A two-year-old scoring system may be the solution

Under a New Scoring System, Fewer Ties and Drawn Games
By DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN
Published: November 13, 2010

A two-year-old scoring system may be the solution to two problems that have long bedeviled chess.

One is how to break ties at the end of tournaments. Complicated rules based on opponents’ scores have been used, as have tie-breaker games of varying lengths, but both have drawbacks.

The second problem involves games that quickly end in draws because the players do not want to battle it out or can earn more prize money by drawing a game. (In some tournaments, a draw at the end guarantees each player a share of the pot.)

One cure for prearranged or short draws was first used in Sofia, Bulgaria, a few years ago. It is a rule that prohibits players from offering a draw or from drawing before 30 moves have been played. But a way around it is to repeat a position three times, which under chess regulations is a draw.

Two years ago, the organizers of the first Bilbao Final Masters event tried another approach. Under their scoring system, wins, which had been worth 1 point, count for 3, and draws, which had been half a point, count for 1. The Bilbao system rewards wins and discourages draws.

The fourth Spice Cup, which ended last weekend at Texas Tech University, illustrated the benefits of the system.

In the tournament’s B division, which used the traditional scoring system, Anatoly Bykhovsky, an Israeli grandmaster, and Gergely Antal, an international master from Hungary, tied for first with 6 points each. Bykhovsky had three wins and six draws; Antal had four wins, a loss and four draws.

The A division used the Bilbao system and came up with a winner: Alexander Onischuk of the United States, who edged out Georg Meier of Germany, 18 to 17. Onischuk had five wins, two losses and three draws; Meier had four wins, one loss and five draws. Under the traditional scoring system, they would have tied with 6.5 points each.

Onischuk’s aggressive approach was rewarded in the last round, when he beat Ray Robson, a 16-year-old grandmaster from Florida.

More here.

A game that's fit for Kings and Kids

Chess is a game that's fit for kings and kids
Experts say it builds strong minds

By Chad Brooks Daily Herald Staff
Published: 1/27/2008 12:21 AM

In this day and age, when businesses will spend millions to develop the next hot video game, one simple board game endures.

Chess, considered the oldest skill game in the world, seems to be as popular as ever, especially among the younger generation.

To capitalize on that, Barrington's Yury Shulman Chess School recently hosted an exhibition match featuring three grandmasters from across the world.

Nearly 60 players -- more than half of whom were children -- got to take on three grandmasters: Shulman, Alexander Onischuk and Susan Polgar -- for a rare glimpse at how the minds of the greatest chess players work.

"You are lucky if you get one grandmaster and here you get three," Polgar said. "So that is very special."

Grandmaster, a lifetime honor, is the highest title a chess player can attain.

Barrington's Kiran Frey, one of the event organizers, said she's seen interest in the game among children grow by leaps and bounds in the past decade.

"It has come a real long way," Frey said.

She became involved in chess after her son, Rishi Sethi, started playing while attending Barrington's Grove Elementary in 1998.

At first, he was the only one in his school playing chess, Frey said.

After speaking with the principal, a chess club was started, and it became the first of many in Barrington Area Unit District 220. Today, there are programs in each of the district's 11 schools.

"It has been really, really amazing to see (the clubs) develop," Frey said.

Sevan Muradian, president of the Glenview-based North American Chess Association, said he too has definitely seen a resurgence in the game in today's youth.

"There are more and more programs in elementary and middle schools," Muradian said. "It is another great outlet for a child's creativity."

Besides seeing their kids have fun, Muradian said there's a host of reasons parents keep their kids playing.

"I think parents are realizing it is a very good mental stimulus for the child," he said. "They are able to use critical thinking skills while playing."

Edward McDougal of Northfield believes chess has had a big, positive impact on his 7-year-old's development.

"We could start to see it was shaping his brain and making him more disciplined with his schoolwork," McDougal said.

His son Eddie, along with four other children from the Kings and Queens chess school in Glenview -- including Palatine's Gurveer Singh -- took first place in the annual National Youth Action Chess tournament in St. Louis last November.

"It just gave him a boost of confidence to know that all his hard work has paid off," McDougal said.

Polgar, a four-time world champion and chess coach at Texas Tech University, travels the country and loves to see kids getting involved.

"Chess is a wonderful educational tool," Polgar said.

Here is the full story.