2015 Commonwealth: interview with Humpy

In our previous report from the Commonwealth Chess Championship 2015 we told you what had transpired: Two top Indian woman players, GM Humpy and IM Sachdev, lost games on time because they did not know the time control.

IM Tania Sachdev (Elo 2413)

IM Tania Sachdev was the first player to fall victim to this confusion, when in the very first round of the tournament she was flagged at move 41 as her time ran out! Probably more used to the time-controls seen in many European tournaments, IM Tania seemed unaware of the time-controls of the tournament. We asked her what exactly had transpired and she replied:

This is what happened with me:

Before the start of round one the arbiter was making the usual announcements. This is what he said about the time control "Time control is 90 min+30 seconds from move one and 30 min grace time." This was said all in one sentence. He never used the phrase 'for the entire game' or 'zero tolerance'. After this he moved on to round timings, etc. 'Grace time' does refer to zero tolerance. I found out later that exactly this had confused many players, and they double checked with the arbiter. Before this announcement I wasn't aware of the time control as mentioned in the prospectus. The way in which it was communicated I took it as 90 min + 30 min. Unfortunately, in my head I was convinced. The games started and I did not bother confirming.

I was Black, We completed move 40, my opponent made move 41 and still had about a minute on her clock. I had close to two minutes and thinking that time will be added once my clock runs out I just let it run out.The clock flagged and even at this point I thought something was wrong with the clock or it hadn't been set right! Then the Arbiter told me I had lost on time. I was totally confused, I said the announcement said 30 min. That is when I was told that he was talking about the zero tolerance rule. I do wish the Arbiter had communicated better. But of course its also my responsibility to know these things. Learnt it the hard way!

GM Koneru Humpy (Elo 2589)

The trend did not stop there. GM Koneru Humpy, one of the strongest woman players in the world, forfeited her fourth round game on time against IM Himanshu Sharma (2420), in a winning position. She ran out of time when she assumed that 30 minutes would be added to her clock after move 40. But before you read on you should ask yourself: what does the term "grace time" mean? [Addendum: we are informed that "grace time" in this context is commonly used in India].

We received a number of messages like the following from a top player in the Commonwealth Championship:

It is sad to see people bashing Humpy, without actually knowing whole picture. It would be great if an article can get published with her own comments and exactly what happened, so that people will get to know the actual facts and issues. It is a very sensitive matter because it's India organizing the event, so I guess its difficult for any Indian players to comment. Only Humpy can say what happened there...

Well, there was someone in Delhi who could provide the other side of the story. Sabrina Chevannes (photo by Daaim Shabazz of Chess Drum), author of two popular ChessBase primers on DVD, is playing in the Championship in New Delhi. She is also a member of the Appeals Committee and as such a witness to the events that led to the forfeits of Sachdev and Humpy. Sabrina conducted the following in-depth interview with the third strongest female player in the world, and inserted her own observations (in grey boxes) to get to the bottom of this affair.

Chess in India: an interview with GM Koneru Humpy

By WIM Sabrina Chevannes

There has been much controversy in Delhi week at the Commonwealth Chess Championships 2015. Whilst Abhijeet Gupta is sailing through the tournament on 7/7, his main rival, GM Koneru Humpy is now nowhere to be seen. Many will have read the report about the events leading to her departure from the tournament, but I thought I would provide the most accurate description on what actually happened, since I was there every step of the way, from the moment Humpy found out about the time controls, as well as during the appeals meeting. I caught up with Humpy after everything was over to hear her thoughts on what happened and how things were portrayed in the media.

Sabrina Chevannes: You have been less active within the chess world recently compared to a few years ago; what is the reason behind this?

Koneru Humpy: Well, in the past few years I have been concentrating on the women-only tournaments and I also had to make sure that I had reasonable time in between the events to prepare. I also got married last year and therefore cut down on the amount I played recently because of this.

It has been a while since you have played in India, what is the reason behind this?

In Indian events like this one, even though it is an International Open, we find very few players from abroad. It is obvious that the strength of the event is weak, rating-wise. More importantly, the conditions and the organisation will not be up to the mark compared to European events.

Why do you think other top Indian GMs like Ganguly or Harikrishna don’t play in India anymore?

Hari is rated around 2740, so it won’t be of any help to him to play against weak opposition. The federation does not have any interest in promoting or supporting top players of the country by hosting category events or invitational tournaments. We have players around 2600, but because of the unprofessional organization, many of them are not interested.

What made you decide to play in the Commonwealth Championships this year?

This year, there were no FIDE women Grand Prix events scheduled, so I decided to play in some Opens, as it’s been quite a long time.

What were your expectations for this event?

I wanted to be amongst the top three and to enjoy my games.

You made it to 3.0/3 – were you feeling like you were in form and ready for a good tournament?

Yes, I felt I was in good form and was confident of finishing on top.

The round four fiasco: you played a lovely game, went to the bathroom on move 44, only to come back to find your clock at 0:00. Tell us how you felt when you saw this.

I was shocked to see the clock at 0:00. I asked my opponent about the additional 30 minutes and he was confused and said to find out with the arbiter. I went to the arbiter and they said that there was no additional time control. I questioned that the announcement was made that we would have 90 min + 30 sec from move 1 and 30 minutes. To my surprise, the arbiter said 30 minutes is grace time. I accepted the result and immediately signed the score sheet.

Were you shocked to then learn that the same thing happened to Tania Sachdev in the first round?

Yes, I was. When such things occur, it is the moral responsibility of the arbiter and the organizing committee to inform players, so that further incidents do not occur. Instead, they hid the whole matter. I did not know that Tania had also lost this way. It was not announced to the players in any of the rounds to give clarity about the time control. Only after my loss, many players became aware of the time control that was in force. If they had published the issue on their website or made an announcement with the correction, this incident wouldn't have occurred.

When you realised that this did not only happen to you, how did you feel?

I was upset with the behaviour of the arbiter and the organisers and the way they spoke. When I got to know about Tania’s forfeit, other GMs also confirmed that they are still playing the tournament under the same impression of getting additional time. I was furious after knowing this. It's not only me; many are playing under the impression that they get an additional 30 minutes after move 40. That clearly indicates that it is the fault of the Chief Arbiter and of the organisers.

You were obviously upset with how things happened, but you were willing to accept it and move on. However, the arbiter coming into the lobby and basically stating he did nothing wrong and essentially calling you stupid for not knowing the rules must be upsetting – how did that make you feel then?

I had no problem accepting my defeat, but the rules were not announced properly and I felt bad that at the end of the day I lost a won game because of the arbiter’s unclear announcement. I feel it is their fault to have an inefficient and irresponsible person as an arbiter. The organization is guilty for this incident.

You decided to write a letter to the appeals committee, what did you want to achieve from your letter?

I wanted them to understand their mistake and to make sure that it doesn’t happen to any other players in future.

What were your realistic expectations about what would happen in the committee meeting?

I expected an apology for this unfortunate incident and I want them to make sure that in future they should organize their events with a capable arbiter who can communicate properly with the players.

You were called into the meeting and it didn’t really go well – how did you feel about the way you were spoken to/treated during this meeting?

It was quite a weird meeting; having five members of the appeals committee, two of whom didn’t utter a word about their opinion. Their decision was "whatever the arbiter says doesn’t have value". I feel that if this is so, there is no need to make announcements and I would have stuck to what was written in the regulations.

Many people were questioning why you wrote “I would like to withdraw from the tournament” in the appeals letter – why did you decide to write that?

I felt there was no point to play in such circumstances, where there are no morals and ethics. I quit the tournament in protest of the unclear announcement (poor communication skills of the arbiter), irresponsible organization, several times power cuts occurring during the game, no live transmission until round four, etc. The tournament was run well below the international standards. No one took responsibilities to make the correct announcement due to which I lost and became mentally disturbed.

You said that you regret playing in India again after all this time – do you still feel this way? Is there a chance that you will ever come back?

I regret playing in an unprofessionally organized event and for the ill treatment given. As of now, I don’t have any intention to play in India anymore. If ever the situation changes and improves, I will think about it.

What do you think needs to be done to improve the quality of the tournaments in India?

If you had asked me this question before the event, I would have definitely answered it. Now, I believe that those who cannot accept their mistakes can never improve.

How does it make you feel the way they tried to portray you in the Indian media?

It is clear that they want a clean sheet for their tournament and the whole blame was put on me. They stated I had pleaded for mercy to reverse the game point and threatened to quit if this were not done. Everywhere it was published as I lost on time because of not knowing the rules.

Sample article, here from June 27th in the national newspaper The Hindu

I am upset. The protest was only against the arbiter - I didn’t plead for my game point. The protest was not for the game point, only to make them understand that when they are hosting events like the Commonwealth Championship, they should maintain standards. The arbiter behaved irresponsible and did not have the capability of announcing the rules properly in English.

What would you like other players to learn from your situation?

I feel pity for Indian chess that the standards of the organisation, the conditions players get in Nationals and the official champs are below the standard that they should be. Unless they have the courage to raise their voice, nothing can be changed.

GM Emil Sutovsky, President of the Association of Chess Professionals

Another very unpleasant story due to the unprofessional conduct of the event and low level of the arbiters in the tournament. It repeats itself again and again, and still we don't hear any report about some arbiter who was suspended or disqualified from his position. Takis Nikolopoulos, I think we'd all appreciate your opinion on the matter – both as an experienced arbiter and as a head of the FIDE Arbiter's Commission. What can be done to improve the level of arbiters (seminars don't really work, as we often see a serious mistakes by those who conduct these seminars...), don't you think that arbiter's serious mistakes should have some serious consequences not only for the players, but for the arbiters themselves? I can bring you several examples, when the arbiter was making a serious mistake and still was appointed to serve an important tournaments afterwards. Now, with the new anti-cheating guidelines the issue becomes more sensitive than ever, and it just can not continue this way.

We witness a lot of mistakes coming from the arbiters. Why so? Some of them may not be ready to the stress situation, some of them don't have enough experience, others are unfortunately getting too old, and many of them don't have sufficient chess background to feel the spirit of the law, and not only it's letter. As a result we have a lot of unfortunate decisions taken even in the most important events (let alone club competitions and children tournaments). Yes, arbiters are human, and everyone can err. But shall we expect an arbiter to be at least suspended for some period after a mistakes that cost some players so heavily? – On Facebook