Quote:
|
Originally Posted by CHESSDON
Dear Harry:
I have the same idea and I continue to work on making it happen. I
suggested several times to Erik Anderson that AF4C sponsor a match
between Nakamura and Kamsky and get the winner to be sanctioned as the
official US match champion.
I now have the thought that the match be in 2008 and in 2009 the
winner of the match play the winner of the US championship for the
2009 US Championship - no 2009 US Championship tournament - but a
tournament to see who challenges the champions for a match. You would
then have tournaments and matches on alternate years.
And Sam - your memory fails you. Bill Goichberg does not like Harry
and my idea at all. He favor a large Swiss that allows qualifiers from
all the major tournaments. I am running this years US Senior
Championship and clearly see the value of qualifiers. Nevertheless I
favor the matches and Bill just as strongly favors tournaments. These
are legitimate differences of opinion and deserve constructive
dialogue. Sam is right in that my enthusiasm for the match approach
didn't go very far - I don't remember anyone preferring it.
Don Schultz[/b]
|
Dear Don,
Glad to hear from you as you have been away for a while I believe. I
understand
that you have just had your 50th wedding anniversary. Congratulations,
but I do have a question. It must cost a lot of money to have 50 wives
and a wedding anniversary for each one. How can you afford it?
I am glad that you pointed out the differences between you and Bill
Goichberg. As you correctly point out, Bill always favors big Swisses,
or Frankenswisses as Tom Dorsch used to call them. Bill is entitled to
his opinion, but I strongly object to the way he organized the US
Championship in Stillwater, deciding on the format and inviting the
players that he wanted to invite without consulting the board or even
telling us what he was doing. Then, we got blamed for all the problems
he caused. Witness for example the article published by Joel Benjamin
in "New in Chess" magazine in which he blamed me, Sam Sloan, of all
people for all the problems with the US Championship when I (and for
that matter you) were left out of it in the cold and had nothing to do
with it.
For example, Bill Goichberg decided that he wanted four women in the
tournament, for what reason I do not know. When almost all of the top
women declined, Bill just kept going down the list inviting lower and
lower rated players. He finally found two experts, Iryna Zenyuk rated
2184 and Chouchanik Airapetian rated 2188, who were willing to play.
Meanwhile, Ben Finegold, a legitimate contender for the US
Championship and rated 2611, could not get an invitation.
Regarding the benefits of a match over a tournament, I wish to remind
you that in 1995, there was a title match between Kasparov and Anand
for the World Chess Championship held in New York City's World Trade
Center. In spite of being located in the media center of the world,
this event received almost no publicity.
However, I like your idea of a match between Nakamura and Kamsky. This
would be exciting to me because they are by far our most promising
players and each is a potential contender for the World Championship.
However, I do not think it needs to be a match for the US
Championship. Just a match between the two top players is enough.
Remember that the most famous match ever played in the USA was the
match between Fischer and Reshevsky and no title was at stake, only
prize money.
Sam Sloan