The mighty Euro Team Championship is underway. Top seed Russia beat Sweden 3.5-0.5 and third seed Azerbaijan beat Turkey 4-0. 2nd seed Ukraine's win over Bosnia-Herzegovina was also 4-0 and it took them a lot less work. The Bosnians didn't show up at all, for reasons unknown. They shouldn't bother showing up now, as the organizers say they won't be allowed to continue at this point.
Shouldn't you at least know what the reason is, before disqualifying a competitor? What if there was a canceled flight? A death of a team member? Um...herpes epidemic? A "How Life Imitates Chess" book signing?
In all these cases you mentioned, they could (and should) have informed the organizors using this amazing invention called telephone...
So you wouldn't let them play if something extraordinary happened because they hadn't called? I am not saying if my sister dies I shouldn't inform the organizer. I am saying that in that case the organizer might not want to take a "do not bother showing up" approach.
I think it's pretty safe to say that if a team member died, they're not going to play anyways, so it wouldn't matter if they were disqualified or not. Of course, if the reason was a "How Life Imitates Chess" book signing, that would be completely understandable:)
"In all these cases you mentioned, they could (and should) have informed the organizors using this amazing invention called telephone..."
Just as in a Swiss Event for individuals, there is an obligation to inform the organizers BEFORE the round starts. Once the clocks start, and there is a forfeit loss, then the organizers have every right to withdraw a team from the event. If Bosnia-Herzegovina wasn't able to play in the 1st round, they ought to have requested a Bye, or at least a "No-Pair". It's prety hard to imagine the circumstances that would justify not contacting the organizers in a timely manner.
What's wrong with our older heros these days?
Look at the games Morozevich-Akopian and Karjakin-Shirov for instance. I can't believe how simply Akopian got mated or Shirov lost a piece. Unbelievable...
I know you can't mess with Moro and Karjakin is in a very good shape, but... C'mon these guys are not amateurs.
Nice photo of Kosteniuk from round 2: http://www.greekchess.com/euro2007/photos2.html
Yah, I am sure in a day we will find out why the Bosnians missed the first round and it won't be a very good excuse. All I was saying is organizers should find out what it is before getting angry.
Any idea why the FIDE website won't let me download the round 1 pairings for the World Cup?