Rd 6 Candidates 2020: Suppose Nepo tests Positive for Wuhan Virus?

Yesterday, I had a conversation with Emil Sutovsky and some others. He defended the decision to continue the tournament, but agreed the opening ceremony could have had a smaller reception. He seemed to suggest that was the responsibility of the city's organizers who wanted a big crowd. At least FIDE kept the eight contestants away from that. He did not commit at that time to cancelling the closing ceremony. 

The situation is changing so rapidly though that it's entirely possible the tournament could get cancelled. Emil Sutovsky said that cancelling the tournament would not only be a major blow to FIDE (whose main revenue source is the World Championship), but to all of chess. He may be right. 

But I think it's becoming more likely that the event will be cancelled. Ding Liren, who went more than 100 games without defeat, has lost three of his first six games. If Grischuk falls significantly off the pace, he may withdraw anyway. And that's all presuming that the eight players are physically healthy. The mental strain of the virus is clearly affecting the players.

Nepo might have the common cold instead of SARS-cov2.

That would definitely be preferable!

In the article, it said that nepo tested negative.

Whoa!  That's so cool that you have connections to such a high level in FIDE.   I don't criticize FIDE for not suspending the tournament in the beginning.  Nor would I criticize FIDE with whatever choice they make going forward.  It's not that FIDE is above criticism. 

It's simply that FIDE had difficult choices and trade-offs to make, and I could see how and why they made the decisions they did so far. 

These tests give many false negatives. I know another GM who first tested negative and then a CT scan found it.

But surely using an unscientific and uncommon name is something worth commenting upon. It's Covid 19 scientifically and Coronavirus in common use. Use of other terms is inaccurate and could lead to confusion. It's like calling pigeons flying rats that infest london and other cities. Sure most people can guess what your saying. But just use the right name (you've even got a choice here).

Also using the term Wuhan virus leads to xenophobia. 

Fortunately the farming and consumption of wild animals is being banned in China as a result of this outbreak.

Of course I'm not saying that the farming and consumption of wild animals in China is what caused this outbreak - saying that would be racist.

The US could never make the consumption of wild animals illegal. It would be viewed as an assault on the Second Amendment.

That's unfortunate.  I hope he didn't get it from playing chess.

The Second Amendment has nothing to do with hunting. The gun enthusiasts fancying themselves smarter than lawyers, whom you are mocking, would point that out in a heartbeat. Some of them have called me a Fudd because I am more interested in single shot rifles, hunting, and target shooting. They see an AR-15 and a Glock (substitute your favorite brand here) with a double-stack magazine—both for self-defense—as the essence of the Second Amendment. Their views are generally just as distorted as the views of those who want to ban guns and think the Second Amendment only protects some sort of militia.

Yes, I know the Second Amendment has nothing to do with hunting. But the NRA would still make it a Second Amendment issue.  But this is tangential to the main topic.

Consumption of wild animals may well have led to the virus adapting to humans, or some activity in preparation of this consumption may have been. The government of China certainly seems to think there is a link.

Making statements of fact about the health risks of certain behaviors, even when those behaviors are rooted in a culture is not racist. The suggestion that it would be distorts the nature of racism. Such distortions are a common ploy of racists who don’t want to change (not that I think that’s your motive here).

To be clear, though, I was describing the views of others.

My views, which are in flux as I deepen my understanding of the history through reading a few primary sources I had missed earlier, as well as a growing mass of legal and historical scholarship, include the sense that Saul Cornell is probably right that the Second Amendment conferred responsibility as much as rights (the two were rarely separable in the minds of the Framers). In terms of the self-defense argument, your right to self-defense of you and yours is also an obligation to defend your neighbors.

Armed self-defense is much more explicit in something over half of the state constitutions than in the Second Amendment. Many of these also use language that suggests civic obligations in the context of the rights.

COVID-19 was discovered in Wuhan, China in late December 2019. It was made public outside China in early January. By sometime in February (I’m not 100% certain of the chronology on this point), the World Health Organization had given the names SARS-CoV-2 to the virus and COVID-19 to the disease.

Here is exactly what Emil Sutovsky wrote on Facebook yesterday, which started a conversation among many FIDE members:

 

 

Emil Sutovsky

Yesterday at 2:54 PM ·

 

You forgot option e) declare nepo the winner.

Thanks SmyslovFan.  I read that quote somewhere else yesterday, and I understand what he says and sympathize.  It's a gamechanger if Nepo or any of the other players catches it and tests positive.

What do they do if it's round 10 or later?   If Nepo is leading comfortably as he is now,  you can't cancel and start all over again.  It would be unfair to him.

I just hope he has allergies or the common cold, and that the Candidates tournament concludes with no one getting the Wuhan/COVID-19 virus.

After all of this, Why would You insist on using the word "Wuhan virus" ? You can Just use the scientific name Covid19 and everyone would know what You are talking about. Chinese people faced racism all around the world after the outbreak, Calling the virus the Wuhan virus only helps spreading racism and bigotry. 

@KingsBishop If You Don't mind a virus is named after the city You live in that's your problem. What I can tell You is that I live in China and that all of the people I know DO MIND.