6 65. Kh6 Ke6 66. g5 Kf7 67. Kh7 to reach this position. Sames pieces as above, but significant difference since Black can not prevent White from queening the g pawn.
Once he played 67. Kh7 it was very clear to me that he knew how to win this ending. 9 year old kids don't get to high 1700s without knowing how to promote in this position and execute the queen and king checkmate. It's forced mate in 10. At this point I decided to take the graceful way out, and resign. I could have been a schmuck and played out to mate. However I just think it's insulting the opponent's intelligence, especially with lots of time on the clock. I think he was surprised I resigned. I'm sure anyone he's played in a scholastic tournament would have played out hoping for stalemate or a gross blunder of hanging the queen.
Friday, September 5, 2008
NY State Championship: Round 6 (Etiquette Rant)
Despite the length of my round 5 game, I had time to have a nice lunch with a few of the local area players that I know. Just getting out of the hotel and eating somewhere besides Subway helps a lot. Poor David. I think Alan and I started to bore the hell out of him when the conversation went from chess to wineries that we've visited in Napa Valley. It's actually nice to be able to discuss something besides the latest opening theory, or how many people cheat online.
Amazingly enough I had managed to go through the first five rounds without playing anyone under the age 21. My last round opponent looked like he was a college student. Even though I didn't have to play any little kids they still managed to find ways to annoy the hell out of me. Sitting next to my opponent was a local kid who's around 10 years old and rated almost 1700. As I mentioned in my 9+10+9+12=40 post from last December, kids like to hang out and watch their friends play. They don't get to do that in scholastic tournaments, so they tend to take advantage of the the more relaxed floor rules in an open tournament.
At one point I looked up and noticed two kids standing on either side of the kid, "Peter" (name changed to protect the guilty.) seated next to my opponent. They weren't simply standing behind "Peter" they were squeezed in between the people seated on either side him. I'm thinking to myself "I'm glad he's not sitting next to me. I probably tell the kid to his right to back off." I didn't say anything at that point. It's Peter's problem, and if it's bothering my opponent he can say something.
Later some kids are watching from the end of the table next to my board, and start whispering. I say "Shhhh!" and wave them away. They go away, but then a little while later the same two kids came back and start having a conversation with Peter whose opponent is on move. This is occuring at Peter's board. At that point I had to say something. It's distracting for both my opponent and me, and Peter's opponent. I walked away from my board and signaled to the three kids to come over to me. I quietly reminded them of several things. First of all having a conversation in the playing room is not allowed, and especially not at the board. Second thing is if you're still playing you should be concentrating on your own game, not on other people's games. I also reminded them if they were at a scholastic this would not be tolerated whatsoever and could cost the game or lead to their team being penalized.
After my discussion with them ,they scattered, and I had to go outside and get myself recomposed. Once the kids start making noise it becomes part of my problem too. That's why I said something at that point. However giving the little lecture got me distracted so I had just leave the room and pull myself back together. I suppose getting the tournament director would have better, but they probably would have vanished by the time I hunt up Steve, and get him to go into the room. That would have taken more time, then simply giving them the two minute speech on behavior at the board. This was a round that I should have been listening to Bach.
Sometimes these kids don't seem to get it. Late in my game I had just made a move and stood up. I wasn't necessarily standing up to leave the room. I change positions a lot while seated. Sometimes I stand behind my chair. Sometimes I kneel on the chair. I'm get fidgety, especially when the position is complicated and I'm ahead. I'm thinking about what's going on in the position and Peter asks me how many points I have. I said "Two. Shhh!" and waved him off.
Gimme a break! What's with asking me about my score in the middle of game? He was sitting on the board next to me so there was a very good chance we both had the same score. Besides even if we both won there were already a number of under 1800s that already had 3 or 4 points, so we weren't winning the under 1800 prize. Besides I had given him this lecture about not talking to people in the playing room, and there he is talking. I'm sorry I don't care if he's only 10 years old. His rating is almost the same as mine. He's played in enough adult and scholastic tournaments to know better.
End of my editorial rant. I did not rant and rave at the kids, despite what the title implies or what some anonymous reader thinks. Here's the game. This was a heart breaker. The win was there, but I messed up at the end and allowed him the perpetual.
matt-polly090108.pgn
Even though I went a second straight year with no wins, it was a direct reversal of last year's score. Last year it was 1 draw and 5 losses. This year it was 5 draws and 1 loss.
Amazingly enough I had managed to go through the first five rounds without playing anyone under the age 21. My last round opponent looked like he was a college student. Even though I didn't have to play any little kids they still managed to find ways to annoy the hell out of me. Sitting next to my opponent was a local kid who's around 10 years old and rated almost 1700. As I mentioned in my 9+10+9+12=40 post from last December, kids like to hang out and watch their friends play. They don't get to do that in scholastic tournaments, so they tend to take advantage of the the more relaxed floor rules in an open tournament.
At one point I looked up and noticed two kids standing on either side of the kid, "Peter" (name changed to protect the guilty.) seated next to my opponent. They weren't simply standing behind "Peter" they were squeezed in between the people seated on either side him. I'm thinking to myself "I'm glad he's not sitting next to me. I probably tell the kid to his right to back off." I didn't say anything at that point. It's Peter's problem, and if it's bothering my opponent he can say something.
Later some kids are watching from the end of the table next to my board, and start whispering. I say "Shhhh!" and wave them away. They go away, but then a little while later the same two kids came back and start having a conversation with Peter whose opponent is on move. This is occuring at Peter's board. At that point I had to say something. It's distracting for both my opponent and me, and Peter's opponent. I walked away from my board and signaled to the three kids to come over to me. I quietly reminded them of several things. First of all having a conversation in the playing room is not allowed, and especially not at the board. Second thing is if you're still playing you should be concentrating on your own game, not on other people's games. I also reminded them if they were at a scholastic this would not be tolerated whatsoever and could cost the game or lead to their team being penalized.
After my discussion with them ,they scattered, and I had to go outside and get myself recomposed. Once the kids start making noise it becomes part of my problem too. That's why I said something at that point. However giving the little lecture got me distracted so I had just leave the room and pull myself back together. I suppose getting the tournament director would have better, but they probably would have vanished by the time I hunt up Steve, and get him to go into the room. That would have taken more time, then simply giving them the two minute speech on behavior at the board. This was a round that I should have been listening to Bach.
Sometimes these kids don't seem to get it. Late in my game I had just made a move and stood up. I wasn't necessarily standing up to leave the room. I change positions a lot while seated. Sometimes I stand behind my chair. Sometimes I kneel on the chair. I'm get fidgety, especially when the position is complicated and I'm ahead. I'm thinking about what's going on in the position and Peter asks me how many points I have. I said "Two. Shhh!" and waved him off.
Gimme a break! What's with asking me about my score in the middle of game? He was sitting on the board next to me so there was a very good chance we both had the same score. Besides even if we both won there were already a number of under 1800s that already had 3 or 4 points, so we weren't winning the under 1800 prize. Besides I had given him this lecture about not talking to people in the playing room, and there he is talking. I'm sorry I don't care if he's only 10 years old. His rating is almost the same as mine. He's played in enough adult and scholastic tournaments to know better.
End of my editorial rant. I did not rant and rave at the kids, despite what the title implies or what some anonymous reader thinks. Here's the game. This was a heart breaker. The win was there, but I messed up at the end and allowed him the perpetual.
matt-polly090108.pgn
Even though I went a second straight year with no wins, it was a direct reversal of last year's score. Last year it was 1 draw and 5 losses. This year it was 5 draws and 1 loss.
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