Sunday 3 June 2012

Mayhem in May

It's been a crazy May and many thanks to all those who have congratulated me for making my second GM norm. Needless to say, I am absolutely delighted to make it over the line but I wish to emphasize that I would never have made it without the help and support of my family and friends, my understanding colleagues, my teammates, and a huge amount of luck. Thank you all!

I will also like to emphasize just how critical GM Zhang Zhong's inclusion in the team is. He is truly a remarkable player given that he had not played a competitive game since May 2011 (Zonals, had to teach at his chess club, look after his 2 kids and still managed to hold his own easily against active top players like Sasikiran (2720) and Wang Yue (2690) and a few other 2500+ players.

One characteristic of his play is the amount of grit and determination he displays in each game. A simple illustration is his game against Kazakhstan GM Rinat Djumabayev, where he was close to losing but fought on gallantly, making it difficult for his opponent to consolidate each turn. His opponent eventually cracked and allowed Zhang Zhong to save the draw. I don't care what a lot of people are saying about foreign talents, people like Zhang Zhong and Wu Shaobin are role models and locals have a lot to learn from them.

More analyses will be up shortly but for now, please read this to see my comments on my game with Li Chao. Digressing slightly, I recently had a conversation with a local senior player who told me he was too busy to read SCN - a real surprise to me as I cannot imagine anyone who's at least a little bit concerned about the local chess scene, not bothering to read SCN. SCN provides extensive coverage like no other local chess magazine or websites has done before and there clearly is a lot to gain but hey, to each his own. :)

11 comments:

  1. Hi Wei Ming,

    Congrats on the norm, but I feel unsure about something. According to my calculations (which I apologize if I am wrong), your average opponents ratings was less than 2380 which is the minimum for a 9 round GM norm. Can you point out my mistake or is there some special regulation for that particular tournament ? Is it considered a Continental championship which has special regulations for norms? Thanks.

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  2. Hi Jimmy,

    Thanks, you are absolutely right. However, Continental team championships allows the additional possibilities of a 7 or 8 game norm by taking out any opponent which I scored for a full point. Hence, by excluding my round 1 opponent, I'll fulfill the average rating requirements of an 8 game norm.

    Had I was paired against a 2500 and I managed to make a draw in the last round, I would have made a 9 game norm which counts for a 20 game norm in this tournament but we cannot have everything. :)

    Regards,
    Wei Ming

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  3. Nice :)

    Quite an impressive performance there. Particularly that game with Li Chao. Never seen him lose so badly.

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  4. He just completed a tournament in Sweden and was probably exhausted. Did not stop him from scoring 3.5 out of his first 4 games though.

    We were both in heavy time trouble when he blundered with Bxc6??. I think a draw would be a fairer result but I'm not complaining :)

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  5. Great performance Kevin!

    Good luck on your next event, hope you get your GM title soon.

    Bong Villamayor

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  6. What is the percentage of luck required to make an average GM normative? Is it more than for an IM normative? Thank you.

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  7. Hi IM Goh:

    I was a frequent visitor to SCN, but I just noticed that the website is down. Is there any reason for this?

    Congrats on the 2nd GM norm, and good luck in getting your third soon!

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  8. Hi,

    Thanks for your wishes. There are probably multiple reasons to this - best to check with the editor/owner, Mr. O.G Urcan himself. Let me know if you need his contact.

    Thanks for the support!

    Wei Ming

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  9. R.I.P. SCN. A good magazine.

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  10. Congrats on your good results...GM Norm and beating a 2700+. Impressive result. Hope you become a GM soon.

    Best wishes JLGH

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