WMSG Lille 2012

[liam stephens]

Congratulations to all the winners.
We live in an amazing century, witnessing the rise of Italy and the eclipse of Anglo-American domination.

[Alex_Moiseyev]

and may even save the womens competitions for years to come.

Agree. Woman checkers competition restored and rised which is certainly a great news for all of us and checkers.
'
Top 6 in man event: 3 Italians, 2 Turkmenistan's and 1 Barbados (4th place) ... WOW !!!

Respectfully,

Alex Moiseyev

[Chexhero]

Another great surprise was Matteo Berni. Proved he is more than just a talented online player. Miki versus Alex 2, I am ready for another great showdown!

[Chexhero]

Ratings have been updated. Take a look, some more big changes. icheckers.net/ratings

[Alex_Moiseyev]

Ratings have been updated. Take a look, some more big changes. icheckers.net/ratings

WOW !

[Chexhero]

JR told me to rate that tournament. That Ohio meet tournament has always been rated.

[Michael Holmes]

The ACF pays a membership to the WCDF and sent two players so they have definitely given their support and therefore the tournament should be rated.

[Alex_Moiseyev]

sent two players

Three players. In addition I beleive Ron King is also an ACF member in good standing.

[Bernard Coll]

Congratulations to Michael on a fine win from such a quality field of contestants. I am sure that he has tightened up his dodgy defence that he had against Alex in his first enthralling challenge for the World 3 move title. I eagerly look forward to the next encounter, whenever the occasion arises. I note there is talk of Ron King becoming too old for top level draughts.
This may be so. My hunch is that Ron's PP knowledge was never that good, but he got by on crossboard ability. Maybe age has caught up on Ron, only time will tell.
Cast ones mind back to the big 3; Marion Tinsley, Asa Long, and Walter Hellman, though Walter did not live to such an old age. Asa and Marion did not show symptons of being "over the hill". Asa's winning the US open at the age of 80 speaks for itself Also these 3 draughts playing gentlemen of yesteryear actually produced by their own efforts published play that will stand up to time. Nor did they enjoy the trappings of having today's computer technology at their fingertips!

[Alex_Moiseyev]

Perhaps Italy-2013 ? ... will see.

Due to raising level of Michele Borghetti play, new match should get even more interest and I'll do all my best to make this show exceptionally attractive, well covered online + broadcasting etc.

About Ron fiasco in Lille ... Yes, I do certainly beleive it's age related things, but ... his level didn't drop, just started shaking ... up-down ... bad ty-good ty.

I won't be very surprise if he wins Irish Open badly by crashing everyone as he usually did, but in other hands - I won't be surprise if it's not happened. Ron just got into new territory and should adjust his play and behavior ... though not quite psychologically easy for long time best.

[tommyc]

Time will not be held back................nor tide!! The changing of the guard has started Ron today ;who tomorrow? But the tide is changing and with the raft of young players not stepping up to the mark my good friend Alex m......... will show these young whipper-snappers he stil da MAN.........


and he needs da MONEY.LOL

[Ingo_Zachos]

Congratulation to Michele for a fine performance. Alex can expect that Miki is determined to win this time.

Sergio also did fine, but he began to score too late. However, this will not be his last Qualifier, so Italy has two potential heirs to the throne.

Bashim matured, and he bested Ron who was unwise to decline a draw in the second game, to win a well-deserved bronce medal. However, he was not as impressive as Sergio and Miki, who both lost no game. His first GM-Norm and certainly we have three GM borthers sooner or later.

The two youngsters, Matteo and Umyt, showed to be full competitive. Matteo shows that the FID has done thier homework in detecting talents-
Umyt has a debut on international level among the sharks, but right in the first round he showed he was unwilling to be the victim and he beat Charles Freeman with a bit of luck, but fighting spirit and tactical inspiration.
Once he learns about quiet moves and pp Turkmenistan might have another grandmaster...

Ron King played as good as he does since 20 years, but Miki and Sergio and also Bashim do not allow him to run into losses 8 times in a tournament and yet being undefeated. The simply punish him for his style that is too risky to score against champions of the highest calibre. I do not think Ron is in any crises. It is jsut that there are players now that can calcultate accurate and deep, so that he has to learn to be more solid. Also Sergio and Miki have much more pp-knowledge then Ron. I tink he was World Champion at a time when his greatest rivals were not as good as they are now.

Also Oleksandr Kolin and Vitaly Shafir deserve praise, as they showed progress over the rounds, and surely if they avoid the weak start they had and improve their endings they are players to watch.

Richard and Sune did not start bad, but once they were elected president and vice president they showed too much gratitude on the board.



Nadiya still thinks of herself as a beginner, but the coaching that Oleksander Kolin gave seems to be quite good. He himself showed to be a very good player that only needs some practice and pp to become World Class. Nadiya is strong in calculating, and if her pp knowledge and postional judgemenet improves there is no reason she might win further titles in the future.as she still is young.

Amangul showed tactical weakness and both Nadiya and Erika exploitet that. The equation two mistakes = two losses shows how strong the competition was this time, but she did not back down and almost came back to win. Almost...
But she is also still young, and will certainly be a World Champion competitior at any time she enters.

Erika finished third, but she is the youngest of the trio that dominated the event.
She beat Amangul, and it is obvious that she can give Amangul a tight match or even better.
And with 17 she is the youngest of the top trio, and there is no reason why she could not do better next time.

Greetinx from sunny Lille,

Ingo Zachos

[Alex_Moiseyev]

and he needs da MONEY.LOL

I always need $$$$ no matter how good or bad player I am Paul (my 2nd son, 17) goes to college next year and even 20% of match fund is counted

[tommyc]

"He need a $dollar, $dollar,,,,,,,,,,dollar is what he needs"..............................

[Chexhero]

Ron King played as good as he does since 20 years, but Miki and Sergio and also Bashim do not allow him to run into losses 8 times in a tournament and yet being undefeated. The simply punish him for his style that is too risky to score against champions of the highest calibre. I do not think Ron is in any crises. It is jsut that there are players now that can calcultate accurate and deep, so that he has to learn to be more solid. Also Sergio and Miki have much more pp-knowledge then Ron. I tink he was World Champion at a time when his greatest rivals were not as good as they are now.

I would agree for the last 10 years Alex has been the only player Ron has had to worry about, maybe Richard Hallet and a few others too, but he has consistently been the second best player behind Alex. Now, new talent from other countries has come in that Ron has not seen besides Alex in those 10 years so perhaps he does need to resharpen his pp knowledge and push himself to newer heights. However, Ron has definitely seen and played against talent higher than what he faces today from the 80's/early 90's (Tinsley, Chinook, Lafferty, etc.) and even against those players he would normally not lose every game. Has his level decreased? Surely not. If you ask me it is a combination of possible laziness on his part in not pushing himself to improve his game and not playing in enough 3 move tournaments to keep sharp. He normally only plays in 1 or 2 a year. Age could definitely be a factor too.