drunknknite
He was winning,
but he didn't see it
and I escaped - as usual.

-Levon Aronian

Tonopah

By drunknknite
In my last post I gave you a sneak preview of one of the games in Tonopah. The other one is even more exciting. Both games after the break..

Warning: Do not attempt to learn anything from these games, they are for entertainment purposes only, DO NOT TRY TO PLAY LIKE THIS!

So the conclusion to the first game must be explained, as the final position is certainly not drawn. Around the 85th or 90th move I had 6 and a half minutes on my clock and my phone rang. I quickly turned off the ringer in my pocket and everything continued as normal. Then the TD (who was from the south) waved his hand in the air motioning 5 at me. I could not understand him. Then he said I had to take 5 minutes off my clock. I got up and disagreed with him that they did not provide adequate warning for such a rule and that if he had stated this rule in advance my phone would have been off (it pays to know the rules sometimes). Unfortunately at this time the captain of our team and National TD Jerry Weikel was out of the room so he could not back me up and the director took 5 minutes off my clock which left me with 90 seconds and left me extremely distressed. I ended up allowing myself to get mated unnecessarily and walked out without losing the game, my clock expired. Then when I got back I told Jerry what had happened and in a lengthy arbitration with the other team we agreed on a draw for the game. The rule should not have been enforced so I did not feel like the result of the game was fair. It was controversial for sure.

The second game features a very provocative move that is more like a bluff than anything else. It is not actually sound but it is so amazing to look at I think that it caught my opponent by surprise. Actually it has been played 3 times in my database and won 2/3.

Anyways it was an interesting experience going to Tonopah, I could have played a lot better but that's a different story.
 

6 comments so far.

  1. Polly October 11, 2008 at 7:32 PM
    Ringing cell phone penalties are pretty much the norm now, though almost every tournament I play in the director reminds players to turn off their phones or face the penalty. At the Marshall it's 1/2 your time up to 10 minutes for a first offense, forfeit for a second offense.

    I played in a FIDE rated tournament this summer, and they made it very clear that they were using the FIDE rule which is forfeit for any ringing cell phone.

    I just assume there's going to be a penalty and leave the phone on vibrate. I think you were fortunate that they compromised on the ruling and made the game a draw.

    At some point I think there will be a standard cell phone penalty, and no announcement will be needed.

    Wild game, BTW
  2. Chessaholic October 13, 2008 at 10:30 PM
    wow that is a wild game for sure... I've never had a game that long. I don't understand Fritz's recommendation that you mention in your annotations for black's 92. move, Rxg5 doesn't make any sense... I let Rybka3 chew on it for 5 minutes and it suggests 92...g6 with a score of 0.00
  3. Will October 14, 2008 at 9:44 AM
    Nigel Short forfeited in a won position in the early rounds in the European individual championships this year. That was an expensive call....
  4. tanch October 14, 2008 at 12:03 PM
    i always make it a point to switch off my cell phone when i enter the chess club. in australia, a ringing phone in classical time controls is an immediate forfeit.

    while this may seem draconian, it actually works pretty well as all players largely abide by this rule.

    very nice game btw. great effort in holding the draw. well done.
  5. drunknknite October 15, 2008 at 1:56 PM
    I am aware of cell phone penalties but I had always heard a warning before the first round, which was my protest to the TD. That is actually the USCF rule that it must be posted in writing and also announced prior to the first round. This was an unfair penalty. Also, the position was completely drawn at this point and I lost 80% of my time. Had only half my time been taken I think I would have been able to hold. I only had about 15 more moves to get to 50. I think the only reason that I didn't hold the game anyways was that I was distressed over the rule, I couldn't think about the game anymore I was really angry that I had spent 80 moves holding this position only to have the TD come and take my time away. I agree that my cell phone should have been turned off and normally I remember to do it but this was an exception. I did not take my phone out of my pocket just reached in and silenced it and my opponent did not intend to do anything. I think the TD overstepped his bounds by getting involved in the game as my opponent was not interested in penalizing me. It was just a fluke thing that happened and really threw me off emotionally which is what I believe led me to make mistakes at the end of the game.

    I understand that perhaps cell phones can be distracting and if everyone was getting calls in a large tournament that would cause major disruptions but that is NEVER the case and I think they have blown the whole thing out of proportion. I should also mention that there was a rock band practicing in the room next door that we could hear very clearly through the wall and it was much louder than my phone. Even half my time would have been fair, if I had been under 5 minutes the director said he would take half my time, but with 6:30 he took the full 5 minutes. It was just a silly situation altogether, my opponent hadn't made progress in 20 moves I don't understand why the game was still going.

    polly, will, tanc - if it is a matter of cheating then i agree with the forfeit rule but in all honesty that is a ridiculous penalty if funny business is not involved. we don't forfeit people for sneezing or making other minor disruptions, it is very excessive and i am glad that it is not the rule in the united states. i would never bring my phone to a tournament if that rule was in place.

    chessaholic - i'm not sure if i've ever played a game this long either. it was really a tough fight.
  6. Anonymous October 21, 2008 at 6:38 AM
    You have a good bit more spirit than I. I probably would not have protested at all (besides maybe the "NBA protest" where the player drops his jaw and spreads his arms in "disbelief")

Something to say?