Wesley So Forfeited In U.S. Championship Round 9

[kasinp]

what a pestiferous guy that Akobian...
So attentive to any thing to win without winning.
No sportsmanship.
I have detected long ago that professional players or too obsessed ones are really a bunch of unbearable people.
The most I know chess players, the most I love my machines...

Fern

Thank you for expressing what was essentially my reaction. I see two stories: one about So, which I don't quite understand. And another one, about Akobian who suddenly looks like a petty opportunist at best.

Regards,
PK

[APassionForCriminalJustic]

what a pestiferous guy that Akobian...
So attentive to any thing to win without winning.
No sportsmanship.
I have detected long ago that professional players or too obsessed ones are really a bunch of unbearable people.
The most I know chess players, the most I love my machines...

Fern

Thank you for expressing what was essentially my reaction. I see two stories: one about So, which I don't quite understand. And another one, about Akobian who suddenly looks like a petty opportunist at best.

Regards,
PK

Rules rules rules rules....

Screw the rules... if you can't win by means an ACTUAL win then that is far worse than a bunch of stupid-crap note taking. Just play the darn game and shut up. Akobian is a piece of dirt, and coward.

Such stupid crap out there. Unbelievable. Too many cry babies and cowards.

Now you have a tournament somewhat tainted. Rules can do more harm than good, and this forfeit with So is an example of that.

[syzygy]

Come on, man, would you make an scandal for such a thing?
In many areas of life there are many rules, most of them absurd, that normal and sensible people does not put in vigor. When a guy does not see that and besides gets a profit calling that rules, I insist I consider him an asshole.

You continue making the same point, so all that I wrote continues to apply.

Akobian gave some interesting comments. He, like many other players, used to write down his move before playing it. This was forbidden by a change in the rules in 2007 or so. He therefore had to adjust his playing habits.

If he had to adjust in order to abide by the rules, why should his opponent be free to break them? I can definitely see how So's scribbling could distract him. Wesley So was not even scribbling on the official score sheet, but on a sheet of paper underneath, so that Akobian could not even see what he was doing there.

You can blame Akobian for losing concentration because of such a little thing, but why should So be allowed to improve his concentration by breaking rules intended to protect his opponent's concentration?

[fern]

Well, Ronald, as a chess player really I cannot understand such a fragile concentration that is put in trouble by such slight thing as the rumor of a pencil. I can play with an artillery battery roaring around me or my daughters coming to say me something. Yes, I am not a pro, but neither in a tournament there are cannons or daughters. Akobian is really a guy with very weak brain power if such a thing can perturb him.
I do not know how you play, but I and many players just see the board and loose any sense of the surroundings. Looks like, then, poor Akobian cannot.
Well, Ronald, let this as it is.
I know your point, you know mine.

Fern

[syzygy]

I see two stories: one about So, which I don't quite understand. And another one, about Akobian who suddenly looks like a petty opportunist at best.

Care to explain why you're not including the arbiter that took the actual decision?

[syzygy]

I do not know how you play, but I and many players just see the board and loose any sense of the surroundings. Looks like, then, poor Akobian cannot.

I don't play any serious games at all, but if I would, I would feel bound by the rules and I would be annoyed with anyone ostensibly showing he does not feel bound by the rules because he is "special" or whatever. In my eyes, playing by the rules has to do with showing respect for your opponent.

[Graham Banks]

I see two stories: one about So, which I don't quite understand. And another one, about Akobian who suddenly looks like a petty opportunist at best.

Care to explain why you're not including the arbiter that took the actual decision?

Just be thankful that he wasn't a police officer with a gun.

[kasinp]

I see two stories: one about So, which I don't quite understand. And another one, about Akobian who suddenly looks like a petty opportunist at best.

Care to explain why you're not including the arbiter that took the actual decision?

The arbiter's role is the least interesting to me; I am told he acted in accordance with the rules. That would make his behavior proper, if somewhat mechanical.

Now, Wesley So's conduct is puzzling. Rational people normally don’t act in self-defeating way.

PK

[kasinp]

I do not know how you play, but I and many players just see the board and loose any sense of the surroundings. Looks like, then, poor Akobian cannot.

I don't play any serious games at all, but if I would, I would feel bound by the rules and I would be annoyed with anyone ostensibly showing he does not feel bound by the rules because he is "special" or whatever. In my eyes, playing by the rules has to do with showing respect for your opponent.

In the context of respecting one's opponent I can't resist this:

Major League Baseball rule 3.09 prevents players from talking to each other and being friendly while in uniform.

Thankfully this rule is widely ignored.

PK

[syzygy]

I see two stories: one about So, which I don't quite understand. And another one, about Akobian who suddenly looks like a petty opportunist at best.

Care to explain why you're not including the arbiter that took the actual decision?

The arbiter's role is the least interesting to me; I am told he acted in accordance with the rules. That would make his behavior proper, if somewhat mechanical.

Akobian undisputably acted in accordance with the rules as well.

The arbiter had discretion. He could have warned again or issued a time penalty.

Of course he did not have much choice anymore after informing So that next time he would forfeit the game, but that also meant that So knew very well what was going on.

Now, Wesley So's conduct is puzzling. Rational people normally don’t act in self-defeating way.

According to some articles he was under severe stress due to problems within his family. If that is true, that explains his behaviour to some extent. But it is irrelevant for the question whether the arbiter and/or Akobian acted correctly.