Thursday
Jul312014
British Championship & Politiken Cup Conclude
Thursday, July 31, 2014 at 1:53AM
Everything is finishing up just in time for the Olympiad, which begins August 1. In particular, the British Championship concluded in a tie between Jonathan Hawkins and David Howell, and apparently there was no playoff. They finished with 8.5/11, a point ahead of six other players (including both of the Pert brothers). As for the Politiken Cup, there was no doubt about the winner there. Bu Xiangzhi had been overshadowed by several of his younger Chinese countrymen for most of the last decade, but his 9/10 score left him a point clear of his closest competitors. Moreover, he added a staggering 38 points to his rating and jumped 30 places to 2731 and #24 on the rating list.
Reader Comments (4)
There was no play off Dennis due to England players needing to get to Norway for the Olympiad.Normally in previous years there always been a play off of the morning off prize giving. But this year the event finished early so the players could get the Olympiad in Particular GM David Howell who is in the England team.
The 38 Elo points gained by Bu Xiangzhi obviously include 14.5 points gained at the Hainan GM event. He couldn't possibly win 38 points at the Politiken Cup, a score of more than 100% would have been required against the opponents he faced :).
Yet Bu Xiangzhi's among the higher-rated players not playing
for China in the Olympiad. Wang Hao and Li Chao are the others.
I can understand that China may prefer to give young players like
Yu Yangyi and Wei Yi more opportunities to participate. But
Ni Hua (born 1983) also was selected for China's team, and he's
much lower-rated than Bu Xiangzhi, Wang Hao, and Li Chao.
Do you know if there's some conflict between the Chinese chess
authorities and several of their top players?
[DM: Two things. First, selection was probably made at least in part based on ratings, and Bu's rating may not have been high enough when that decision was made. Second, they tend to prefer to boost young players, as you say - both their men and women retire from active play pretty early to help the next mini-generation along. Looks like Bu can still play at least a little bit, though! :)]
But Ni Hua (born in 1983), who's far from being an improving young player,
was selected for China's Olympiad team even though his rating consistently
was well below the ratings of Wang Hao and Li Chao, if not also Bu Xiangzhi.
I think that the potentially strongest Chinese team for this Olympiad would have
been (not in board order); Bu Xiangzhi, Ding Liren, Li Chao, Wang Hao, Wang Yue.
Yu Yangyi and Wei Yi could wait for the next Olympiad.
[DM: I knew Ni Hua was older than Wangs Hao & Yue, but didn't think he was 31. His inclusion is a little surprising, but I like their inclusion of Yu Yangyi and Wei Yi and think it fits with their (generally) youth-centered model.]