David Kane <davidekane@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Decisiveness can increase interest even with no understanding of the
> underlying games. Don't newspapers in the UK have s****ts sections?
> Here they do. Even in the absence of real time suspense, or stunning
> visuals, people like to follow results. None of the s****ts covered
> in our newspapers have the characteristics that 60% of encounters
> end in ties, with a significant number of those occurring without
> even playing, though.
Yes and none of them have the property that they can only be fully
understood by people who have studied the s****t since childhood to the
near exclusion of all else. Perhaps *that*, and not the high
pro****tion of draws, is the reason why the game doesn't command huge
re****ts in the newspapers?
David Kane <davidekane@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "Andy Walker" <anw@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> David Kane <davidekane@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>> It's especially offensive that this [uncontested draws] occurs in
>>> the last round of every major tournament -exactly when, in
>>> ordinary non-chess competitions, the drama is at its highest.
>>
>> Many s****ts organise their major competitions as KO events, which
>> puts a different complexion on things. In leagues, it is very
>> common in the s****ts I know anything about for end-of-season
>> matches to be meaningless -- almost all issues of promotion or
>> relegation are decided, and most teams just go through the motions.
>> Why would you expect chess tournaments to be different? If you've
>> just had 10 days of gruelling mental activity, it's not surprising
>> if on the 11th, with nothing at stake, you don't want to take it
>> too seriously. Even if there is still something at stake, you may
>> be in no mood to put yet another six+ hours of thought into it.
>> Been there, done that.
>
> Come on, now, you've got to be kidding.
No, he isn't. There is often nothing to play for in the last round or
two of a round-robin tournament (or `league' as they're called in most
s****ts). The team that always wins has an unassailable position at
the top of the table; the crap team that always loses has an
irretrievable position at the bottom of the table. All that's to play
for is the occasional minor distinction in the middle of the table.
> In chess, it is the *leaders who have everything to play for* who
> play the 15 move draws.
Players who have a chance of winning the tournament generally attempt
to do so in the last round.
Dave.
--
David Richerby Addictive Adult Composer (TM):
it's
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ like a pupil of Beethoven that
you
won't want the children to see
but
you can never put it down!
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