This and That

So, I can't believe the drama that ensued after I left the US Chess Championship. It was a very exciting tournament from start to finish. Congrats to Nakamura and Krush for thier Victories!

I have to say that the commentary and watching the tournament from home and on the ride to San Francisco was just as exciting as being there. Thank you again to Maurice, Jen and Yasser and the rest of the crew for your amazing behind the scenes commentary and coverage. Lennart....I can't say enough about your artistic and candid photography. You completely captured the energy of the tournament. Really good stuff!

So I don't often like getting on my soapbox or publicly offering my opinions on events because there are some things I feel should remain private, but after all the hoopla with Wesley So, I can't help wanting to discuss so many of the issues that came up.

My feeling about the note taking situation is that Tony had no choice, but to honor what he said he would do. It isn't about the Fide rules or if Akobian was trying to get a free win or what was written in the notes, it had to do with Tony telling So that if he did it again, he would be forfeited. In my opionion, Tony HAD to follow through with his warning. He needed to maintain the integrity of his word. I am sure he never in a million years thought he would have to forfeit So after giving such an explicit warning.

It is unfortunate because I am certain Wesley wrote his notes out of habit and it never actually computed that he would actually be forfeited for his "inspirational notes". But the fact remains that there were complaints before and a warning given. In my opinion, Akobian had every right to complain about the distratction as well. It is not fair to blame him for the forfeiture. He had no hand in the decision process.

It is sad because it was a loss on a technicality. I do hope that Wesley's appeal that the forfeiture does not affect his rating, goes through. I believe every situation is unique and certainly the loss was "punishment" enough. When you realize the nature of the notetaking was inspirational messages, that should be taken into account as well.

With that said, I was not thrilled when I heard Wesley's interview and his comments about Akobian. I found that to be unsportsmanlike. However, with all the new developments coming to light regarding Wesley's personal family feud....the poor guy has had a tremendous amount of pressure placed on him and he IS human after all.

I actually was impressed with his composure with continuing with the rest of the tournament after all the attacks and publicity surrounding his notetaking incident AND the emotional ping pong he was experiencing with his family, Lotis Key and Webster University.

The "Jerry Springer" like backstabbing, political, public humiliation etc. , it is just so sad to me. The public feud with his family, Lotis Key and Webster University is just beyond words. Hopefully, So can move past this and just get back to playing Chess.