A B Group with two (three?) former members of the world's top ten, yikes. The Corus site just added the full list of the B Group for Wijk aan Zee 2008. (A Group is here.) Bacrot is the top seed at nearly 2700. Krasenkow has played in all three groups over the years. He won the C last year with an amazing 10.5/13 score, passing the gratuitously-belettered Russian teenager Nepomniachtchi, who finished with 10 but got invited to the B Group anyway. The rest of the field: Sargissian, Cheparinov, Movsesian, Harikrishna, Short, Stellwagen, Humpy, l'Ami, Smeets, Hou Yifan, Spoelman. It begins January 11.
I wonder why Timman has never played in the B Group. I suppose it would feel a little insulting after his long history in the main event going back to 1972, but the great veteran and Dutch chess hero would add a lot to the event and teach the youngsters a few things. (Most of them illegal at their age in any country but the Netherlands, mind you, but there is more to life than chess.) Coming in last and mostly trying not to make a Tiger Woodsian under par score in the A Group was clearly too rough to take anymore. 2.5 in 2003 and he came back in 2004 to score 4.0. Still in last, but anything to erase that 2.5 from his memory. Actually, at Timman's current 2559 he would be rated higher than only three players in next year's B Group. Okay, there's always the C Group. Short won the A Group in 86 and 87. Lots of great stats on the official site now, including a list of everyone who has ever played there with their results. Kasparov played three times, first each time, 39 games with a ridiculous 73% of points scored.
Odd... Last year i hardly recognized any of the B-group and this year it's mostly big names.
I see Bacrot as kind of an anomaly for this Corus event. Too weak for the A Group and too Strong for the B Group.
It was announced long ago that Timman, as well as Portisch, Korchnoi and Ljubojevic, will play a tournament of former winners:
http://www.coruschess.com/article.php?s=n137
Where does FIDE define the categorisation of tournaments, and the calculation of average ELO? Is there a minimum number of players for a categorised event?
Where is Nakamura?
Just calcuate the average rationg of all the players in the field of a Round Robin tournament.
Each FIDE tournament category is defined by a range or 25 ratings points.
I'm not sure if there is a minimum number of players participating in an event, for it to receive a Category.
Certainly, tournaments as small as 4 players have received a Category designation. 3 player tournaments are quite rare, although they might occur as Tie-Breakers. I see no reason why they could not be placed in a Category.
The reason why the Category system was created was to generate a table of the minimum number of pointe to earn a Title Norm against a given field of players. So, since the field of a Cat. 15 event is weaker than the field of a Cat. 19 event, a player has to achieve a higher percentage in the Cat. 15 event, in order to earn, say, a GM norm.
Chess Tournaments FIDE Categories
go up 25 each - ave tournament rating
Category 18 - 2676-2700
so:
Cat 23 2801-2825
Cat 22 2776-2800
Cat 21 2751-2775
Cat 20 2726-2750
Cat 19 2701-2725
Cat 18 2676-2700
Cat 17 2651-2675
Cat 16 2626-2650
Cat 15 2601-2625
Cat 14 2576-2600
Cat 13 2551-2575
Cat 12 2526-2550
Cat 11 2501-2525
Cat 10 2476-2500
Cat 9 2451-2475
Cat 8 2426-2450
Cat 7 2401-2425
Cat 6 2376-2400
Cat 5 2351-2375
Cat 4 2326-2350
Cat 3 2301-2325
Cat 2 2276-2300
Cat 1 2251-2275
Once again, Hikaru Nakamura gets snubbed from a major tournament. He wins 2 strong tournaments back to back, and he gets no invite.
I guess chess organizers don't like to promote young juniors who play "fighting chess". Instead we'll all get to watch Kramnik vs Leko battle it out for 15 moves.. Good job guys!
Thanks Doug - v useful.
Braden, he is no invited, because he is nowhere near Kramnik¡s or Leko's level of play
Braden Bournival wrote:
Once again, Hikaru Nakamura gets snubbed from a major tournament. He wins 2 strong tournaments back to back, and he gets no invite.
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The invites for the B group were probably sent out long before Nakamura's recent triumphs.
Nakamura was invited to play in group B in 2004, he came joint 4th with Zuniga on 7.5/13.
His performance was slightly above par for the tournament.
It is tradition that the group B winner gets and automatic invite to group A the following year.
I think it's true to say that with the exception of his very recent strong showings in Corsica, he has not done much since 2004 to raise his profile.
I hope this is the beginning of a good run of results for him, as he is exciting to watch.
To accuse the Corus committee of snubbing him is a little ridiculous in my opinion, as his results have not justified his inclusion up to now.
"Once again, Hikaru Nakamura gets snubbed from a major tournament. He wins 2 strong tournaments back to back, and he gets no invite."
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"The invites for the B group were probably sent out long before Nakamura's recent triumphs."
If the invitations were decided some time ago, what reason would the organizers have for keeping the composition of the field (for the B Group) under wraps? One should probably assume that at least a couple of the slots (for invitations to participate in the Corus B event) were not decided until a few days ago. So, why not invite Nakamura?
Hou Yi-Fan was invited--although her rating is much lower....She has already participated in a number of reasonably strong Round Robins, and her results in those events have not been particularly good.
Nakamura would have achieved a Plus score, but I don't see him winning an event of this caliber, ahead of Bacrot, Sargissian, Cheparinov, Movsesian, Harikrishna, AND Short.
Participants grandmaster group B
Name Country Rating
GM Etienne Bacrot FRA 2695
GM Gabriel Sargissian ARM 2673
GM Ivan Cheparinov BUL 2670
GM. Sergey Movsesian SLO 2670
GM Pentala Harikrishna IND 2668
GM Michal Krasenkow POL 2668
GM Nigel Short ENG 2649
GM Daniel Stellwagen NED 2639
GM Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2611
GM Koneru Humpy IND 2606
GM Erwin l'Ami NED 2577
GM Jan Smeets NED 2558
WGM Hou Yifan CHI 2502
IM Wouter Spoelman NED 2445
Average rating : 2617
Category : 15
The Barcelona tournament was of the same Category (XV), but based on the composition of the field, seems a bit less formidable. Beliavsky, Vaganian, Krasenkow, and Illescas are on the downside of their careers--certainly not the case with the Top 5 players who will be participating in Corus B.
Anyway, it's just a matter of time before Nakamura is given another crack.
===============================================
SNo. Name Rtg FED 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts
1 GM Gashimov Vugar 2663 AZE * 1 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 5½
2 GM Vaganian Rafael A 2600 ARM 0 * 0 ½ 0 1 1 1 ½ ½ 4½
3 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2648 USA ½ 1 * 1 0 1 1 1 1 ½ 7
4 GM Dominguez Perez Lenier 2683 CUB ½ ½ 0 * 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 6
5 GM Oms Pallise Josep 2506 ESP 0 1 1 0 * ½ 0 ½ 1 0 4
6 GM Illescas Cordoba Miguel 2598 ESP 1 0 0 ½ ½ * 1 ½ 0 0 3½
7 GM Narciso Dublan Marc 2546 ESP ½ 0 0 0 1 0 * 1 0 ½ 3
8 IM Fluvia Jordi 2508 ESP 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 * 0 ½ 1½
9 GM Krasenkow Michal 2668 POL ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 1 1 * 0 4½
10 GM Beliavsky Alexander G 2646 SLO ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 * 5½
"If the invitations were decided some time ago, what reason would the organizers have for keeping the composition of the field (for the B Group) under wraps?"
How about waiting for ansvers?
I know the state of affairs is pretty dismal in the chess world, but chessplayers still manage to invent pretty far fetched conspiracy theories
Q
"I guess chess organizers don't like to promote young juniors who play "fighting chess"."
Nepomniatchi, Cheparinov and Sargissian all belong to that category, and their average playing strength is more or less comparable with Nakamura's.
You may disagree with a name or two (I would prefer seeing Zviagintsev play instead of the equally-rated Movsesian, for instance), but it looks pretty unfair to criticize the Corus organizers just on those grounds, given the terrific job they're doing in bringing us not one but three top-level closed events each year.
"Hou Yi-Fan was invited--although her rating is much lower....She has already participated in a number of reasonably strong Round Robins, and her results in those events have not been particularly good."
For Yifan Hou, her invitation is not that much based on rating, but based on the fact that she is maybe one of the greatest women talents ever, considering the fact that she at 13 is already 2500 and GM strength. For the Corus organizers, it is a tradition to invite the most talented junior players in the B group, and Hou did reasonably well in the C group last year as far as I remember.
It is not so easy to see who Nakamura should replace in this group. The 4 Dutch players are invited for rather obvious reasons. Koneru and Hou are the women candidates, while Krasenkow and Nakamura was invited based on their results in the C group last year.
Sargissian is a second of Aronian, Cheparinov of Topalov and Short and Harikrishna have worked together and it definitely helps to have good contact with the organizers. Nakamura don't, and with the exception of the tremendous results in his last two tournaments, he has not much of a record to show to. If Nakamura is serious about chess, he will get there. It's up to him.
That should be "....Krasenkow and Nepomniachtchi", obviously.
Possible cure for short draws: check out the "penalty chess" video on youtube. I'm sure the basic idea can be adapted to deal with short draws, computer cheating, collusion, etc.
"For Yifan Hou, her invitation is not that much based on rating, but based on the fact that she is maybe one of the greatest women talents ever, considering the fact that she at 13 is already 2500 and GM strength. For the Corus organizers, it is a tradition to invite the most talented junior players in the B group, and Hou did reasonably well in the C group last year as far as I remember."
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah....
She did finish with +1 in the 2007 Corus C Group.
Precisely because she is yet so young, she ought to be placed in the C Group until she has clearly demonstrated that she has outgrown a Tournment of that Category. I'd be very surprised if she'll do as well as last year. She will find it difficult to break even, and she'll probably--as ELO predicts--end up near the cellar.
Pretty ironic that there is already a "great women talent" in the B Group: Humpy Koneru.
Hou Yifan is there not because of her rating, or her chess accomplishments, or even because of her talent. She is there because she is, well, cute, and because she provides a ready-made narrative (e.g. rivalry with Humpy).
Standings after round 13: grandmaster group C
1. M. Krasenkow 10½
2. I. Nepomniachtchi 10
3. E. Berg 8
4. P. Negi 7½
5. Hou Yifan
W. Spoelman 7
7. J. van der Wiel
M. Bosboom
E. van Haastert 6
10. N. Kosintseva
Z. Peng 5½
12. H. Jonkman 4½
13. S. Brynell 4
14. T. Willemze 3½
Well.. Why do you do such an unfair comparison. Koneru is great player, but she is 20. Hou Yifan is only 13.. HUGE difference in age...
Off topic: Does anyone know what happenend to TWiC? Seems like someone hijacked the domain chesscenter.com ...
Off topic: Anyone knows why Mig removed the truly "daily-dirt" post about Rajabov's interview?
I like the way Corus varies youth and rating in B and C sections. In that way Hou makes good sense: we all want to see her either surprise or "get spanked" by the high 2600s.
... though Hou's unlikely better than the 3rd lowest seed Smeets at 2558.
We should all consider changing his name from Mozart of chess to The Queen. I utterly don't know who can play that piece better than Magnus.
"Well.. Why do you do such an unfair comparison. Koneru is great player, but she is 20. Hou Yifan is only 13.. HUGE difference in age..."
But the Chess World is supposed to be a meritocracy, where rewards come about on the basis of actual results.
Corus has a policy of giving the winner of a Group an invitation to the next higher Group in the subsequent year's tournament.
Krasenkow won the C event (with a score of 10.5/13, for +8), and he was invited to play in the B. Nepomniachtchi finished just 0.5 behind, at +7-- a remarkable result for a teen player. Clearly, he merits promotion to the B Group.
The only "cover" (justification) that the Corus organizers have for promoting Hou Yifan to Group B is that they are also promoting the lower rated IM Wouter Spoelman (2445), who finished in =5th Place, at +1.
Yes, Humpy is 20 years old, and Hou Yifan is just 13. But I thought that one of the nice things about the Chess World is that there was no discrimination against a player just because he or she was young. Ought it also be the case that teen players not be given special priviliges? Hou Yifan has been given more opportunities than other Chess Prodigies have received--even those who have had more promising results.
In any case, Humpy achieved a 2539 rating when she was 14--did she get all the special invitations which Hou Yifan has reaped? Was she the beneficiary of the same massive levels of State sponsorship and support that Hou Yifan received?
"If the invitations were decided some time ago, what reason would the organizers have for keeping the composition of the field (for the B Group) under wraps?"
How about waiting for ansvers?
==================================
No, Q, that is not likely to be the reason the organizers have only now disclosed the composition of the B Group. You will note that the A Group participants were announced first. Just now, the B Group has been announced. In the near future, the names of the C Group players will be released.
what I surmise has been been the procedure is that the Corus organizers first want to determine the field of players for the A Group. Based on which invitations are accepted (and, of course, most of them are accepted by the invitees), then it can be determined who will fill the remaining few slots. The last couple of spots in the A Group are settled at the last minute. Some of the strong players "make the cut", and will play in the A Group, while others will (be relegated to)play in the B Group. Once the field has been finally determined, there is an announcement within a couple of days.
The same process goes on with the B Group, and the C Group composition is likewise "at effect" to which players will play in the B Group.
It is likely that at least some of the players only receive a general invitation to play in the Corus tournaments, and that if they accept, they will be informed about whether they will be playing in, say, Group A or Group B, at a later date.
Hou Yifan is thirteen. Nakamura is much older and because of his lack of humility he has not improved significantly. Even Caruana has a much brighter future because he takes it seriously. Nakamura can play at ICC very well but not serious chess against the top players.
"Once again, Hikaru Nakamura gets snubbed from a major tournament. He wins 2 strong tournaments back to back, and he gets no invite."
http://videosearchtool.info keyword Hikaru Nakamura
"I'd be very surprised if she'll do as well as last year. She will find it difficult to break even, and she'll probably--as ELO predicts--end up near the cellar."
Unfortunately, the result convinced what you said is fully wrong.
Naka was invited, he turned it down. Those are the facts.
laneidos,
Looks like you were wrong about Nakamura on every level. He'll be over 2700 on the next list.
This is an old thread, but it is interesting to look in the past and to see people's views.
In the October 2007 list Nakamura was 2648, he was 2697 in the July 2008 list. Quite a decent increase, 49 points.
Hou Yifan gained about the same, 55 points.
Caruana gained 36 points.
Maybe laneidos will indeed soon have to refine his opinion on Nakamura's future.
By the way, Daaim, any update on your views on Mr. Mugabe?
It's good to see Nakamura finally cracking 2700, but I wouldn't get too caught up in the statistics. Caruana's 5 years younger and has been improving steadily. Nakamura's up 49 since July 2008, but then again he's only up 37 since July 2005! He hit a long plateau.