Author: Oliver Y.
Date: 00:39:12 01/27/99
Go up one level in this thread
On January 27, 1999 at 01:01:20, KarinsDad wrote: >On January 26, 1999 at 22:20:33, Robert Hyatt wrote: > >>On January 26, 1999 at 20:07:44, Michael Ginat wrote: >> >[snip] > >>>Hi Karinsdad, >>>Thanks for your complements - I hope to defend my title this year btw. I guess >>>you're right about someone being able to avoid post mortems etc., especially if >>>I think about an up and coming junior (pardon the pun Junior 5 !). By the way I >>>had an aquaintence in Australia who made a tidy sum by getting a low rating and >>>then cleaning up many prizes on the US circuit. That kind of behaviour disgusts >>>me.. >>>regards, >>>Michael Ginat >> >>I had a good friend that did this in the early 70's.. we played a lot of chess >>(he was really a 1900 player, but his rating was always below 1800 when >>tournament time came around (this was before the anti-sandbagging rating system >>was in force showing your 'best'...) >> >>Used to really piss me too, because we would play in a tournament (one with no >>prizes) and he would intentionally drop a piece or something when playing me or >>others, yet we played pretty evenly most of the time. But these events were >>rated tournaments (entry fee was only the rating fee). And he would enter >>a big tournament in New Orleans or whatever and just clean out the under-1800 >>class prize... >> >>There are those kinds of folks... > >Actually, I am currently trying to be one of "those kind of folks". Let me >explain. The USCF changed the floor system from 100+ delta to 200+ delta last >year (but do not get me started on floors, a really stupid system). I also >happened to walk into back to back +1 =0 -7 and +1 =0 -2 tournaments last year >and my rating dropped like a stone, below my previous floor. My rating is now at >the top of the class below what it used to be. So currently, I am not playing in >tournaments, but I am practicing and studying, just so that I can find two close >tournaments (probably Thanksgiving and Christmas this year) where I can try to >win at least one prize out of the two tournaments. This may sound easy, but it >isn't. I have a friend who dropped from expert to class A due to the same rule >change (the USCF delegates can vote in some fairly stupid stuff sometimes) and >went into a major tournament and tied for first. He worked real hard during the >months before that tournament, but while legally not sandbagging, it was his >only real shot at a major tournament. > >My reasoning is as follows: I dropped thousands of dollars over the years for >tournament entry fees, hotel bills, transportation, etc. I have come in second >place in one tournament and won $30 (in addition to some small class prizes over >the years). > >A normal person like myself cannot go to a big tournament and win (I've beaten >and drawn people 300 points higher than myself in regulation times, but cannot >get better than 3 out of 6 in my class in a major tournament). It is next to >impossible due to the sandbaggers, the up and coming players, and just the >overall quality of players in your class at one of these tournaments. > >So, this time, it is my shot. I'll probably not make it, but at least this time >I will have a chance. Granted, my case is not exactly like what Michael and >Robert were talking about, but in reality, due to a rule change, I will >effectively (in my mind) be sandbagging this time around (nobody's perfect). And >so will, even moreso than normal, some of my opponents in those tournaments (due >to that same rule change). > >If you think this is unfair, also remember that I will have had to give up >playing in tournaments for 1 1/2 years in order to just get a shot in a major >tournament event (and it is in no way a shoe-in). Giving up tournaments for some >of us is more of a sacrifice than it is for others. > >So I justify it by having paid my dues over the years, never having thrown a >game, and just following the current rules (but it still stinks and I'm annoyed >that I was put in the position of having to make the decision due to a stupid >USCF rule). > >KarinsDad I could tell you stories too, like always going 4 for 4, or 5 for 5, just to have some jerk lift up the clock to check the time during mutual time pressure, causing me to flag, in the "first loss that really puts me out" round; or having the opponent disappear for 2 hours from the tournament hall and getting some idiotic answer from the TD such as, "you just do your part, and let us handle it." What kind of an answer is that, when you are shelling out big bucks to do them the favor of showing up? One more thing, the second time I signed up for a USCF membership, the _____that took my money REFUSED to issue a receipt for my membership, so the USCF refused to send me the magazine for over 15 months! I had to get my local paper to intervene! BTW, I believe that the USCF probably did not receive the money, but after you arrive in NYC, what are you going to do with the TD, argue for a receipt until he refuses to allow you to enter the tournament???? I could tell you even worse stories, but unlike your interesting posts (yeah, off-topic, but I like reading stuff like that anyway!) I am going to tie this into computer chess! Thank ___ for computer chess! No more B.S. with all these humans! Ever get kicked out of a tournament for insisting on your right to print your score 90 degrees rotated from the normal horizontal method of writing? I won the appeal, but never got a penny back!!!! Unbelieveable. Why should I pay my local federation for the right to play in nationally rated tournaments, only to have NO protection from these stooges? I miss OTB play, but I am gleeful that alternatives are 'free' of abuse. (I could care less if opponents use computers on ICC without informing others...but I sympathize with paying members who do object...duh, sorry to bore you.) Nude tournaments (don't go there) would eliminate cheating. No shoes, no hearing aids, no hats, no sunglasses, okay, we'll allow shorts...ladies free.
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