Dont Look Back In Anger

Ok well aside from the above pointless reference to a great song you are probably wondering, what this has to do with this blog? Well nothing really, but I just liked the heading so much, as it reminds me of the song itself, which in turn creates a certain mood and imbues you with thoughtful merry reflections. After having made the choice to play in the 2008 Irish Open despite my bad experience of playing last year, and the general indifference about the event, I figured that it was worth playing in anyway this year. Though this time with the caveat that I really should try to take my chess seriously and have a go at trying to play some decent chess.

Well I am not too displeased with my performance but naturally disappointed at losing two games and especially the last game which was pretty important. The curious thing though is that all the way through the event I was in a sort of daze. It was just a bit weird to be again playing in an event called the Irish Championships when it patently wasn't that at all. I genuinely couldn't care less from my own point as after all it was just an Open event on my door step so to speak, and well what had I to complain about? Nothing at all really actually. The playing conditions were good and the venue central and easy to get to. The fact that the event seemed so devoid of atmosphere or character was of no concern to me at all as I just had time to play my game and leave.

However the funny thing was that when I get a chance to briefly chat with people I was amused at some of the banter resulting. The odd things people say or think can really catch you unaware sometimes and remind you that no matter what there will always be some who prefer to live in the past, look backwards and continually misunderstand or misrepresent things you said or opinions you have had over time. In one of the more incredible examples of this it was suggested that I didn't regard the winner of the title of Irish Champion as valid? Especially as it was Alexander Baburin?

Of course what I had actually wrote last year was that I didn't think any comparison between previous actual Irish Championships winners and the new system of merely incorporating the title of Irish champion had any validity which is quite a different thing. While as for Alexander Baburin somehow not being a valid Irish Champion? How bloody long does anyone expect him to live here to be considered one of us? I admit I always held a belief that citizenship should be the key to all sorts of rights and issues of acceptance within a country, and as far as I know he has been Irish for years now? Anyway who could doubt that he is an integral part of Irish chess now and a very genuine reflection of Irish chess as it is?

The fact that he won the event jointly and with it also the incorporated title of Irish Champion seems perfectly fine to me? I admit I found it really puzzling that it took him so long to play in an event of this name and only after the tournament had become something very different from what it had been for years and years. To that end I find any comparisons with previous championships pretty pointless though I hardly wish to begrudge him of credit for his fine victory this year in this new Open format.

For one thing it was at least far more impressive or worthy of note than last years far more farcical situation in which two players got the title of Irish champion despite not winning the tournament. The curious and relevant point is that in a dictionary you will find that what comes up for “Champion” is as follows: “1. One that wins first place or first prize in a competition. 2 One that is clearly superior or has the attributes of a winner”.

How much clearer does it need to be? In the case of Alexander Baburin in 2008, that surely makes him a perfectly valid champion? Along with the joint winner Alon Greenfeld of course, who also surely is entitled to regard himself as Irish Open Champion? While Alexander Baburin now has that title plus the incorporated title of Irish Champion too? This merely points to the fact that the title of Irish champion is now won or awarded in an arbitrary manner and can or should not be regarded in the same light as all the previous winners of actual Irish Championships.

It may well be that this downgrading of the title was a good thing or even something overdue for a long time? However I honestly don't see the gain myself? Simply put, why would there need to be an either or situation? Let us say that for example the 2008 event, which was still billed as the Irish Championships, had been given the official name of Irish Open Championships and the title of Irish Champion was to be decided later in another tournament dedicated to the purpose of establishing an undisputed Irish Champion? Do we suppose it would have been impossible to hold such an event? Or that nobody would turn up to play in such an event? Oddly enough, even in 2006 when the event was a real disaster it still had a strong [but small] field which included a few previous champions.

In other words, no matter what, it seems some sad people [like myself] attach some importance to the winning of the title? So if the problem was simply organising a proper tournament then why not concentrate efforts to that end? Maybe it is not worth doing and perhaps the days of having a meaningful title of Irish champion are long gone and a thing of the past? Fair enough then, so at least that is clear and it tells us a lot about the state of Irish chess. Is that really what we would call progress?

In any event the other really weird thing I was surprised by was the truly weird explanation which Alexander Baburin felt the need to publicly offer the day after he won the event for his lack of participation over the 15 years or so he has been living here. I have to admit I was disappointed and frankly baffled by this? I mean even if it were true that as he says some Irish players "campaigned hard against me playing in the Irish championship" his reaction hardly merits much by way of admiration or respect? Understanding maybe?

As one of the players who was so adamantly and publicly against him being rail-roaded onto the Irish Olympiad team so illegitimately back in 1996 I never have or would make any apology for trying to uphold due process and do things properly, even though it was all in vain and the issues got lost in acrimony and propaganda, which in turn resulted in years of bad feeling and mistrust on all sides to a very emotive and sensitive subject.

As a matter of fact, the situation in 1996 was that Alexander was listed as a Russian player [which was his choice] and only declared for Ireland too close to the time of the 1996 Olympiad and was simply not entitled to represent Ireland. This also would mean he was not entitled to play in the 1996 Irish Championships, but crucially all would have been in order for the next Olympiad and the 1997 Irish championships. So if rules are to mean anything then we should just observe them and everybody can be if not happy, with the result, then at least happy with the process? No blame and no ill will from anybody?

Sadly that was not the way things went and so instead a huge division was opened up in which lies, propaganda and all manner of despicable shenanigans were to follow. The sheer sneakiness and duplicity involved reaping a whirlwind of bitterness which exposed the rotten and dysfunctional state of Irish chess. This was to continue for years and still has not been accounted for properly, but after all this time most people would understandably feel it was perhaps the best thing to do as the song says and "Dont Look Back In Anger"

For myself well I have some sympathy for the position that Alexander was in and can appreciate that he was probably feeling very vulnerable at the time and couldn't help take things personally. On a human level that was probably a big oversight by many and had it not been for all the agitators and the way things were dealt with, I think a simple point of disagreement could have been contained to just that.

However the truth is that nobody was too preoccupied by any issue of personality but rather that any foreign player in that position should go through the process which would involve having to be a little bit patient. Unfortunately when the ICU or some of the people serving or associated with the ICU at the time, had gone ahead with their own agendas without any consideration [and even showed contempt] for the views of those with a genuine interest, positions hardened and then the view taken that the whole eligibility to play for Ireland needed to be examined was opened up.

So much so that many players got themselves involved with or on the ICU, and this in turn lead to their being a special committee set up to deal with the whole issue of eligibility to play for Ireland.

This three man committee came back [1997] with a majority proposal of 2 to 1 and then a minority proposal of 1 to 2 from the same committee . The majority proposal was in favour of even more stringent requirements [citizenship] which actually would mean Alex would not even be able to play on the next Olympiad [98] as he was not an Irish citizen [a key requirement] then . [Ironically he didn't go to the 98 Olympiad for his own reasons, as he, along with Mark Quinn pulled out about 2 months before it started and Mark Orr the day before departure ]

Well as you can imagine around this time Irish chess was a very bitter and divided place with all sorts of dirty tricks abounding [I would contend firmly on the side of those trying to force through their own agendas without any consideration for the general good.] but perhaps most significantly Alex had a majority of his "supporters" [fanatical and paranoid in my view] on the ICU executive [One of whom was at one time his acting "manager and business partner"!] yet the events of 1996 had galvanised the chess community to such an extent that several of the top players got themselves on to or involved with the ICU executive, such was the anger at the way things had been handled,

Then when the vote came for the eligibility proposal, it was first voted in! [the majority one] Then at the next ICU meeting someone disputed the validity of the vote owing to a claim that one of the delegates was not entitled to vote [some technicality or other] and so then amazingly the minority proposal was voted in!

Thereafter at the 1997 AGM the then chairman of the ICU declared that he was putting forth a motion to vote on the said proposals [completely in violation of the ICU constitution, as no notice of this was given, but hey this is Ireland and anything goes in Irish chess] He declared that there would be two people allowed to speak from either side and nobody else!

Well amusingly the minority proposal guy had notes ready and spoke very well [though as I tried to point out at the meeting, but was not allowed to, he did state falsehoods and incorrect facts] while as it happens, one of the other two people from this original three man committee just happened to be at the meeting, and was asked to speak in favour of his majority proposal, well he tried his best, but it was clear that the whole thing was a stitch up, and as if to make it even funnier, despite having already declared that nobody else should speak, Alex was allowed to speak at length [and he is a smooth operator and could easily be a politician in my view] and made some valid but also some simply erroneous comments and points. He played the victim card excellently too and of course the whole debate had long since been reduced to an emotional {all about Baburin fest} and how so many of the Irish players had it in for him, and were against him!

Facing that there was no way that Alexander was not always going to get his way and it was as if all he had to do was to cast a spell and all the mindless twits who so often were desperate to ingratiate themselves with such a strong player that they just went along with it regardless. Any detail, such as the fact that it actually was not about Alexander but a set of rules, were a waste of time and effort.

Some players just didn't like him or get along with him so well it was true, but hey that's nothing to do with anything and frankly when your as good as he is there is always bound to be some stupid resentments from various sorts of people.

This myth about people being against Alex was never the truth but you simply could not get the message out, and so now, after all this time and so much damage has already been done, it is odd for Alex to be suggesting that there was any lobby to have him not be able to play in the Irish ch. There really wasn't! At least none from the top players I knew of the time anyway. Maybe as with many other things, Alexander was being fed all sorts of nonsense which seemed to make sense to him and feeling vulnerable he actually believed in a lot of things which never were?


The weird thing is that I don't recall anybody being too bothered with him playing in the Irish championships? Rather in my own case, the minute he played for Ireland [which I was totally against at that exact time for reasons of due process]I actually argued that it was completely absurd that anyone could play on an Irish team and somehow not be welcome or allowed to play in an Irish Championships. It made no sense to me at all. Once you let somebody represent your country they should have the same rights as anybody else?

Anyway there are of course two sides to every story [at least] and much of the problem was that neither side actually trusted or spoke with the other in a frank and open manner. The result was plenty of pointless bickering and wasted time and energy with various petty feuding offshoots. Some with far reaching consequences that re appeared in new forms for years to follow.

The other thing that amazed me during the Irish Open was the amount of people who having asked me if I was playing in the 2008 Dresden Olympiad, then went on to imagine and suggest all manner of conspiracies against me when I told them I was not on the team. In the first place I was not available and perhaps even more importantly, I am no longer good enough to get a place on the team anyway! At least not according to rating which is the way the team is put together. Just a calculator and the rating lists is all that is needed nowadays. An inperfect system but at least it is transparent and above the sort of selection nonsense of the past. Generally speaking anytime you get a "selection commitee" together you are bound to get some really stupid choices and in the case of selecting an Irish chess team this is especially true. Thankfully that seems to be gone now and the team is just done according to ratings. Other than Stephen Brady declining his place all has gone exactly as it should.

In fact it was a rather odd feeling for me to know that for the first time ever [since I became one of the top players]I was not going to be on the team for perfectly normal and legitimate reasons [as a contrast to the various absurdities and corrupt conspiracies of the past] I simply don't have the high enough rating either Fide [which is important to me] or Irish [which I honestly couldn't care less about really] so dont have a case to be on the team.

Actually my ratings have be going down badly I think, and there are lots of players ahead of me besides just the players who are on the team. I won't say I will never play in another Olympiad again but that might be the case now, and that is fine by me anyway. Perhaps I will get my rating back up to something decent again perhaps not? It is not a big deal either way. What is clear is that we do have a very good team now and I wish them all well [including Alexander who hardly needs much luck really]. Hopefully they all have a great time on and off the chess board as that's what it is all supposed to be about in the end.

Though there has been no official word of the team that I am aware of, I am assuming the 2008 Irish Olympiad team is the following : Alexander Baburin - Brian Kelly - Sam Collins - Mark Quinn - Mark Heidenfeld while the team captains being some permutation or variation of two from the following four: Mark Orr, Gerry Graham, Herbert Scarry, Eamon Keogh? I am only guessing in the case of the captains positions. No doubt it will all be made known officially in due course.

In fairness, and to conclude, when it comes to Irish chess though, regardless of the fact that there are some really utter sh..ts still in Irish chess, there are plenty of fine people too and as the song says: Dont Look Back In Anger!