Anish Giri and the "39 Steps" to the Candidates

What are you all's feelings about Anish Giri withdrawing from the Isle of Man Swiss to preserve his rating advantage?   

A couple of points:

The rules of the Swiss https://www.fide.com/FIDE/handbook/Rules_for_the_FIDE_Grand_Swiss_2019.pdf

"4. 5. Players who fail to provide a satisfactory reason for withdrawal, after they have signed the contract, could be sanctioned by the
decision of the FIDE Presidential Board."

"Could be" could be an empty threat.  Or an invitation to grease the palms of the presidential board.

What is their process to determine, and how open is it to the public, if the offender should be/could be sanctioned? What would that sanction entail?  

Why even put this in the contracts if there isn't even a looky-loo?  

Who would this affect?  The most direct person it affects, that Giri has withdrawn from the Swiss, is MVL.    Maxime Vachier-Lagrave must be tired of being on the outside of important tournaments through questionable technicalities in FIDE Sanctioned tournaments.

Maxime is 3rd in the line up for qualifying by rating.  Giri is first, followed by Mamedyarov, then Vachier-Lagrave.   Mamedyarov has a good chance to qualify via the Grand Prix.  (Yes there are questions about his loss to Radjabov in the World Cup... however enjoyable it was to see Radjabov get some of that old magic back... it is still stained by how he and his compatriot have gamed draws in the past).  

If Maxime had known he was able to enter and withdraw from the tournament.  Perhaps he would have.  He stated so much in a tweet.  https://twitter.com/vachier_lagrave?lang=en

So... what is Anish's justification for his withdrawl?  COWARDICE?   He is afraid of losing his spot by rating.  He has not secured a ticket to the Candidates because he has to maintain his lead through the Dec. 2019 FIDE rating list.   

Let's say Anish makes it throught the Candidates and into the World Championship match.  

Would you be willing to endorse a player who achieved such a height through cowardice? 

Would you root for someone who you know would turn away from a legal contract and a chance to psychologically imbue fear into opponents through an open tournament win?  This person isn't playing to win.  They are playing the odds for a good paycheck.   Anish Giri will never win an extended match with Magnus Carlsen.   He doesn't have the guts or nerves to do so and he is proving it through his actions.

Giri should play the tournament he signed up for under the rules he put his signature and oath as a person.  

Is Anish Giri's word no good?  Is he teaching his child (and all of the other children learning chess and looking up to him) that they shouldn't do what they say they would?

FIDE and Chess.com who are sponsoring the event need to make clear their actions towards his behavior.  Prove that his sponsors believe in a player who can win and stay true to their word.

Or what do we believe about his sponsors?  Are we to look at these companies and their products or services through veiled eyes?  

I have no horse in the race except as a spectator.  A patzer at best playing the game.  But I am a fan.

I've been a fan of the game since the early 2000's and watched it morph from watching game relays on chess.net (wtf happened to them?) while listening to chess.fm for commentary to what it has blossomed into with chess.com on twitch and chess24.   I usually have both running in the background when I work.

I've considered sponsoring events on the sites to advertise my small art production company.

But why should I even consider $1000 to sponsor a casual tournament when rules to a contract are either not enforced or are not impartial?   

I have to admit that IM Levy Rozman has me riled up a bit.  But good for him to address this topic.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/490710446

Watching tournaments at the highest level is a luxury for me.  One that more often than not leaves me on an emotional down swing after it is over.  The thrill of finding moves in the vein similar to GM's is quite satisfying and endorphins bloom in my brain.  I never studied chess as a kid and it always seemed outside of my socio-economic background.    Growing up it was a sign of intelligence and wealth that one could afford a coach.  With what websites like chess.com et al  provide, the opportunities for kids to learn the game at an early age and succeed in playing at a high level is unprecedented.   Everyone wants to know what the game can teach kids.  Why should we put it in our schoolsj?  Why should I buy this program or book?  

While I'm not a strong chess player, I didn't even pick up the game outside of learning the rules till I was 20, it has taught me to be prepared.  Life has a probabilistic curve to it and if you make yourself ready you can take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves.  Now having children of my own... will I show them the tactics off the board?  And whose?  What morals do we present?  Is it about the result or how we play the game? 

Back to the point:  Does Giri want to be stained en-route to the candidates?  There is a good chance he will not win the Swiss but maintain his ratings lead.  Is he that afraid of Vachier-Lagraves rating?

Are we the vierwers cheated out of Maxime and Anish playing in the tourney?  The drama their rating battle could provide?  Should Maxime be allowed to take Anish's place? (He was awarded an invitation by his rating after all!)  Should Giri be forced to play or eliminated form chances in the Candidates?  Should Giri be forced to play and Maxime's invitation re-instated?  How did this affect the players in the tourney?  Have some wasted prep?

I feel like I could go on but seriously.  What do you all think?

apologies for typos

I clicked on this thread because I thought it was about Amish Girl. The Amish sell the best cereal for $3.89 / lb. I buy it whenever I am in Pennsylvania.

"4. 5. Players who fail to provide a satisfactory reason for withdrawal, after they have signed the contract, could be sanctioned by the
decision of the FIDE Presidential Board."

I would say that he did have a very satisfactory reason to withdraw.  To secure a position in the candidates tournament.  Besides the World championship, the most coveted tournament for any chess player.  What better reason is there?  

And besides, no one was hurt.  It's not like an 8 player round robin which would be kind of messed up if 1 person dropped out.  In this tournament there are over 150 players.  He wasn't needed.  

Other Players who were following "off the board" rules could have entered and then later decided to withdraw if they weren't dissuaded by the contract.  Further more his position IS NOT secured through rating yet.  There are other players who still have a mathematical chance to over take him. i.e. MVL who could have signed up and depending on his chances decide to withdraw... just like Giri did. My points still stand.  Giri didn't play the tournament because he was afraid he would lose rating points.  He couldn't face that fear so he is a coward.  Game theory provides he made a good decision... only since FIDE and Chess.com decided not to penalize him in some way.  So did Fide and Chess.com change the rules partial through the longer qualification game?  Is that fair?  Were the rules not written clearly enough?  Should they make a better attempt at clearly stating what the penalties will/should be if a player withdraws?  Who are the arbiters to decide?  It is about gamesmanship on multiple levels.

Giri is no doubt an elite player... but if he ever says it's not about winning but about how you play the game, he needs that swatted down.  The move is muddy.  But then again  Magnus admits even he himself doesn't play with morals.  Which is another issue of him and Caruana in the tournament.

Ramspringer?

I'm with Karpov on this. Qualification to the Candidates Tournament should exclusively be based on results in qualifing events. No rating spots, no wild cards. Selecting on rating was arguably justified justified for the San Luis Candidates tournament in 2005, because that was the beginning of a new era after the split in 1993 (although that too could have been done through qualifiers), but this will always potentially cause a problem when someone achieves a rating high enough to virtually ensure qualification on rating alone. 'Resting' will always be an option (Giri is not the first to have done this).

So much anger lol!

Big squeezy hugs for everyone