Willempie wrote on 03/14/07 at 19:26:41:



But we only have the word of the boy and his parents for that.   Hough never states in his response that they did not accuse the Taylors of cheating. 

Edit: Though maybe I am reading it to closely.  I would have preferred it if Hough clearly stated that the kid and his parents did not accuse the Taylors of cheating.

What's 'Kafkaesque' about it?? It seems reasonably clear what the Taylors were accused of - while Josef K. wasn't that lucky... 

IMJohnCox wrote on 03/14/07 at 17:56:35:

Well, if Kramnik can overlook mate in 3 while running Fritz... 

To be honest I’d be pretty hacked off if I was Taylor, although I like to think I’d have avoided the temptation to spew forth such an embarrassing stream of drivel on the subject in public.

At the risk of upsetting Markovich again, folk in the US get way, way too burned about the possibility of people cheating. It all stems from the way they regard playing in chess events as like going to a poker game. Apart from anything else Taylor’s right – look at the game; the woman’s playing like an idiot.

And the son, or more likely a parent, sounds like an ever bigger tit. I mean, honestly, how likely is that a newly-wed couple are setting out to cheat in order to score 2.5/4 instead of 2/4 in some poxy weekender? And, quite frankly, what would it matter anyway?

One of those situations where I find I don’t have enough lack of sympathy to go round.

That article is an exercise in self-abasement.

We get a potted history of his romantic life, repeated references to his parlous financial state, and a vicious kicking of a fourteen year old kid who seems to be technically in the right (or at least have a legitimate right to complain...)...pure class.

The author's main thesis, that playing in chess tournaments isn't always a pleasure because of some of the $%£$ *&^%$s that play in them, seems to be borne out by the article, but not in the way the author intended.

Willempie wrote on 03/14/07 at 16:11:48:


I agree the boy or his parents had the right to respond angrily and include a few barbs at Taylor; I just thought they overdid it.   Besides, how do we know that the boy and his parents have truth on their side? 

Thank you for the link, Ostap.   

I think Taylor should have taken a few deep breaths and had a good talk with Hough again before writing this article. 

I think Taylor and Hough just have different perceptions or memories of what happened.   

I must add though that the overwrought pomposity of the kid's response was a tad too much.  I wonder which of his parents wrote it for him.

Hello,

When I was in US, admittedly a few years ago, in typical Open tournaments everyone played the same high entry fee, compared to typical European Tournaments, but the prize money was higher. The rating restricted Tournaments had the same entry fee, and prizes. Think appearance money only happens for closed GM events in the US, and these are very rare.

Bye John S