A Wasted Hour: The Anti-Needelman Conspiracy that Wasn't
According to this report relayed via the ChessBase news site, 15-year-old Gaston Needleman was picked on by a mob of scheming grandmasters.
In brief, this is the story: the American Continental Championships had just ended, with Cuban GM Lazaro Bruzon taking clear first and seven players (6 GMs + Needleman) tied for second, half a point behind. A total of seven players from the tournament would qualify for next year's FIDE World Cup, an important and prestigious event, so the seven second-place finishers needed a playoff for the six remaining spots.
According to the aforementioned report, five of the six GMs struck a deal to agree amongst themselves to quick draws - only Ruben Felgaer, Needleman's Argentinian colleague, demurred - and to devote all their energies to pounding the youngster. And the plan succeeded. (Boo! Hiss!)
I spent the better part of an hour posting on the ethics of this plot. I began with a little intro about the philosophical paradox of the heap, then used it to launch a discussion about pre-arranged draws. (Here's the gist: It doesn't seem (too) bad if two friends or relatives pre-arrange a draw, but in the anti-Needleman case it seems extremely unsporting. What's the principled difference? Where does the line get crossed between harmless (if not ideal) and scandalous?) As it now looks, however, the story was at the very least an exaggeration, at worst a libelous fabrication.
You can read the original account on the link above, which has recently been edited to include a further link to a comment on Mig's Daily Dirt in which Needleman himself seems to refute the story. (Though it's not quite conclusive. Maybe everyone started out playing real games, but as soon as Needleman was in danger of not qualifying, the draw machine began to grind.) In any case, I hope the full truth comes out in a public and completely unambiguous way soon, to clear the wrongly maligned reuptations of those who are innocent.
In brief, this is the story: the American Continental Championships had just ended, with Cuban GM Lazaro Bruzon taking clear first and seven players (6 GMs + Needleman) tied for second, half a point behind. A total of seven players from the tournament would qualify for next year's FIDE World Cup, an important and prestigious event, so the seven second-place finishers needed a playoff for the six remaining spots.
According to the aforementioned report, five of the six GMs struck a deal to agree amongst themselves to quick draws - only Ruben Felgaer, Needleman's Argentinian colleague, demurred - and to devote all their energies to pounding the youngster. And the plan succeeded. (Boo! Hiss!)
I spent the better part of an hour posting on the ethics of this plot. I began with a little intro about the philosophical paradox of the heap, then used it to launch a discussion about pre-arranged draws. (Here's the gist: It doesn't seem (too) bad if two friends or relatives pre-arrange a draw, but in the anti-Needleman case it seems extremely unsporting. What's the principled difference? Where does the line get crossed between harmless (if not ideal) and scandalous?) As it now looks, however, the story was at the very least an exaggeration, at worst a libelous fabrication.
You can read the original account on the link above, which has recently been edited to include a further link to a comment on Mig's Daily Dirt in which Needleman himself seems to refute the story. (Though it's not quite conclusive. Maybe everyone started out playing real games, but as soon as Needleman was in danger of not qualifying, the draw machine began to grind.) In any case, I hope the full truth comes out in a public and completely unambiguous way soon, to clear the wrongly maligned reuptations of those who are innocent.
Posted by Dennis Monokroussos on
Friday August 19, 2005 at 9:08pm