Big exclusive. Former US champion and FIDE world championship challenger Gata Kamsky will play in the 2004 US Championahip in San Diego on Nov. 24. He has been awarded one of the two wildcard spots by the AF4C, necessary if he was to play because his long inactivity left him ineligible by rating and he declined to play in any of the many qualifiers.
UPDATE 12:09 - The AF4C now has a press release announcing his participation. Full text below.
Despite my earlier waffling on the matter, I agree with the choice to break with the AF4C tradition of giving the spots to juniors (the other wildcard almost surely will go that way). I'm still concerned about giving a player a spot after he passed up a chance to play in a qualifier. It's a precedent that the organizers may regret next year when every GM who didn't make it will plead his case. Giving wildcards to GMs also contradicts the commendable policy of emphasizing qualification over free tickets by rating. It's a worthy prize, players should be willing to fight for it.
Kamsky is an exception for several reasons, mostly due to his long inactivity and recent return to the game. Past glories alone shouldn't cut the mustard. (Walter Browne played in many qualifiers and didn't make it from what I can tell.) I've heard that Kamsky offered his services to the US Olympiad team and was turned down.
Speaking of spots, another good AF4C idea is about to see the light. An online tournament of state champions starting in a few weeks will decide an entry spot to the US Championship. It's blitz and it's online, but it's an exciting idea that could add a lot of needed pizzazz to state championships, which get little to no publicity. There wasn't much time for such PR this time, but next year should be different.
[Official press release of the AF4C - 7/9/04]
The AF4C announces the 2005 US championship wild card selections
The stated mission of the AF4C is to use two wild card spots in the US Championship to promote the development of exceptionally promising junior players. Last year, in line with our mission, we selected Varhuzan Akobian (based on his being the Samford fellow) and Laura Ross (based on her being the highest rated girl under 16). Those turned out to be fine choices, with Akobian battling for first place in the final round, and Ross benefiting from her experience to earn a qualifying spot for this year's championship at the World Open.
This year one wild card spot has been offered to Salvijus Bercys. Bercys, who is 14 years old, is the #1 US rated player under the age of 16 (USCF rating 2424). He was the 2003 US junior open champion and finished clear second in the 2004 US Junior invitational championship, half of a point behind Milman (who earned a US championship qualifying spot for this victory) and ahead of Friedel Lopez, Hoekstra and Schneider (all of whom have earned qualifying spots at other tournaments).
This was an unusual year with so many top juniors earning qualifying spots. Because of this unique situation the AF4C was in a position to recognize the return of Gata Kamsky to active tournament chess, and offer him the second wild card spot. Gata Kamsky is America's highest rated USCF chess player, and one of the top rated players in the world. In 1996 he played Karpov for the world championship. Having reached the pinnacle of the chess world, Kamsky unexpectedly took a sabbatical from chess to pursue a higher education, and has just recently graduated with a degree in Law. He is preparing to take the NY bar exam. With the completion of his formal education, Kamsky has returned to chess, is a regular player at the New York Masters and is anxious to participate in the US Championship.
As the only American to become the official challenger for the World Championship since Bobby Fischer, Gata is a most deserving contender for the US Championship. His omission at a time that he is actively playing chess would be a serious oversight. As the US Championship is the premier event in America, the AF4C is very excited to have the opportunity to offer to Gata the, number one ranked player, a wild-card spot.
The chairman of the selection committee was AF4C co-founder and board member, Dr. Jim Roberts, and committee members were GM Yasser Seirawan, AF4C president Erik Anderson and chess journalist John Henderson. The committee would like to thank numerous US championship chess players and others in the chess community for their input into these decisions.
Mig,
While I have nothing against Browne, who was a great US Champion, how can you even compare the two? First, GM Browne is significantly older now; and second, Kamsky, who is still in his prime, was a 2700+ GM who played for the FIDE World Championship? Quite a disparity in my opinion.
Regardless of precedent to invite juniors, a wildcard in any sport is to increase viewership and publicity. That is why you have Radjabov at Linares, and even Vallejo Pons, since it brings great publicity in Spain. In this case, Kamsky fits the bill better than any other junior or GM in the US could ever hope to.
Any US GM who get touchy and says "Well, Kamsky blah blah blah." I say to him, "Get a life, you are no Kamsky."
I'm only mentioned Browne to point out that past success shouldn't determine these things. And by their nature wildcard spots shouldn't be pinned down by any objective criteria or they aren't wildcards!
Kamsky's case is unique right now, but let's say he doesn't play again until next year's championship, skipping all the qualifiers and going inactive on the rating list again. Another wildcard? Just a hypothetical question, it seems quite unlikely that's even possible.
More relevantly, it's a short hop to asking for appearance fees and other special conditions. Some considerations for PR are natural and healthy, but any treatment smacking of favoritism is the road to ruin.
I doubt adding Kamsky will result in a surge of publicity/interest. Does the general public really get excited over Russian immigrants playing in our championship? I'd be shocked if more interest were generated among the general public by Kamsky getting a wild card than Jennifer Shahade.
Just curious - I remember reading that Kamsky quit chess to become a heart surgeon and now it is reported that he has studied law - which is it?
Did Gata operate on Clinton?
Hmmm, considering I'm sitting next to Kamsky as type this....
In our tournament, Kamsky got us a huge boost of coverage, and quite a bit more money when our next round of sponsorship started this summer, netting us about $10,000 for the tournament, much more than we ever raised. He's also played at a pretty damn high level.
And anyway - deciding rating based spots way ahead of the event is just, uh stupid (c.f. Olympiad.)
With the news on Kamsky, my personal interest has skyrocketed!
He is certainly good for chess given the USCF anemic ability to gather support for the board sport. Kamsky will be huge!
The U.S. Championship will actually be a very interesting tournament.
Kamsky's case is unique right now, but let's say he doesn't play again until next year's championship, skipping all the qualifiers and going inactive on the rating list again. Another wildcard? Just a hypothetical question, it seems quite unlikely that's even possible.
More relevantly, it's a short hop to asking for appearance fees and other special conditions. Some considerations for PR are natural and healthy, but any treatment smacking of favoritism is the road to ruin.
Posted by Mig at September 7, 2004 08:47 AM
Is he paid any appearance fees? He should!