Four of six rounds of the Liverpool Summit match in Liverpool have been played and so far it's been more Ringo than the Beatles for the UK squad. Today their top board Mickey Adams fell to Zhang Pengxiang, the veteran of the Chinese team at an ancient 27 years of age. (As I said about a similarly youthful Azerbaijani squad a few years ago, they have to bring someone along to buy the beer.) It was a very nice game with a wandering white king that was eventually hunted down by Zhang. 25..d5! is a star move, suddenly turning the most harmless-looking chunk on the board, the c6-pawn, into a dangerous force. Bu Xiangzhi slowly dismantled Jones in the other decisive game of the day.
The score is now 15-9 in favor of China. No one on the UK team has a plus score and no one on the Chinese team is under 50%. The bright spot for the Britishers comes from Scotland via Georgia. Arakhamia-Grant, who won the UK women's title just a few weeks ago, won again in the women's event to bring her score to 3.5/4.
No one is running away with the open tournament alongside the summit match. There are three co-leaders with 5.5 after seven rounds and a massive pack on five. The leaders are top seed Daniel Fridman, Luxembourg's only GM, Alberto David, and Aussie IM David Smerdon.
Is it my imagination or are Chinese players put out to pasture if they hit their late twenties and cease to keep climbing the Elo ladder? (And/or as soon as younger, stronger players come up.) This is particularly noticeable with the women because there are so many strong players and apparently only so many slots for international play. Xu Yuhua won the women's FIDE KO Wch last year and hasn't played a game since, although it was reported early last year she was pregnant. Zhang Zhong, definitely not pregnant, only got one event this year, a match in Indonesia. Peng Xiaomin at 2590 (down from 2657 as pointed out below) disappeared from tourney play a few years ago. Former women's world champ Xie Jun doesn't play much but is active in various roles, including publishing. She was our contact for the Chinese edition of Kasparov's book, How Life Imitates Chess.
I hope the Chinese sports authority is finding them decent coaching positions or other jobs instead of discarding them, as happens with many of their other athletes, per this recent Time article.
Not that retirement for chessplayers in the West is a bouquet of roses, mind. But at least you know you're on your own and have freedom of movement. The Chinese are certainly to be complimented for their rapid success in chess, but there is a dark side to state-controlled sports machines, as we all know from the stories from the USSR chess scene. From the few reports we've heard on the ground in China, chess is still almost unknown among the general population so it's not like these players can go out and get freelance work as coaches, at least not in western chess. I'd like to believe a chess player forcibly retired at 27 has a better chance of finding a good job than a wrestler, although construction isn't a bad field to be in in China these days.
http://beta.uschess.org/frontend/news_7_526.php
Nice interview---and neat to see you identify personally with the "Other Russia" movement. But what we really want to know is, are you "basically fairly sneaky in the newsroom" like your ChessBase friends here? http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4097
On which I reply, one doesn't have to be showy like a Pahlavi swan at handling riddles with elan and craftiness...
Nice interview off of the USCF site. I wanted to make a comment on that, if I may.
The comment about funding the chess: it isn't about what the "big time players" want, it is about bringing out the personalities. Just like poker, if there were nothing but stiffs playing, there wouldn't be any poker TV. Get the personalities going and the sponsors will come.
Sure, donations can work, too, but you aren't fixing the problem that way. I pay attention to chess because I like it but the average Joe (which is who is needed to bring in sponsors) needs personalities to watch.
Nothing wrong with a little spark now and then to light things up.
The problem is that the average joe is entirely meaningless to most chess sponsors today. It's not a typical sport marketing equation where they believe they are getting value commensurate to investment. Most chess sponsorship, at least at the top level, is still more a labor of love, of individuals who love the game. And/or municipalities or large companies (Russian oil, German gas, etc.) that sponsor it the way the arts are often sponsored. (Tax breaks, community goodwill.)
The goal is to combine every possibility and pursue every avenue, not pick one method or deride another. My point was that small private donations have been abandoned. I think it got cut from the interview, but I mentioned that's how many tournaments were sponsored 100 years ago. Clubs set up subscription funds and donors were thanked in the tournament book. Now we have the ability to watch events and collect funds from all over the world in minutes and a Web 2.0 world of empowerment and activism. It's an ideal time to bring back the subscription model.
Personalities are nice within the community, but they aren't much of a broader sponsorship incentive for the sport. Nobody is going to make money without also being a top player, there simply isn't the media space for chess that such things require. Personalities didn't create poker TV. They were created by it. There are no vested interests in chess with deep enough pockets to produce and market chess TV. Poker has casino and online gambling money. They created the personalities while flooding the airwaves (well, cable) with poker shows. Once you carve out that space you use it to push your celebrities. With top-notch post-production and commentary you can take hundreds of hours of poker (or anything) and make a dozen hours of interesting television. But you need the hundreds of thousands of dollars of seed money to produce that material and show your celebrities.
Thanks for the kind words on the interview. As you might imagine, that was a condensed version of a rambling two-hour phone conversation. Jonathan did a fine job, but sometimes what I thought was the point I was finally getting around to wasn't what he thought the most important point was when he had to narrow it down. Inevitable, and no fault of his. When I have time I'll put up an extended mix with some clarifications, especially on the online stuff and sponsorship.
"No one on the UK team has a plus score .."
"Arakhamia-Grant, .., won again in the women's event to bring her score to 3.5/4."
Not 'English' enough perhaps?
Zhang Zhong played at Malaysia Open last Aug, but not under China's flag. He is now play for Singapore i guess. See http://www.malaysiaopen.net
I've always considered moving to Zambia to play for their Olympiad team... (board 4 just 1600, so a mere low expert like myself would qualify...
Yes... Zhang Zhong is now playing for Singapore along with Li Ruofan!
SH... I'm not sure which list you are looking at.
http://www.fide.com/ratings/topfed.phtml?ina=1&country=ZAM
Following on the earlier talk about chess and television ...
Someone who was working to get approval for a TV show about chess sent to me his "treatment" (description) of his proposal. It sparked me to write my own treatment. For anyone interested, the link to my treatment PDF follows:
http://www.CastleLong.com/
--
then clicks ...
--
Chess Essays
> Currently Featured Essay
> A treatment for a television show about chess.
Daimm, did I forget to mention the planned sex-change operation? A 1600 makes the Zambian women's team.
According to a brief interview with Zhao Xue that I read, most of the Chinese professionals live in a purpose-built apartment block in Peking where they receive intensive chess training. Badminton is her hobby, and that of many of her colleagues.
The Government pays their living costs and expenses, and organises their tournament appearances abroad, taking the majority of their earnings in return. She accepts this because it allows the authorities to invest in Hou Yifan's path to the World Championship.
The USSR had a similar scheme, where grandmasters were paid a salary from the money they earned playing in the West. Unlike China, it seemed quite happy for its top players to keep playing forever.
Year-round living costs and expenses, organisational support, and intensive training is going to be worth more than any prize money earned. So I doubt if prize money is invested in Hou Yifan.
SH,
(smile)
Actually, I think there was a case where that happened in a major sport. Does someone remember that story?? The person became a woman and they were allowed to play in women's competitions and cleaned up. Was it tennis?
I think 1600 is the rating you get when you have not played in a lot of FIDE games.
All,
China just finished the UK with a score of 28-20. Not really competitive, but interesting games were played.
Michael Adams showed Hou Yifan that she has a way to go before she is able to approach players of his level.
SH,
(smile)
Actually, I think there was a case where that happened in a major sport. Does someone remember that story?? The person became a woman and they were allowed to play in women's competitions and cleaned up. Was it tennis?
I think 1600 is the rating you get when you have not played in a lot of FIDE games.
All,
China just finished the UK with a score of 28-20. Not really competitive, but interesting games were played.
Michael Adams showed Hou Yifan that she has a way to go before she is able to approach players of his level.
Daaim,
The tennis player you are thinking of may be Renee Richards. From Wikipedia...
After have transgender surgery to become a female, Richards' highest ranking on the women's tour was #20.
In 1977 year Richards won Wimbledon's 35+ years old "senior" women's championship. In 1979 Richards won the US Open 35+ title, at the age of (approx) 45 yr.
Richards has one son. Dr. Richards has published a book about eye surgery.
From what I heard, Zhang and Li are married. Good luck to them on their (new) life in Singapore. :)
"Peng Xiaomin topped out at 2590"?
FIDE gives him as 2657 in July 2000.
Interesting, although I meant to refer to his last rating before he disappeared. From that peak of 2657 he lost points on four consecutive lists and then disappeared from circulation.
I paid a visit to Liverpool hoping to get a glimpse of Mickey Adams or Short. No such luck :-( By the time I got there, Mickey had demolished Hou Yufan, and Short had drawn with Ni Hua. This happened on a previous trip to Liverpool as well, though only Short was playing then. Oh well...
Why not, gg? Wages are very low in China, as any Western manufacturer will tell you.
Besides, China is a Communist country, so can commandeer and conscript whatever resources it deems necessary.
Come on James, these are not $100 a month factory girls from the countryside. You ask your manufacturer friends what it costs to hire competent young management level people.
The cost of running a school like that in Beijing is not low. A portion of a player's prize money may offset some of their own expenses, but will not provide a fighting fund for other players.
If they can "commandeer and conscript" resources to help Hou Yifan, it does not need to come off other players' prize money.
"The comment about funding the chess: it isn't about what the "big time players" want, it is about bringing out the personalities. Just like poker, if there were nothing but stiffs playing, there wouldn't be any poker TV. Get the personalities going and the sponsors will come."
There are plenty of colorful "personalities" on the professional Chess circuit. However, unlike in (TV) poker, players are discouraged from displaying their personalities, and forbidden to engage in "Table Talk" or banter during a game.
Kasparov got criticised for his habit of "pulling faces" in reaction to opponents' moves. Certainly, the US is the last place for commercially viable chess to take root. In the US, it is true that many people like to play chess--albeit on a casual level. However, few have any inclination to watch other people playing chess. Why would a sponsor want to reform chess, and imbue it with "personality", when they can concoct an entirely new sport, and tailor it to their needs?
I think that the situation is considerably different, with respect to "Discarded" Chess players in China, in comparison to Chinese Olympic Athletes.
First, strong chess players tend to be fairly bright, at least with respect to intellectual tasks involving compoutational and calculation skills. So, it ought to be somewhat easier for them to find a 2nd career, in Engineering and Computer programming, etc. The Chessplayers from China also pick up skills in speaking and understanding foreign languages.
2nd, because of the intensive training methods that are used to create Olympic athletes, the career of a Chinese athlete is often quite short. In the past, some athletes have been forced to take performance enhancing drugs. Others have trained at such an intensive level than their bodies have broken down, and they are no longer able to perform at a high level.
Finally, the Chinese authorities are loathe to allow any Chinese athelete who might be a real threat to win a medal to emigrate, while still in top level form, since that would entail a risk that the athlete might end up taking away a medel from China's tally, by winning it as a representative of another country's Olympic Federation. By the time that the Chinese are willing to let them leave China, the "market value" of those athletes has plummeted, and few countries are inclined to open their doors.
Chess players keep their skills for a longer time, and it doesn't take a super high raing for a Chinese GM to be an attractive addition to many a Chess Olympiad team.
It looks like Wang Yue will be the first Chinese player to crack the 2700 barrier, with Bu Xiangzhi (and perhaps, Ni Hua) soon to follow. Although I'd still have to rate Ye Jiangchan's approach of a few years back, which peaked at around 2680, as a bit more impressive.
Wang Hao seems to be the most promising player of the bunch though...
gg, I'd be surprised if chess trainers in China earned anything like management level salaries, especially if free accommodation is included in the package. Many of them probably come from the former USSR, where living costs are generally low compared to the West.
However, this is pure guesswork on my part, so I will gracefully bow out of this discussion.
I would agree that the Chinese Government has plenty of money from other sources to spend on chess, should they wish, but I get the impression that they like to run a tight ship.
Peng XiaoMing is busy playing and Coaching for his club team in China chess league.
Xu YuHua is in an University now, her blog
http://blog.sina.com.cn/xuyuhua
Chess in China is a Gov. fund and free market mixed system same as Go and XiangQi . Top Go players earn a lot , not lesser than Anand earned at least . Chess is not populor in China, so most players go to college and start another carer at their late twenties, some of them became trainers , 'cause traing kids is quite profitable (chess is really populor among kis ) 。
ooops, typo
carer -> career
kis -> kids