Short vs Baramidze – waiting for Godot
"The shock," we wrote in our Round
one Tiebreaks report, "was that Nigel Short, a former world championship
challenger, was eliminated by 19-year-old German GM David Baramidze –
although if you look closer you will see that there are just eighty points between
the two. Still a bitter disappointment for Short, who has not had a good year."
On Wednesday we received the following email from Nigel, who was in transit
in Moscow (and no, he was not able to visit Garry Kimovitch in jail). Nigel
wrote:
"ChessBase missed out one important detail in my departure to Baramidze:
in the decisive (25 minute) rapid game, my opponent showed up more than 24
minutes late!
While my opponent was perfectly entitled to do so under current regulations,
there is an interesting philosophical question as to if this practice should
be allowed. If we are to pretend that chess is a proper sport, why, indeed,
are players permitted to arrive late at all? If you would try to do that in
tennis or football, or just about any serious sport, you would be forfeited
immediately.
Even if you take the view (as I do) that a certain amount of leeway should
be given, one hour for a 25 minute game does not make any sense whatsoever.
Furthermore I would argue that one hour is a ridiculous amount of time to
have to wait to claim a victory even in classical chess. If your opponent
cannot be bothered to show up within 15 minutes of the proper starting time,
"tough luck" I would say. For rapid chess the time for forfeiture
time could come after, say, five minutes.
Now doubt people will write in to say that it is my own stupidity for failing
to win with such a massive advantage. I agree. In mitigation I would say that
psychologically it is difficult to play under such circumstances. Had Baramidze
merely been late, rather than absurdly late, I do not believe I would have
been any way disturbed. However at some point it became clear that unless
he entered the room more or less instantly, the game was over. It was at precisely
that moment he actually arrived.
I hope that focusing on my personal failings in this particular case will
not obscure the important issue that I have raised. I propose an immediate
change in the FIDE rules."
Nigel Short waiting for his opponent in the first tiebreak game
| 42 |
Baramidze, David |
GER |
2569 |
½ |
½ |
1 |
½ |
- |
- |
- |
2.5 |
| Short, Nigel D |
ENG |
2649 |
½ |
½ |
0 |
½ |
- |
- |
- |
1.5 |
We contacted David Baramidze, who is a 19-year-old German GM, and asked him
about his late arrival at the tiebreak. "I was asleep in my room and missed
the start. Jet lag was the problem, as I am only able to fall asleep very late
in the night (or early in the morning). I was able to play the game with the
time increment. After the position was simplified the disadvantage on the clock
did not make a big difference and I was able to play quite normally."
It turns out that David was awakened when room service knocked to check his
mini-bar!
“There are worse things in life than losing a game of chess”
In a press conference conducted in Khanty-Mansiysk, Nigel Short spoke about
the fateful game and about his elimination from the event. Before the first
tiebreak game he was seen to be walking around, talking to players, watching
other games. "Was it the reason you lost your concentration?" the
interviewer asked. Short:
"I was expecting my opponent, I knew he was on his way. But it's difficult
to sit down and maintain this feeling of tension for such a long time. And
there was also a case in history when Fischer showed up to play with Reshevsky
after 58 minutes and absolutely crushed him. Obviously, I didn't play Bobby
Fisher today. Actually at some moment I just blundered and there were a couple
of things I missed.
What can I say? I'm really disappointed, but, you know, it's been really
a long time that I've been able to play well in the tournaments of this nature,
almost ten years. And I personally don't like the mixing of disciplines. You
have classical chess, which is like running 10,000 meters, and you have blitz,
which is like running 100 meters, and there's also rapid chess, which is something
in between. People looking from the outside may say it's all the same, it's
all chess. That's like saying: “It's all running”. But to go from
one kind of chess to the other rapidly is very difficult, so it's a question
of being able to withstand the tension in games like this. I don't have a
problem with rapid chess, which is an important and valuable addition to classical
chess. My problem is with mixing. During the World Cup Championship in Mexico
the games were played with one time control. Here you can actually end up
with playing three time controls. And this is what I don't like.
Actually, I didn't come here with great expectations, my ambition was to
get to the next round, but unfortunately I didn't succeed. Such a system creates
massive tension, probably this kind of dramatic effect is intended for the
spectators, but it makes the tournament like a casino in a way, because things
aren't decided in a move here or a move there. Besides, you're facing elimination
at almost every moment.
Actually, I'm not a bad player and if I were to play with my opponent ten
games of classical chess my chances would be higher. But we're only playing
two games. And when you play these quick time controls, you have to respond
very quickly and don't have a luxury of slowly working your way into the game;
you have to be good immediately.
On Kasparov
Actually I've been thinking other thoughts. You know, a week ago I had a
dinner with Gary Kasparov in Antwerp, and one week later he's in prison –
and I was sent to Siberia [laughing]. So I've been reflecting on life. When
I went for my visa, I said I didn't know the guy; otherwise I wouldn't have
been able to get here [laughing]! Gary is a courageous and brilliant man,
not just a brilliant player. He's chosen a particular road of campaigning
for reforms in Russia, and he'll be having difficult time. And of course I'm
very upset that I've lost, but I understand there are worse things in life
than losing a game of chess."
