Boris and I are getting close to finishing the second book. Maybe 4-5 games more. We have already done quite a bit of stuff for the third book as well. Maybe we will march on and finish it quickly!? Anyway, the second book will be out at the end of August.
Boris is a very giving person, as you can see from his interviews with our friend Sagar Shah for ChessBase India, here and here. A lot of the time, our recordings are full of stories that are not suitable for publication. We entertain each other, basically. Those of Boris’s stories that I can pass on will make it into the book. So here is one of mine:
A few years ago I had an Indian grandmaster visiting for training in Scotland. After a few days of Scottish summer weather he asked me: Tell me Jacob, is this the monsoon?
Last week’s poll question was ‘How important do you think physical fitness is to your chess performance?’ The readership wisely chose to avoid extremes, with the calm “Somewhat significant, but not a top priority” the winner, followed by “don’t be hungover” in second.
This week my topic is about World Championships and how to award them.
In the men’s (Open) side, the knock-out event is called the World Cup, while to be World Champion nowadays, you need to win a match. But the title ‘Women’s World Champion’ is awarded for both the knockout and match events. In a ChessBase interview, Hou Yifan suggested the Women’s format should change to match the Men’s, and only award the title of Women’s World Champion to a match-winner.
In her own words: “The main reason why they want to stick to the current system is the fact that it is easier to find sponsors if you call the knock-out tournament “World Championship”. If you called it “World Cup” it would be extremely difficult to find sponsors.”
That sounds good, but on the other hand, the match format means Hou Yifan is “seeded” into the final, while in a knockout she would start on level terms with 63 other women.
So my question is: Is it reasonable to award the title of World Champion after a knock-out tournament?
Yes, No and Other should cover most people’s views, with the comments box available for explanation. Maybe you prefer neither matches nor knock-outs, and want a tournament as in San Luis 2005?
ChessBase has posted the first half of an interview of Boris Gelfand by Sagar Shah. Many topics are covered, including the process of working on Positional Decision Making in Chess. I’ll post a link to the second half of the interview when it appears.
Update: And the second half of the interview is now available.
Last week’s question was: ‘How many Quality Chess books do you have, and do you have more paperbacks or more hardcovers?’ You can see the verdict below. There are many ways to interpret it, but many of you buy many books (thanks!). Also, if you buy more books, it becomes more likely you will go for hardcovers. Or put another way, if you have fewer than 10 books, they will probably be paperbacks.
This week, I have been thinking about how significant physical fitness is to chess performance. In the office, we have a range of levels of physical activity. Andrew must be fittest, with his Jiu Jitsu and regular gym training, but Jacob is also highly active, with lots of hours of tennis. My approach is more take-a-healthy-walk, get-a-good-night’s-sleep, and don’t drink too much the night before a game. I suspect even my low-key approach puts me in the healthier half of British chess players – British chess is a boozy culture, with Saturday-night drinking sessions at the 4ncl often lasting until 4 or 5 in the morning. Or so I’m told.
But what’s your approach? How important do you think physical fitness is to your chess performance? With my question and answers, I realise I am dealing with two different topics – how important you think physical fitness is, and what you actually do about it. But as ever, you can explain all in comments.
An adult has a resting heart rate between 60 and 80 usually. This is the normal range. If you are unfit, your heart rate is often higher. If you are very physically active, you get a lower rate. Below 57 is called “athlete” in some graphics I have seen, which I think is too optimistic. Let’s call it physically active.
Anyway, moving house is supposed to be stressful, up there with divorce and death in the family. I recently had the easiest house move in history. I moved from a flat to a town house in the same building. Actually, when I moved in, the van was parked further away from the flat than the house is. On top of this I had good time, 10 days to do it in, and full understanding from my employer. I had friends that helped carrying stuff across and my mother came to visit, helping packing everything down and most of the stuff out again.
It was very stress-free, compared to other house moves I have been involved in. Still, there is a markedly change in my resting heart rate over the period, peaking on the last day of moving house. As I wear a Fitbit Surge, I have been able to track it clearly. It was something of an eye-opener.
Only today I am getting back to exercise, so the reason for the heart rate not getting below 60 again is easy to explain. But the leap was rather excessive. Yes, the last 66 was the last day of moving…
Last week’s poll question asked: “Was it reasonable of Karjakin to withdraw from the Norwegian event?” The readership is split almost down the middle. By a margin of 51%-45% the verdict was that it was not reasonable. I call that a close vote, though no doubt some politicians would call it a landslide.
This week I’ll move on from asking for opinions to looking for facts. We’re interested in: How many Quality Chess books do you have, and do you have more paperbacks or more hardcovers?
I will create 6 answers which should cover almost every possibility. If you own an exactly equal number of paperbacks and hardcovers, then I admit you don’t fit into any of the 6 categories. But you can solve that problem instantly by buying another book.
Last week’s poll question was ‘What small changes do you want in Candidates qualifying?’ By far the most popular answer was ‘No changes needed’. Not surprising, as the recent Candidates had an exciting finish.
A week tomorrow, an elite event starts in Stavanger – AltiBox Norway Chess 2016. A great field will compete, including Carlsen, Kramnik, Giri and not Karjakin. After his Candidates triumph, Karjakin decided to withdraw from the Norwegian event. So there’s my poll question: Was it reasonable of Karjakin to withdraw from the Norwegian event? Yes, of course – he must be exhausted and preparing for his world title match against Carlsen is the top priority. No, he said he would play, so he should be true to his word.
I could instead have asked who will win the Norwegian event. Presumably Carlsen, but I will say Giri. If I say it often enough, I will be right eventually.
As you may recall, the winner of our Candidates Quiz was Stefan Sattler of Germany. We sent Stefan his prize and he very kindly sent us a photo to confirm the books arrived OK.
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