Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Reflections on the Passing of FM Alex Zelner

I was saddened today to learn that FM Alex Zelner died of a heart attack on January 3, 2024. Zelner was a prominent figure on the Ohio chess scene as a player and organizer for many years before he and his family moved to Florida in 1999. Zelner earned the National Master title in 1999 at the relatively late age of 38 after fluctuating throughout the Expert level for several years. Zelner's rating then dropped to the 2100 level and he bounced around between 2100 and 2200 until 2004, when he began a remarkable ascent that culminated in a peak USCF rating of 2481 plus attaining the FIDE Master title (which requires reaching a FIDE rating of at least 2300). I remember talking to Alex about how he reached National Master (and beyond) as an older player. He told me that he just decided to stop losing to players rated below 2000. Of course, such success is more complicated than that; I decided many times to stop losing to players rated below 2000, but I have yet to accomplish that feat! There is no doubt that Alex benefited from his close friendships with various Grandmasters--most notably Alex Goldin, who once ranked in the top 100 in the world--but if being friends with Grandmasters is all that it takes to reach 2400 then there would be a lot more 2400s in the world. I respect Alex' work ethic, and the way that he figured out how to lower his blunder rate. Lowering the blunder rate is the "secret" to becoming a Master for players who get stuck at the Expert level, but for most Experts it is very difficult to do this, particularly as an adult.

I first met Alex in the late 1980s when I was a rising Class B player and he was already an established Expert. He beat me the first time we played each other (September 16, 1989 Miamisburg Tornado). At that time, his rating was 2109 while my rating was 1725, but I surpassed the 1800 (Class A) level the next month and I had an 1895 rating by December 1989. We did not play against each other again until 1992, when I scored an upset win as I was rated 1936 while Alex was rated 2126. That was before Alex decided to stop losing to players rated below 2000! He was a stronger player than I was, and generally he outplayed me, but in the 1990s I scored some wins against him courtesy of blunders that he made.

Alex organized many chess tournaments in Ohio, including events that attracted Grandmasters. I achieved the Expert title at the May 13, 1995 Springfield Tornado that he organized, scoring 3/4; my only loss was to Alex!

USCF's online rating records go back to late 1991. According to their data, I played more Regular rated games (24) against Alex than anyone except for his wife Dr. Catherine Zelner (32) and his son David (29). Alex and I faced each other twice in the Dayton Chess Club Championship. He beat me both times, but he never won the DCC title. I shared the 1997 title with National Master John Vehre with a 5-1 score (the first of my record 10 DCC titles) while Zelner settled for a fourth place tie with a 4-2 score; in 1998, Zelner tied for second-third while I tied for fourth-fifth.

I scored five wins, one draw, and 18 losses versus Alex (plus the 1989 loss that is not included in the USCF data). Robert Sinn, who became a National Master in 1996, scored five wins, four losses, and one draw versus Alex, while Ram Dake, who became a National Master in 1992, went a perfect 6-0 versus Alex. No one else scored five wins versus Alex in USCF Regular rated games from 1991-2023. USCF's records show 1286 Regular rated games for Alex, and he enjoyed a winning percentage of 77.2, including victories over two Grandmasters with USCF ratings above 2600: Julio Becerra and Lubomir Ftacnik. Ftacnik won the European Junior Championship in 1976/77, he won the Czech national championship four times, and at his peak he was ranked 15th in the world.

Although I enjoyed playing against Alex and then analyzing with him after our games, and I enjoyed playing in the events that he organized, what stands out most to me is that Alex is the person who set me on the path to becoming a chess coach. In 1998, Alex asked me to coach his young sons David, Gregory, and Joshua. By that time, my rating fluctuated in the high 1900s/low 2000s, while Alex was rated in the 2100s. I had never worked as a chess coach, and I did not understand why a higher rated player wanted me to coach his children. Alex explained with a smile that his sons would not listen to his coaching because he was their father. He reassured me that I was more than strong enough to coach them, and he believed that I had not only the necessary playing strength but also the requisite communication/teaching skills. I accepted his offer, and we agreed that I would come to his house weekly to teach his sons for about an hour each; in return, he would not only pay me, but he would provide a home-cooked meal, and often he and I would play speed chess. The first chess lesson was on September 9, 1998, and the lessons continued on a weekly basis (with just a few exceptions) until April 19, 1999. I found that I very much enjoyed chess teaching, and I did so for nearly 20 years after the Zelner family moved to Florida. 

Alex' sons continued to play chess in Florida, no doubt benefiting from Alex' teaching and from the guidance of Alex' Grandmaster friends. David later reached a peak USCF rating of 2184. Gregory's peak rating is 1849. Joshua's peak rating is 1729. In 2004, Alex had twin daughters, Roza and Zoe; both of them play chess, but I never had the opportunity to coach them, as they were born after the Zelner family moved to Florida.

After Alex moved to Florida, I only saw him a few times, when he returned to Ohio and we played in the same chess tournaments. He beat me in our last Regular rated game in 2006:

Event: MOTCF 4/29/06 (1)
White: Alex Zelner (2256)
Black: David Friedman (2026)

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 c6 4. Nf3 Qa5 (4... Bg4 followed by ...e6 and ...d5 is the correct plan, aiming for a French-like structure with the QB developed outside of the pawn chain.) 5. Bd2 e5 6. Be2 Bg4 7. d5 Nbd7 8. O-O Be7 9. Nh4 Bxe2 10. Qxe2 (Now Black is saddled with a cramped position and bad B.) O-O (After the game GM Alex Goldin said that 10... g6 is essential, keeping the N out of f5. White still has a small edge, but "nothing special.") 11. Nf5 Qd8 12. dxc6 bxc6 13. Bg5 h6 (13... g6 14. Nxe7+ Qxe7 15. Rfd1 Qe6 16. Qd2 Rfb8 17. b3 Ne8 with a slight advantage to White) 14. Bh4 Re8 15. Rad1 Qc7 16. Qd3 Bf8 (I originally intended 16... Nc5 but then I realized that White can play 17. Qg3 Nh5 18. Qg4 Bxh4 19. Nxh6+ Kh7 20. Nf5 g6 21. Qxh4 with a decisive advantage) 17. Nxd6 Red8 (17... Bxd6 18. Qxd6 Qb6 19. b3 Re6 20. Qd3 with a decisive advantage) 18. Nc4 Nc5 19. Qf3 Rd4 Rxd4 exd4 21. Bxf6 (Best. I was hoping for 21. Ne2 Ncxe4 22. Bxf6 Nxf6 23. Nxd4 Nd5 when Black is only down one pawn.) 21... gxf6 22. Ne2 Rd8 23. Rd1 Ne6 24. Qxf6 Bg7 25. Qf5 c5 26. Ng3 Nf4 27. e5 Ng6 28. f4 Ne7 29. Qg4 Kh7 30. Ne4 Nd5 31. Rd3 Qd7 32. f5 (Lights out.) Ne7 33. Ncd6 Bxe5 34. Ng5+ hxg5 35. Qh5+ Kg8 36. Qxf7+ 1-0

Alex had not played many Regular rated games in recent years, but he was still very active in Quick rated chess, logging 114 Quick rated games in 2023. The last time I played Alex was a Quick rated game that we drew on July 13, 2012 (we had previously played two Quick games against each other, scoring one win apiece).

Alex Zelner inspired me to become a chess coach when I had never previously thought of doing that. Being a chess coach brought me a lot of joy, and I like to think that it brought a lot of joy (and knowledge) to my many students (several of whom subsequently earned the National Master title). Alex Zelner's example as a late-blooming National Master still inspires me during my ongoing (and quite challenging) Journey to the National Master title. I extend my deepest sympathy to Catherine, David, Gregory, Joshua, Roza, and Zoe.

Rest in peace, my friend, competitor, and inspiration.

Monday, February 12, 2024

Chiefs Beat 49ers 25-22 in Overtime, Become First Repeat Super Bowl Champions Since 2003-04 Patriots

The careers of great athletes look inevitable in retrospect, even if those careers did not look inevitable from the onset or during critical moments. In 10 years--if not sooner--the Kansas City Chiefs' 25-22 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII to clinch back to back championships will be viewed as just another triumph during the midst of the Chiefs capturing three Super Bowls in a five year span. The Chiefs are the NFL's first repeat champions since the 2003-04 New England Patriots. Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes earned his third Super Bowl MVP, joining Tom Brady (five) and Joe Montana (four) as the only players to win at least three Super Bowl MVPs. Like Brady and Montana, Mahomes has often engineered come from behind scoring drives to reach and then win the Super Bowl; a dropped pass, a tipped ball, or a missed kick could have derailed any of those drives, but after those drives enter the record books they look inevitable, not fragile.

During Super Bowl LVIII there were many moments when a Chiefs' victory seemed far from inevitable. The 49ers were favored in every game that they played during the regular season and the playoffs, and they lived up to that billing for most of the Super Bowl; they scored first in the Super Bowl, taking a 3-0 lead at the 14:48 mark of the second quarter. They did not trail until Mahomes connected with Marquez Valdes-Scanling on a 16 yard touchdown pass that put the Chiefs up 13-10 with 2:28 remaining in the third quarter, and the 49ers quickly countered with a 75 yard drive culminating in a 10 yard touchdown pass from Brock Purdy to Jauan Jennings with 11:22 remaining in the fourth quarter, putting them ahead 16-13; the Chiefs blocked Jake Moody's point after touchdown, which proved to be a pivotal play affecting strategy and play calling for the rest of the game due to the critical difference between leading by four points and only leading by three points. The teams exchanged field goals during the final 5:46, with the Chiefs' Harrison Butker sending the game to overtime by drilling a 29 yarder with :03 remaining in the fourth quarter. The 49ers took the opening kickoff of overtime and drove 66 yards before Moody made a 27 yard field goal to put them up, 22-19. The 49ers were one defensive stop away from dethroning the reigning Super Bowl champions--but Mahomes led the Chiefs on a 13 play, 75 yard drive culminating in his three yard touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman. Mahomes completed all eight of his passes during the game-winning drive as the Chiefs had two third down conversions and one fourth down conversion. Overall, Mahomes went 34-46 for 333 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception while also leading the team in rushing with 66 yards on nine carries.

Anyone who has played sports at any level understands that a great player elevates his team not only because of his individual talent but also because of the confidence that he inspires in the team: when you play alongside a great player, you know that the game is rarely if ever truly out of reach, so you keep plugging away at your job with the understanding that if the game is close at the end then the great player will probably find a way to put the team over the top. Conversely, teams that do not have a great player are more apt to lose confidence or hope, and thus not keep pushing; when things are not going well, it is human nature to get frustrated and lose focus, but great players transcend that aspect of human nature and thus they inspire their teammates to be transcendent as well.

That is not meant to suggest that the 49ers lack great players or that they gave up. Purdy may be a great player in the making, and it is worth noting that he put his team in the lead after each of his final two drives, forcing Mahomes to direct a drive to tie the game and then direct another drive to win the game.

Football is a game of inches, and Chiefs have repeatedly demonstrated the ability to find the inches that they need to win games. Change just a handful of plays, and Mahomes has no Super Bowl wins instead of three, but that is not how football--or life--works. Mahomes has proven his ability to rise to the occasion when it matters most, regardless of how he, his team, or the other team performed prior to the critical moment. In retrospect, this seems inevitable, much like we don't think about the hypothetical ways that Michael Jordan might not have won six NBA titles; those championships seem inevitable in retrospect.

However, just a few months before Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to their first NBA championship, his teammate Bill Cartwright provided this assessment of Jordan (as related on page 249 of Sam Smith's book The Jordan Rules): "He's the greatest athlete I've ever seen. Maybe the greatest athlete ever to play any sport. He can do whatever he wants. It all comes so easy to him. He's just not a basketball player." Many "experts" declared that Jordan was too selfish to ever win a championship; what looks inevitable in retrospect did not seem likely or even possible to many people before it happened. It is fascinating to watch narratives develop and shift over time. Did Michael Jordan's essence as a player change in just a few months, or did he exploit opportunities as those opportunities presented themselves? It took Jordan seven years to reach the NBA Finals for the first time, but after that point he won all six times he reached the NBA Finals. During those championship runs, Jordan's Bulls beat the L.A. Lakers 4-1 in the 1991 NBA Finals after losing game one, they overcame a 2-0 deficit versus the New York Knicks in 1993, they survived a tough seven game series with the Indiana Pacers in 1998, and they beat the Utah Jazz 4-2 in the 1998 NBA Finals after losing game one. In retrospect, all we remember or see is that Jordan went 6-0 in the NBA Finals; the bumps in the road are forgotten, and the prevailing narrative describes a smooth, inevitable path: Jordan's career is summarized by listing the six championships that he won, not the preceding years during which he failed to reach the NBA Finals, and not the playoff series during which his team trailed and could have lost.

Similarly, Mahomes' journey has not always been smooth, but with three Super Bowl wins by the age of 28 he has entered rarefied air, and thus the prevailing narrative compares him with the greatest quarterbacks of all-time. In that conversation, it is important to remember that Tom Brady won seven Super Bowls (including a victory versus Mahomes' Chiefs in Super Bowl LV) and Otto Graham won seven championships in a 10 year AAFC/NFL career. In other words, Mahomes will have to add another haul of Super Bowl rings equal to the career totals of Terry Bradshaw or Joe Montana just to tie Brady or Graham; it should be obvious that this will not be an easy task even for someone as young and great as Mahomes. Football is perhaps the ultimate team sport: the quarterback runs the show on offense and deservedly gets a lot of credit for team wins/team championships, but team wins and team championships are impossible to achieve without the combined efforts of dozens of other players, plus the coaching staff.

Speaking of coaches, remember when Andy Reid was derided as a coach who is not capable of winning the big game? Hall of Fame coaches Don Shula and Tom Landry were both saddled with that label before winning two Super Bowls each, and now Reid is one of just five coaches with at least three Super Bowl wins, though it should be noted that Paul Brown won four AAFC titles plus three NFL titles, while George Halas won five NFL titles, and Vince Lombardi won three NFL titles before capturing two Super Bowl titles. Shula and Landry are revered as winners, and no one talks about their early, painful playoff defeats; in a similar fashion, Reid has transformed the narrative about his career. Just as it may have once looked inevitable that Shula, Landry, and Reid would never win the big one, in retrospect it seems obvious that they were destined to capture multiple championships.

Next season, Mahomes, Reid, and the Chiefs have an opportunity to win an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl--and if they accomplish that feat, no one will remember how close that game was.

Monday, January 15, 2024

Texans Demolish Browns, 45-14

The Cleveland Browns entered Houston on Saturday as a road favorite--an unusual circumstance in the NFL playoffs--but the Texans routed the Browns 45-14 to put a sudden and disappointing end to the Browns' season. Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud nearly had a perfect passer rating (157.2 out of a maximum possible 158.3) as he eviscerated the Browns' highly touted defense. Stroud had 236 passing yards and three touchdowns without being sacked in the first half en route to becoming the youngest quarterback to win a playoff game. Meanwhile, Cleveland's late-season acquisition Joe Flacco--the MVP of Super Bowl XLVII for Baltimore who played very well down the stretch for Cleveland--became the first quarterback to toss multiple pick-sixes in a playoff game since 2007. Flacco tossed those pick-sixes on consecutive possessions, which has not happened in the NFL playoffs since Rich Gannon did it in Super Bowl XXXVII. Stroud is beginning what looks to be a promising career, while the soon to be 39 year old Flacco may have played his last NFL game. 

Full credit to the Texans for a job well-done, but as a long-suffering Browns fan my focus is trained squarely on the losers (which is not meant to detract in any way from what the Texans accomplished).

Kevin Stefanski did an excellent job leading the injury-riddled Browns to an 11-6 record in the 2023 regular season, as the Browns overcame season-ending injuries suffered by elite running back Nick Chubb and starting quarterback Deshaun Watson. Stefanski is the only Browns coach since Bill Belichick to win a playoff game; three years ago, the Cleveland Browns defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 48-37 to notch the Browns' first road playoff win since 1969 and their first playoff win overall since 1995. The Browns scored more than 48 points in a playoff game just twice in their storied history, defeating Buffalo 49-7 in the 1948 All-America Football Conference (AAFC) Championship Game, and routing Detroit 56-10 in the 1954 NFL Championship Game. After beating Pittsburgh, the Browns lost to the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, 22-17.

Stefanski is easily the Browns' best coach since Belichick, although being the best Browns coach during that dreadful period in franchise history is admittedly a low hurdle to jump. While giving Stefanski credit for the success he has enjoyed, it must be noted that the Browns have often flunked situational football on his watch. The 2023 Browns led the league in most turnovers, and ranked second in most penalties committed. Turnovers and penalties often result from a lack of concentration and discipline; both traits are honed in practice, which is where the best coaches make their mark in any sport (notwithstanding the obsession that many media members have with in-game adjustments). I will never forget my conversation with Tom Brown, who started at safety for the Green Bay teams that won the first two Super Bowls (he also played briefly in MLB for the Washington Senators). Brown told me that what changed for the Packers after the departure of Coach Vince Lombardi is that during practice the team lacked the attention to detail that characterized Lombardi's approach to the game, and that lack of attention to detail in practice led to sloppiness during games. 

The turnovers, defensive lapses, and other mistakes the Browns committed during this debacle are all too familiar to Browns fans. The Browns did not look ready or well-prepared. It is worth noting that Stefanski rested most of his starters in the final game of the 2023 regular season, and the Browns suffered a 31-14 drubbing at the hands of their intrastate division rival Cincinnati Bengals. I understand why the Browns rested their players, and I realize that the Browns were not the only team that rested their starters, but I have never been a fan of resting, load management, tanking, or anything other than trying hard to win every game. Tony Dungy was a great coach, but he only won one Super Bowl--and he won that Super Bowl in one of the rare seasons (2006) that he did not rest his key players down the stretch. During other seasons, Dungy's well-rested players watched other teams play in the Super Bowl. Dungy rested his players in the 2007 season finale, and they responded by laying an egg in their first playoff game, giving up more points and more yards than they did in any regular season game, much like the Browns' vaunted defense collapsed versus the Texans despite being so well-rested. In contrast, Tom Coughlin won two Super Bowls, and he should be commended/respected for trying to win every game, an approach that helped his New York Giants win a Super Bowl versus the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

The Houston-Cleveland matchup is intriguing not only from a coaching/preparation standpoint but also because of the 2022 trade that sent quarterback Deshaun Watson from Houston to Cleveland in exchange for six draft picks; the early returns suggest that the Texans won that trade by an even wider margin than they won this game: Watson has been often injured and only seldom effective as a Brown, while the Texans used the draft picks to acquire (either directly via the draft or by trading the draft picks) running back Dameon Pierce, defensive end Will Anderson Jr., receiver Tank Dell, guard Kenyon Green, linebacker Christian Harris, receiver John Metchie III, and defensive end Thomas Booker. The Texans still have three more draft picks from that trade, so they can run up the score so to speak if one or more of those draft picks play well. Pierce led the Texans in rushing (939 yards) as a rookie in 2022, but had a diminished role this season (416 yards) after Devin Singletary emerged as the featured back. As a rookie this season, Anderson Jr. has already made an impact. Fellow rookie Dell had 47 catches for 709 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games this season before breaking his leg. Green has not made his presence felt yet, but the Texans traded down in the draft to select him, in the process acquiring a fourth round pick and two fifth round picks. The Texans packaged one of those fifth round picks with a third round pick to move up and select Harris in 2022. Harris is a key player for the Texans' defense; the Texans used the fourth round pick to select Metchie III, who missed all of the 2022 season with leukemia but bounced back to have 16 catches this season. Booker is no longer with the Texans.

Before the Houston game, the Browns thought that they had a Super Bowl caliber defense, a veteran quarterback who had already won a Super Bowl, and an offense that featured enough good playmakers to enable Flacco to shine. All of that hope and expectation meant little after kickoff, so the Browns head into yet another offseason facing more questions than answers: 

Is Stefanski a Super Bowl-caliber coach? 

Will Watson get healthy and stay healthy? 

Will Watson return to playing at a Pro Bowl level if he stays healthy? 

Will Chubb be the same player he was before tearing up his knee?

Why did the Browns' highly praised defense fall apart when the stakes were highest? Unless the Texans go on a playoff run that proves otherwise, the Browns were embarrassed by a team that is not a Super Bowl contender, which is very disconcerting.

Friday, January 12, 2024

Appreciating Bill Belichick and Nick Saban

In the past two days, the greatest college football coach of all-time--Nick Saban--retired, and the greatest pro football coach of all-time--Bill Belichick--amicably parted ways with the New England Patriots. It is unclear if Saban will coach again, but it seems likely that Belichick will get another NFL head coaching job. It is fitting to discuss them in the same article because their careers are intertwined.

Saban and Belichick have been friends since the early 1980s when Saban worked with Belichick's father Steve on the coaching staff at Navy. When Bill Belichick became head coach of the Cleveland Browns in 1991, Nick Saban was the first assistant coach he hired. As the defensive coordinator, Saban played a key role for the Browns as they improved from 3-13 the year before Belichick took the reins to 11-5 in 1994. Belichick's Browns coaching staff included not only Saban but also Ozzie Newsome--the Hall of Fame tight end who later built the Baltimore Ravens into two-time Super Bowl champions--plus Kirk Ferentz (who has coached Iowa to 196 wins since 1999), and Pat Hill (who later won 112 games as an NCAA head coach). Belichick and Saban are football savants who share a love for dissecting the sport's intricate details and then preparing meticulously to exploit even the slightest possible advantage.

Saban left the Browns after the 1994 season to become the head coach at Michigan State. He led the Spartans to a 34-24-1 record in five seasons before becoming LSU's head coach. LSU went 3-8 and finished last in the SEC in 1999, the year before Saban arrived; just four years later, Saban led LSU to a 13-1 record and the national championship. After one more season at LSU, Saban left to become the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins went 15-17 in two seasons under Saban; their 6-10 mark in 2006 is the only losing season Saban suffered as a head coach (not including 2007, when Alabama was forced to vacate four wins due to NCAA sanctions stemming from misconduct that mostly took place under Saban's predecessor Mike Shula).

Saban left the Dolphins to become Alabama's head coach in 2007, and the rest is history, as Saban led the Crimson Tide to six national championships (2009, 2011-12, 2015, 2017, 2020) in 17 seasons. Saban has won more national championships (seven) than any coach in NCAA football history, and he ranks sixth on the all-time NCAA wins list with 292. Saban is the first and only coach to win a national championship at two different FBS schools since the inception of the AP poll in 1936, and he joined Paul "Bear" Bryant as the only two coaches to win an SEC title at two different schools. Saban was equally adept at recruiting elite athletes and developing innovative tactics; there have been many coaches who mastered one of those aspects, but it is difficult to imagine another coach matching Saban's acumen in both. Alabama never had a Heisman Trophy winner before Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa; the Crimson Tide had four Heisman Trophy winners on Saban's watch: Mark Ingram (2009), Derrick Henry (2015), DeVonta Smith (2020), and Bryce Young (2022). Only four schools have more Heisman Trophy winners than Alabama: Ohio State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, and USC each have seven Heisman Trophy winners--but those schools accumulated their Heisman Trophies over several decades, while Saban moved Alabama to fifth on the all-time list in 15 years.

Belichick dominated the NFL in a similar fashion to the way that Saban dominated the NCAA. Belichick only coached one more season with the Browns after Saban departed; after Art Modell announced his plan to move the Browns to Baltimore, Belichick endured a tumultuous 1995 season. Modell fired Belichick after that 5-11 campaign. Belichick spent the 1996 season as assistant head coach with the New England Patriots under Bill Parcells, and then he moved to the New York Jets with Parcells, serving as assistant head coach from 1997-1999. After Parcells left the Jets, Belichick was the heir apparent, but Belichick made a shrewd assessment of the situation and decided to instead become the head coach of the New England Patriots. Belichick took over a team that went 8-8 under Pete Carroll, and Belichick's critics howled after the Patriots went 5-11 in 2000--but the Patriots improved to 11-5 in 2001, winning the AFC East and defeating the favored St. Louis "Greatest Show on Turf" Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. 

The Patriots slipped to 9-7 in 2002 but then won back to back Super Bowl titles in 2003 and 2004 en route to posting 17 consecutive seasons with at least 10 wins; during that time, the Patriots won 16 AFC East titles (including 11 straight from 2009-2019), and three more Super Bowls (2014, 2016, 2018) while posting the first (and only) 16-0 regular season (2007) in NFL history. In 2008, the Patriots went 11-5 despite losing Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady to a season-ending knee injury in the first quarter of the first game. When the Patriots beat the L.A. Rams 13-3 in Super Bowl LIII, Belichick became the oldest coach to win a Super Bowl.  

Belichick made his name as a defensive guru--his defensive game plan as the defensive coordinator for the Giants' first Super Bowl win is an exhibit at the Pro Football Hall of Fame--but during his career he has proven that he can adjust with the times as well as with personnel changes. At the start of his New England tenure, the Patriots relied on stern defense and timely offense, but after Brady developed into an elite passer Belichick opened up the offense and the Patriots' offense became fearsome. Belichick was successful when he had superstar receiver Randy Moss, and he was successful when he had a receiving corps devoid of Pro Bowl receivers. Belichick has a grandmaster level understanding of situational football, and his special teams units contributed heavily to the success of his teams.

Belichick has won six Super Bowl titles in nine Super Bowl appearances as a head coach. He is the record holder in both categories by a wide margin, with Chuck Noll ranking second in wins (four) and Don Shula ranking second in appearances (six). In the pre-Super Bowl era, George Halas and Curly Lambeau each won six NFL titles.

Belichick holds NFL coaching records for most playoff wins (31, nine more than Andy Reid), most division titles (17, four more than Shula, Andy Reid, and Tom Landry), most conference championships in the Super Bowl era (nine), and most Super Bowl appearances (12, including three as an assistant coach). Belichick ranks third all-time in NFL regular season wins (302), trailing only Shula (328) and Halas (318); if you add up regular season wins and playoff wins, Belichick's 333 trails only Shula's 347. Belichick's 21 winning seasons are fifth on the all-time list behind Halas (40), Shula (33), Lambeau (33), and Landry (29).

It is no secret that New England has not played well during the four seasons after Tom Brady left New England to go to Tampa Bay--but people who have short memories or who lack knowledge of football history place too much emphasis on these last few years of Belchick's New England career, and they focus too much on whether Belichick or Brady deserve the most credit for New England's unprecedented success. Hall of Fame quarterback play is almost always required to win a Super Bowl, and after winning Super Bowls even the greatest NFL coaches rarely end their careers on a high note.

There are 13 coaches other than Belichick who have won at least two Super Bowls. Andy Reid is the only two-time Super Bowl winner who is currently coaching an NFL team.

Noll won all four of his Super Bowls with Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw at quarterback. Bradshaw retired after the 1983 season, and Noll posted a 2-2 playoff record in his final eight seasons after going 14-6 in the playoffs from 1969-1983. Noll had eight seasons with at least 10 regular season wins from 1972-83 but did not win more than nine games in a season after 1983.

Joe Gibbs and Bill Walsh are next on the Super Bowl coaches list with three championships each. Gibbs won Super Bowls with three different starting quarterbacks, none of whom are Hall of Famers. His Washington Redskins went 9-7 in the season after his last Super Bowl win, and he retired. Gibbs came back to the Redskins 12 years later, but he did not match his earlier success, posting losing records in two seasons out of four and failing to qualify for the playoffs in all four seasons before retiring for good. Walsh is the rare NFL coach who left on top, retiring in 1988 after his San Francisco 49ers won their third Super Bowl in an eight season span. Hall of Famer Joe Montana was the quarterback for all three of Walsh's Super Bowl champions. Walsh later came back as the head coach at Stanford, where he had posted back to back bowl wins before becoming the 49ers' coach; he led Stanford to a bowl win in 1992, but closed his coaching career with 4-7 and 3-7-1 records. 

Shula's Miami Dolphins won back to back Super Bowl titles in 1972-73 with Hall of Fame quarterback Bob Griese, and Shula led the Dolphins back to the Super Bowl twice in the 1980s, but in the 10 seasons after his last Super Bowl appearance the Dolphins posted a 3-4 playoff record and missed the playoffs six times. 

Landry led the Dallas Cowboys to 20 consecutive winning seasons and two Super Bowl titles, but in his final three seasons the Cowboys went 7-9, 7-9, and 3-13. Hall of Famer Roger Staubach was the quarterback for both of Landry's Super Bowl champions

Bill Parcells won two Super Bowls in a five season span--both times with Belichick running the defense--but his teams missed the playoffs four times in his final seven seasons, and he did not win a playoff game in his final five seasons. Like Gibbs, Parcells won his Super Bowls without having a Hall of Fame quarterback.

Tom Coughlin's New York Giants twice defeated Belichick's Patriots in the Super Bowl, but after that second Super Bowl win Coughlin did not make another playoff appearance in his final four seasons, posting losing records in the last three. Coughlin's two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback Eli Manning is not yet Hall of Fame eligible, but it is a safe bet that Manning will be a Hall of Famer. 

Mike Shananan led the Denver Broncos to back to back Super Bowl wins in 1997-98 with Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway running the show. After 1998, Shanahan went 1-5 in the playoffs, and he finished his career coaching the Washington Redskins to three losing seasons in a four year span, including a 3-13 record in his final campaign. 

George Seifert succeeded Walsh, and won a Super Bowl in his first season with Montana as the quarterback. Seifert won his second Super Bowl in 1994 with Hall of Famer Steve Young as the quarterback. Seifert coached five more seasons (two with the 49ers and then three with the Carolina Panthers), posting a 1-2 playoff record and ending his career with back to back losing seasons, including a 1-15 record in his final campaign.

Tom Flores led the Raiders to two Super Bowl wins in a four year span, but he did not win a single playoff game after capturing his second Super Bowl title. The Raiders had losing records in each of his final four seasons. Jim Plunkett, who is not a Hall of Famer, quarterbacked both of Flores' championship teams.

Vince Lombardi coached the Green Bay Packers to five championships, including wins in each of the first two Super Bowls. Hall of Famer Bart Starr quaterbacked all five of Lombardi's championship teams. Lombardi retired after his second Super Bowl win/fifth championship, only to return a year later to coach the Washington Redskins. Lombardi led the Redskins to a 7-5-2 record in his only season with the team before he died of cancer.

Jimmy Johnson coached the Dallas Cowboys to back to back Super Bowl wins in 1992-93 before losing a power struggle with owner Jerry Jones. Hall of Famer Troy Aikman quarterbacked both of those Super Bowl champions, and then he won a third Super Bowl with Barry Switzer coaching Dallas. Johnson returned to the NFL in 1996 with the Miami Dolphins, posting a 36-28 regular season record and a 2-3 playoff record without reaching the conference championship round, let alone the Super Bowl.

It should be noted that Paul Brown led the Cleveland Browns to seven league championships in the pre-Super Bowl era--four straight in the AAFC and then three in the NFL. Hall of Famer Otto Graham was his quarterback for all seven championships. Brown coached the Browns for seven more seasons after Graham retired; during that time, the Browns lost twice in the NFL championship game. Modell fired Brown after the Browns went 7-6-1 in 1962. Brown returned to pro football in 1968 as the owner/coach of the expansion Cincinnati Bengals in the AFL, leading the Bengals to a 55-56-1 record in eight seasons (two in the AFL and six in the NFL). The Bengals went 0-3 in the playoffs under Brown.

The point is not to throw shade on any of these great coaches, but to just emphasize that Belichick's late career record is not unusual and does not in any way diminish what he accomplished during his prime. It will be interesting to see how Belichick fares if he is hired by another team.

For any football purist it was a joy to watch teams coached by Belichick or Saban, because their teams were disciplined, well-prepared, calm under pressure, and fundamentally sound.

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Journey to the National Master Title, Part 8

I have been quite active in the past three months, and usually when I am very active I perform well, but unfortunately that was not the case to close out 2023. In the October 8, 2023 East Market Round Robin (Columbus, Ohio), I scored 3/5, finishing out of the money and dropping 19 hard-earned rating points to fall to 2012. I played well for most of the day, starting with 2/3 and finishing with a crisp 26 move win in round five, but the whole event went bad for me in one second during round four: in a completely winning position against eventual tournament winner Calvin Roach, I played my move one second too late and lost on time. The time control was G/40 with a five second increment, so if I had just made my move a bit faster and then responded immediately on my next move I would have then had six seconds, which would have been more than enough (with the five second increment) to finish the game off. Full credit to Roach, who defended resourcefully enough to induce me to run out of time. He scored 4/5 overall, gaining 143 rating points to vault from 1655 to 1798, just short of his highest rating ever (1823). That one fateful second represented a 24 point rating swing, meaning I could have finished the tournament at 2036 instead of 2012.

I scored 1.5/3 in the October 14, 2023 Dublin (Columbus, Ohio) G/60 tournament, gaining six rating points to improve my rating to 2018. I drew my second round game versus the top rated player (Joel Jaffe, 2191), but lost to Brett Passen (2168) in the last round and thus finished out of the money.

I scored 2/4 in the October 22, 2023 East Market Swiss, losing nine rating points to fall to 2009. I was the third seeded player out of 12 players, and I lost to the number one seed (Brett Passen) and the number two seed (John Miller).

I scored 3/4 in the October 28, 2023 Cincinnati Tornado, losing four rating points to drop to 2005. I was the fourth seeded player out of 37 players, and I tied for third-eighth place. In the last round, I drew with the third seeded player, Russell Wilson. I had lost my previous six games versus Wilson, who earned the National Master title in the late 1980s and maintained a USCF rating over 2200 for most of the time between the late 1980s and early 2000s. Wilson won the 1999 U.S. Amateur South tournament with 4.5/5, while I took second place in that event (on tiebreaks) with 4/5; we did not face each other in that tournament, and my only loss came against Ryan Milisits, a talented junior player who was rated just 1782 at that time but who earned the National Master title in 2004. Wilson tied with Mark Geist for the Ohio Champion title in the 2001 Ohio Chess Championship (Stanislav Kriventsov won the tournament, but as an out of Ohio resident was not eligible to be Ohio Champion).

A few days after the Cincinnati Open, the USCF rerated many events that were played after February 2023. I am not going to edit the articles in this series to update my ratings after each tournament that was rerated, nor am I going to edit the post tournament ratings listed above; it suffices to say that after the rerate my October 28, 2023 post tournament rating was 2009. 

I played in two tournaments on my birthday weekend. I scored 1.5/3 in the November 4, 2023 Columbus G/60 tournament, gaining seven rating points to improve my rating to 2016. In the first round, I drew with the top seeded player, Broderick Bauml, after I missed a win during mutual time pressure (but he was in worse time pressure than I was, with less than 20 seconds remaining while I had about two minutes remaining). I beat Expert Justin Notter in a wild game in the second round, and then on board one in the third round I lost to Nicholas Bize, so I failed to win a prize. I scored 4/5 in the November 5, 2023 East Market Round Robin, gaining 16 rating points to improve my rating to 2032. I was the second seeded player. I drew the top seeded player, John Miller, and I drew the third seeded player, Henry Lu, and I won my other three games to claim clear first place. 

Kings Island is one of my favorite tournaments, and I have been successful there many times, including tying for second in the U2000 section in 2003, tying for third in the U2100 section in 2007, tying for first in the U2100 section in 2012, and finishing clear second in the 2013 Kings Island Open Saturday Night Blitz. However, in recent years at Kings Island I have not performed up to my standards. This year, I scored 2/5 in the U2100 section on November 11-12, 2023, losing 43 rating points to fall below 2000 (1989) for the first time since September 2023. I lost three games in the same event for the first time since my disastrous 2/5 performance in the June 10-11, 2023 Cleveland Open. A player's rating as of the final week of November becomes his official December rating, so 2023 marks the first time since 2019 that my official year end rating is below 2000; in 11 of the past 15 years my year end rating has been higher than 2000. After round three, I played in the Kings Island Open Saturday Night Blitz, tying for 14th-16th place out of 41 players with a score of 4.5/8, and losing 30 blitz rating points.

Here is how I squandered a winning position in round one of Kings Island versus Siddarth Kunapuli, a rising young player who is currently rated 1867. In the diagrammed position, it is my turn after my opponent played Qd7. The check on f7 is not a serious threat, so I should have just played ...Bc5. My opponent can take on b7, but then I can play ...Qe4+ followed by either ...Qxc2 or ...Bd6. Stockfish 16 gives Black a nearly +6 advantage, equivalent to being ahead by more than a full Rook. Instead, I played ...Qe7 and watched in horror as my opponent took the free Bishop on d4. The engine evaluation swung by over 10 points in just one move! Objectively, in terms of advantage squandered in one move this has to rank as one of the worst moves of my chess career, or at least one of my worst moves since I became an Expert in May 1995.

Two weeks after the Kings Island disaster, I played in the November 25, 2023 Dublin (Columbus) G/60 tournament, scoring 2.5/4 and losing 12 rating points to drop to 1977. I scored 2.5/3 to set up a last round board one game versus top seeded Nicholas Bize, who defeated me to finish 4/4 and not only claim clear first but also win the bonus prize for a perfect score. Bize attained the Expert title at Kings Island, and he is well on his way to breaking the 2100 barrier during his expedited journey to the National Master title.

It is rare that I have two awful performances in close proximity to each other, but in the November 26, 2023 East Market Swiss I lost my first two games, hanging my Queen in each one. I won my next two games to finish 2/4, but I lost 34 rating points to drop to 1943, my lowest rating since September 2021. In September-November 2021, I responded by gaining 18 points, 52 points, 23 points, and 12 points in my next four tournaments.

This time, I responded by gaining a total of 25 points in my next three tournaments. I scored 2/3 in the December 2, 2023 Dublin (Columbus) G/60 tournament to tie for second-fourth place, but because all three of my opponents were rated below 1900 I lost three points despite having a positive score. I then scored 3/4 in the December 3, 2023 East Market Swiss to tie for second-third place, gaining 27 points to push my rating up to 1967. In my final tournament of 2023, I scored 3/4 in the December 17, 2023 East Market Swiss, tying for second-third place and gaining one point to lift my rating up to 1968.

Overall, I had some great chess results in 2023. I won 93 rated games, setting a personal calendar year record. I also set a personal calendar year record for rated games played, 155, surpassing my previous mark of 151 (set in 2011 and matched in 2013). My winning percentage of .684 was my sixth best ever. My peak rating was 2038. I finished first or tied for first in nine regular or dual rated events--and I also tied for first in the July 20, 2023 Cincinnati Chess Club G/24 Swiss. My record for first place finishes in regular or dual rated events in a calendar year is 12 (2019); I also had nine first place finishes in 2005, eight in 1996 and 2009, and seven in four different years (1997, 1998, 2013, 2018). I have finished first in 149 regular or dual rated events overall, which does not approach the unofficial record (more than 1000!) posted by New England FM John Curdo but is nevertheless not too shabby for an Ohio Expert who has not traveled extensively outside of Ohio to play in tournaments.

I finished second in nine regular or dual rated events in 2023, surpassing my previous record (seven, 2008). Thus, I finished first or second in 18 out of my 39 regular or dual rated events in 2023.

However, the reason that my rating currently sits below 2000 instead of above 2100 is that I had awful results in the April 1, 2023 Indianapolis Super Tornado (2/5, lost 36 rating points), the June 10-11, 2023 Cleveland Open (2/5 in the U2100 section, lost 45 rating points), and the November 11-12, 2023 Kings Island Open (2/5 in the U2100 section, lost 43 rating points). The rating losses that I suffered in those three events more than wiped out the rating points that I gained during the rest of an otherwise successful year.

The two biggest challenges that I am facing are (1) fighting against my over the board impatience/impulsiveness and (2) battling against a young generation of quickly improving players.

Look at the rating list of the top 100 players in the world, and you will see that most of the players were born in 2000 or after: December 2023 FIDE Rating List. Only four players in the top 50 were born before 1980! The point is that (1) youth matters in chess and (2) it is quite an accomplishment to maintain one's level or even increase one's level after the age of 40.

I embrace this challenge! My role models here are Wilhelm Steinitz and Viktor Korchnoi.

Steinitz reigned as World Champion until he was 61!

Korchnoi played in his first World Championship match at age 47 and then qualified again for the World Championship match at age 50. He was still ranked in the world's top 100 at age 75 and he is the oldest national champion ever (age 80, Switzerland). He played competitively until suffering a stroke at age 81, but even after the stroke he defied the odds and played a few matches before passing away at age 85.

I reached the 2000 rating level for the first time in 1995 when I was 23, and every year since that time my peak rating has been at least 2000; I sometimes fall below 2000, but I always bounce back. I doubt that many non-Masters have maintained a peak rating over 2000 every year for nearly 30 years. I am a consistently strong player for a non-professional, even though I am frustrated that I have not reached a higher peak (yet!) than 2190.

I plan to update my Journey to the National Master title on a quarterly basis in 2024. My 2024 chess goals are:

1) Gain 60 rating points per quarter.

2) Do not lose any games to players rated below 1800.

3) Accumulate more draws than losses.

4) Maintain a winning percentage of at least .750, to break my personal record of .740 set in 2014.

Accomplishing those four goals will be sufficient to obtain the National Master title. Of course, that is much easier said than done, but it is important to articulate clear step by step goals in order to create a process to achieve those goals. Here, the process involves both preparation before each tournament and also some mindset adjustments during tournament play.

I am not afraid to publicly state goals now, and then look back in a year to see how I measured up.

In 2023, I scored 93 wins, 26 draws, and 36 losses in regular rated tournament games with nine first place finishes in 39 events--but seven losses to players rated below 1750 were costly, and as a result my net rating gain for 2023 is minus 44 points, so I need to gain 232 points to reach my goal.

Thursday, November 2, 2023

Bobby Knight Did it His Way

Bobby Knight, who passed away yesterday at the age of 83, coached the Indiana Hoosiers to three NCAA basketball championships (1976, 1981, 1987) en route to setting the all-time record with 902 career wins. Knight held that mark for four years (2007-11), and he now ranks sixth on the career wins list behind only Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Bob Huggins, Jim Calhoun, and Roy Williams. Although Knight will be remembered most for his time as Indiana's coach, he also won an NCAA title as a role player for Ohio State's 1960 team led by future Hall of Fame players Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek. Knight coached at West Point after finishing his college playing career and before coaching Indiana.

Knight's 1976 Indiana team went 32-0 and is the last NCAA team to post a perfect record en route to winning the championship. The 1975 Hoosiers went 31-0 before losing to Kentucky in the Elite Eight as Indiana's star Scott May scored just two points while playing with a broken arm after scoring 25 points during Indiana's 98-74 regular season win versus Kentucky. Knight later insisted that his 1975 team was even better than the 1976 championship team. Knight won his second NCAA title with sophomore Isiah Thomas leading the way in 1981, and he won his third NCAA title in 1987 after Keith Smart hit a famous baseline shot versus Syracuse. John Wooden (10), Mike Krzyzewski (five), and Adolph Rupp (four) are the only coaches who won more NCAA titles than Knight, who is tied with Roy Williams and Jim Calhoun.

Knight was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991, even though he previously asked to not be considered after he was offended that he had not been elected in his first year of eligibility, calling that slight a "slap in the face." Knight is the only coach to win an NCAA title (1976, 1981, 1987), an NIT title (1979), an Olympic gold medal (1984), and a Pan-American Games gold medal (1979).

Knight won without cheating, and he emphasized the importance of academics. He reportedly said that the fun part of coaching is not cheating to get top recruits but beating the schools that cheated to get top recruits. The great success of Knight's teams is even more remarkable considering that just one of Knight's players became an NBA All-Star: Isiah Thomas. 

Wooden and Knight are fascinating character studies: Wooden's demeanor was much more gracious than Knight's, but the irascible Knight ran a clean program while Wooden's program will forever have the shadow of crooked booster Sam Gilbert hovering over it. Great men--or men who accomplish great things--also often have great flaws.

ESPN's multi-part, 20 hour documentary "Basketball: A Love Story" prominently featured Knight, including his success coaching Team USA to the 1984 Olympic gold medal. Knight was a master basketball tactician whose teams played stifling man to man defense and ran a precision offense featuring crisp ball movement. Knight and Dick Schaap co-wrote a 1998 article detailing Knight's ideas about how to reform college basketball; the basketball wisdom that Knight displayed 25 years ago is still relevant today, as he criticized the proliferation of unstructured summer leagues, the malign influence of the sneaker companies, and the overuse of the three point shot.

One of Knight's assistant coaches for the 1984 Olympics was Don Donoher, who coached at the University of Dayton from 1964-1989. Donoher led UD to the 1967 NCAA Championship game, the 1968 NIT title, and the 1984 NCAA Elite Eight. Knight was outraged after UD fired Donoher in 1989, declaring to Ritter Collett (a Dayton sports columnist), "When I was named coach of the U.S. Olympic team, nobody could have wanted to represent the United States better than I did. So why did I pick Donoher to help me? Because I couldn't get a better coach. I may not know a lot of things, but I think I know basketball and I know I know more basketball than (Tom) Frericks and Brother (Raymond L.) Fitz. Donoher has maintained a very good Division I basketball program during a period when his salary was probably $25,000 under the average Big Ten coaching salary. Over the years, I've had a lot of people call me and ask me if I thought Don would be interested in another coaching job. When I called him to ask if he was interested, he invariably said, 'No, I don't even want to talk to them.' He was content to stay in Dayton. He has had a love affair with the school and the community. I think that is what burns me the most. Here is a man who had chances to leave, and I'm talking about some major jobs that have come open. He has never gone in to Frericks and said, 'Look, I've got this opportunity and it will pay me such-and-such.' He's never tried to use that to improve his earning power."

In 2007, Knight spoke at the "Celebration of Flyer Basketball" and said, "There's nobody that I've enjoyed more as a friend, respected more as a coach and thought did a better job in coaching in the circumstances that developed throughout his tenure at the University of Dayton."

In 2013, I reviewed Knight's book The Power of Negative Thinking:

Knight explains that there is "a large helping of my version of humor in the title chosen for this book" and adds, "I am not arguing for being a strict negativist, for walking around with a sour look, for always seeing the dark side, always expecting failure. That's not my intent at all. Quite the opposite."

Knight's thesis is that instead of blindly believing/hoping that an endeavor is going to be successful, "being alert to the possible negatives in any situation is the best way to bring about positive results." Knight believes "Planning beats repairing" because "There are so many unintended consequences in any important action that we need to at least consider, like the best chess player, how our next move could produce an unexpected chain reaction down the line."

Knight observes, "most basketball games are not won, they are lost," so therefore Knight constantly reminded his players, "Victory favors the team making the fewest mistakes." Considering his confrontational reputation, it is not surprising that Knight also put a twist on a famous advertising slogan when he declared to his teams, "This ain't Burger King. We'll do it my way."

"Negative thinking" in Knight's parlance is analogous to what the great chess player/theoretician/writer Aron Nimzovich called "prophylaxis," which in chess means overprotecting a strategically important square, thus ensuring the overall safety of the position and also providing for smooth, harmonious deployment of one's forces.

Of course, there was another, much less savory side to Knight: he was a bully whose inability to control his temper cost him his job at Indiana. Knight infamously threw a chair onto the court during a game, choked one of his players, and committed battery versus a variety of people, including a Puerto Rican police officer. The final act of Knight's legendary coaching career happened at Texas Tech, where he landed in 2001 after being fired by Indiana in 2000. After Knight set the NCAA record for career wins, he retired in midseason, thus practically forcing Texas Tech to hire his son Pat as head coach. Texas Tech went 4-7 down the stretch of the 2007-08 season, and Pat Knight lasted lasted just three more seasons before being fired after posting a 50-61 record. During a televised interview, Knight lashed out at Dick Schaap's son Jeremy--declaring that Jeremy had a long way to go to be as good as his father--and Dick Schaap rightly fired back at Knight that Knight would have been "outraged if someone had used him similarly to criticize his son Patrick, his assistant coach."

Knight had no filter. Dan Patrick asked Knight what he thought about the Indiana University officials who fired him. Knight replied, "I hope they're all dead." Patrick then noted that some of them had in fact died, and Knight said, "Well, I hope the rest of them go." 

The paradox with Knight is that he taught his players to be disciplined yet he often lacked discipline in both his deeds and his words. "Complicated" may be the adjective most frequently used to describe his legacy, because there is no denying that he was a great coach who did not cheat and there is also no denying that he often treated people very shabbily. ESPN's Jay Bilas summarized his take on Knight: "He was OK with reasonable disagreement, as implausible as that seems to those who didn't know him. But when he believed he was right, even when he wasn't, there was no talking him out of it." Knight's intelligence combined with his stubbornness in a way that was both a great strength and a great weakness.

If you are familiar with some of Knight's most memorable quotes, then you know that there is only one way this obituary can end, namely with the last wishes he expressed in a 1994 speech: "When my time on Earth is gone and my activities here are past, I want they bury me upside down and my critics can kiss my ass."

Friday, October 6, 2023

Dick Butkus: Quintessential Bear, Quintessential Linebacker

The Chicago Bears and the Arizona Cardinals are the only two original NFL franchises that still exist. The Bears were dubbed "Monsters of the Midway" during their glory years in the 1940s when they won four NFL titles (1940, 1941, 1943, 1946) in a seven year span, but no player embodied that "Monsters" ethos more than Dick Butkus, who passed away in his sleep yesterday at the age of 80. 

Chicago native Butkus led the University of Illinois to a 17-7 Rose Bowl win versus Washington in 1964 before being drafted by his hometown Bears as the third overall selection in the 1965 NFL Draft, one pick ahead of fellow future Hall of Famer Gale Sayers. The legendary George Halas--who at various times played for, coached, and owned the Bears--was the team's coach and owner at that time, and he remained the coach through 1967. Butkus made the Pro Bowl in eight of his nine NFL seasons, missing out only in his last, injury-riddled campaign during which he played in just nine of 14 games. Butkus injured his right knee in high school, but he battled through the pain and limitations caused by that injury until he had nothing left and retired from the NFL at the age of 30; prior to his final season he played in 110 of a possible 112 games. Butkus was selected First Team All-Pro five times (1965, 1968-70, 1972). He finished his career with 22 interceptions, 27 fumble recoveries, one touchdown scored, one safety and two extra points; the last number requires some explanation: before the NFL added a two point conversion rule in 1994, if a team passed or ran the ball into the endzone on an extra point attempt that counted as one point. On November 14, 1971, the Bears beat the Washington Redskins 16-15, with Butkus providing the winning margin by catching a Bobby Douglass pass in the endzone after the Bears botched the snap on an extra point attempt and were forced to go into scramble mode. You can see a video of the wild play here. In 1972, Butkus caught another extra point pass. 

The numbers do not tell the full story of Butkus' impact--literally and figuratively. He was renowned--and feared--as perhaps the hardest hitting NFL player, and he took pride in the fact that after he hit someone the player did not have to try to figure out who made the play: a Dick Butkus tackle felt like no other. Although Butkus was a fierce player, he also took pride in playing within the rules, and when some Detroit players accused him of being a dirty player Butkus deeply resented the accusation, declaring, "No one but those jerks has ever called me a dirty player. I play as hard as I can. I try to hit as hard as I can. To me that’s what the game is all about."

Butkus never played for an NFL champion or even for a playoff team. The lack of playoff success by a Chicago team that featured Butkus on defense and Sayers on offense is a stark reminder that football is perhaps the ultimate team sport: in basketball one dominant player can carry a team, and in baseball a dominant pitcher can have a tremendous impact, but in football even an elite player needs a lot of help in order to enjoy team success. Jim Brown is arguably the greatest football player of all-time, and his Cleveland teams posted a 1-2 record in the NFL Championship Game during his fabulous nine year NFL career.

Despite the lack of postseason success, in his nine NFL seasons--all spent with the Bears--Butkus earned recognition as the prototypical linebacker. NFL Films President Steve Sabol called Butkus the greatest defensive player of all-time, describing him as "A force of unmanageable proportions, he was Moby Dick in a goldfish bowl. His career as the middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears stands as the most sustained work of devastation ever committed on a football field by anyone, anywhere, anytime...No one played harder or better than Dick Butkus."

Butkus was selected to the NFL's All-Decade Teams for both the 1960s and the 1970s, he was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979 (the first year that he was eligible), and he was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983. Starting in 1985, the Butkus Award has been presented to the best linebacker in college football; since 2008, the Butkus Award has also been presented to the best NFL linebacker and the best high school linebacker. 

After he retired, Butkus became an actor in TV shows, TV commercials, and movies, and he did some football commentary as well. I suspect that the first time I ever saw Butkus was probably in a Miller Lite commercial during an NFL telecast! I am too young to have seen Butkus play during his career, but I saw a lot of NFL Films footage of him, so I understand why he was so respected and so feared. I cannot find the exact quote, but I remember reading something to the effect that it was not possible to block Butkus head on, so players resorted to chipping him low, which infuriated Butkus because he already had a bad knee. It is remarkable that Butkus played nine seasons at such a high level under those conditions. 

It is disconcerting to see so many people from my parents' generation--people who were in the prime of their lives when I was a child--getting old and passing away. For me, the 1970s and 1980s were a golden age in many different sports, even though I only remember the second half of the 1970s: when I think of great basketball I think first of Julius Erving, Pete Maravich, George Gervin, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird; when I think of great baseball I think first of the Big Red Machine teams, of Reggie Jackson's clutch play with the New York Yankees, and of Eric Davis' early career brilliance; when I think of great football I think first of the dynastic Pittsburgh Steelers (even though as a Cleveland Browns fan I hate them); when I think of great tennis I think first of Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, and John McEnroe; when I think of great boxing I think first of Muhammad Ali. That does not mean that each of the listed players and teams was the greatest of all-time (although a strong case could be made for several of them), but rather just that my deep love of sports was forged by watching and admiring them. That time is long past, but the memories and the historical impact will live forever.

Butkus was from just before that time, but I have great respect for icons like Dick Butkus, Jim Brown, and Sandy Koufax who made such indelible impacts on the sports world despite having relatively brief careers. Today, the sports world generates more money than ever, and new technologies make it possible to watch more games in more ways than ever, yet it feels like something is missing.

Rest in peace, Dick Butkus, and enjoy your reunion with George Halas and the other legends from the past.

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Journey to the National Master Title, Part 7

In the August 19, 2023 Dublin (Columbus, Ohio) Summer Open, I scored 3/4, but finished out of the money as three players tied for first place with 3.5/4. I drew with two of the first place finishers: National Master Charles Diebert (the top seeded player, with a pre-tournament rating of 2217), and Evan Fan, one of the top rated players in the country under the age of 10 (1794). I gained five rating points to push my rating up to 1991.

I scored 3.5/5 (three wins, one draw, and one loss) in the U2100 section of the August 26-27, 2023 Indianapolis Open, finishing tied for fourth through eighth but losing three rating points. The difference between gaining points and losing points in this tournament--and the difference between potentially winning the U2100 section versus settling for a lesser prize--was how I handled being up an Exchange by move 12 as Black in the second round. Here is the position after my opponent played 13. Kxf1 (taking my Bishop after I had just captured his Rook) and then I replied ...Nd5, strongly centralizing my Knight:

 Here is the position just 11 moves later:

What happened to my extra Exchange, and what happened to my Queen? The moves between the two diagrams were 14. Rb1 Nb4 Objectively this is fine, but there is no reason to seek complications when you are up an Exchange: 14...Nxc3 15. dxc3 d5 is a simple and direct way to play. 15. Qd1 Qa5 16. Ne5 d6 17. Nc4 Qa6 18. Kg1 d5 19. Nxa3 Bxc3 20. dxc3 Nxa2 21. Bb2 Qxa3?? I thought that I was simplifying to a position in which my two Rooks would be better than my opponent's Queen but--needless to say--I miscalculated. I should have played 21...Qa5 22. Qe1 Nb4 This is the idea that I missed during the game: if my opponent takes my Knight with his Pawn then his Knight is trapped after I take back with my Pawn. 

The game continued: 22. Bxa3 Nxc3 23. Qe1 Nxb1 24. Bxc5. I underestimated my opponent's 24th move; I would be winning if he had taken my Knight and I had then taken his Bishop, but this intermezzo puts him on top. He soon gave me one chance to equalize, but I missed the opportunity to fully activate my Rooks and then it was downhill from there, as his Queen and Bishop proved to be too powerful.

After the first three rounds of the Indianapolis Open, I played in the Indianapolis Open Saturday Night Blitz, scoring 5/8. I finished tied for seventh through tenth out of 32 players. I lost my mini match with National Master Joseph Cheng-Yue Wan 2-0, and he went on to tie for first place with FIDE Master Arvind Jayaraman at 7/8 each. My USCF blitz rating remained unchanged (1816).

I scored 2/5 in the Open section of the September 2-3, 2023 Ohio Chess Congress, finishing out of the money but gaining 21 rating points to push my rating back over 2000 (2009). I drew with two National Masters: Justin Storn--who is the new Ohio Chess Champion (he finished tied for second overall behind Grandmaster Alex Fishbein, who is not an Ohio resident)--and two-time Ohio Chess Champion (2005, 2013) William Wright. I have drawn with and defeated many Ohio Chess Champions in rated tournament games, but I have not won the Ohio Chess Championship, though I contend that John Lodger Hughes and I should be recognized as co-Ohio Chess Champions for 2010; we were the highest scoring Ohio residents in that year's Ohio Chess Congress, but the Ohio Chess Champion title was inexplicably granted to the overall first place finisher despite there being no information proving that he was an Ohio resident (that player, IM Siddharth Ravichandran, is a resident of Chennai, India and the 2010 Ohio Chess Congress is the only tournament he ever played in Ohio).

After the first three rounds of the Ohio Chess Congress, I played in the Ohio Chess Congress Saturday Night Blitz, scoring 5/8. I started out 5/6, and so I played National Master Jesse Ren on board one in the last round. Ren beat me 2-0 in our mini match, just like he beat me 2-0 in our mini match in the June 10, 2023 Cleveland Open Saturday Night Blitz. I gained 14 rating points, pushing my USCF blitz rating to 1830.

I scored 2/3 in the top section of the September 9, 2023 Dublin (Columbus, Ohio) G/60 tournament, tying for second through fourth place. I gained four rating points to improve to 2013. Two weeks later, I scored 3.5/4 in the September 23, 2023 Columbus G/45 tournament, gaining 22 rating points to lift my rating to 2035. In round three, I defeated the number one seeded player, National Master Charles Diebert, who has been one of Ohio's top players for well over 30 years. Despite my great result, I did not win a prize, as two players in the 55 player field finished with 4/4.

The Ohio Senior Open tournament is one my favorite annual events, as it provides a great opportunity to catch up with--and compete against--players who I have known for more than three decades. Organizer/chief tournament director Grant Neilley does a wonderful job, and I would encourage anyone who is eligible to participate in next year's event, which is scheduled for the weekend of September 28, 2024. One of the highlights this year was a contest for the most interesting or unusual chess set. Charles Diebert won in the non-Staunton set category with this beautiful set that his mother gave to him over 40 years ago; a friend of hers handcrafted it from ceramic materials:


Peter Galupo won in the Staunton set category:

I scored 3.5/5 in the September 30-October 1, 2023 Ohio Senior Open, losing four rating points to drop to 2031. I tied for fourth-fifth overall, and received the trophy for first place in the 50-59 age group. John Bath won the tournament on tiebreaks over Alan Casden (who defeated me in round three) and Mike Sheaf. Those three players each scored 4/5. This is the third consecutive year that I have participated in this event, which is open to anyone who is at least 50 years old (or who turns 50 before December 31 in the year that the tournament is held); each time, I have scored 3.5/5, and each time my only loss has been to a player who finished first or tied for first. In both 2021 and 2022 I won the third place trophy on tiebreaks. I was the fifth seeded player out of 22 Open section participants this year, I was the fourth seeded player out of 24 Open section participants in 2022, and I was the ninth seeded player out of 31 Open section participants in 2021. In other words, I have finished higher than my seeding each year; I like to think of this being equivalent to a race car driver who consistently finishes higher than his qualifying position, because I have "passed" players en route to winning a prize in each of these three tournaments. 

In the past 12 months, I have scored 50% against National Masters in regular rated tournament games (one win, four draws, one loss). I drew my game in the Ohio Chess Congress versus the eventual champion, National Master Justin Storn (and I also drew a quick rated game versus Storn in the July 20, 2023 Cincinnati Chess Club G/24 Swiss as he and I shared first place with 3.5/4). I have often demonstrated that I can play National Master level chess. Why have I yet to break the 2200 rating barrier, and why is my current rating below 2100? My journey to National Master has been slowed down by two issues: 

1) My unfortunate proclivity to squander winning positions, most recently demonstrated in the above example from the second round of the Indianapolis Open. This year alone I have cost myself at least 100 rating points by losing objectively winning games to lower rated opponents.

2) Many young players are significantly underrated, in part because during the early days of COVID over the board play paused while online play increased, which created a large group of young players whose over the board ratings lag far behind their actual playing strength. FIDE, the governing body of international chess, plans to address this issue by providing a one-time rating increase to the 85% of chess players whose FIDE ratings are below 2000; this increase is scheduled to take place in January 2024, subject to final approval by the FIDE Council in October 2023

What can I do to address these two issues? Regarding the first issue, I must be more aware of my opponent's threats, particularly in positions that seem to be easy wins (there are no easy wins!). I remember what Senior Master Boris Men once told me about how to win from a winning position--"You must play against your opponent's play"--but I must apply that wisdom in practice as opposed to just understanding it in theory. There is not much that I can do about the second issue, though perhaps it is worth considering playing in tournaments in which I am less likely to play against underrated young players.

In 2023, I have scored 68 wins, 17 draws, and 22 losses in regular rated tournament games with eight first place finishes in 27 events--but five losses to players rated below 1750 were costly, and as a result my net rating gain for 2023 is 19 points, so I need to gain 169 points to reach my goal

Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Vladimir Kramnik Loses His Mind After Losing an Online Blitz Game to Hans Niemann

Grandmaster Hans Niemann can now play at Chess.com again after settling his lawsuit against Chess.com and former World Champion Magnus Carlsen, with both Chess.com and Carlsen publicly acknowledging that there is no evidence that Niemann cheated in over the board games in general and specifically in the Sinquefield Cup game when Niemann defeated Carlsen. Niemann returned to Chess.com in style, beating former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik in a blitz game. Instead of taking the loss like a man, Kramnik accepted a rematch, but replied to Niemann's e4 with ...f6, and then answered d4 with ...g5, allowing Fool's Mate. Kramnik was trolling Niemann, who resigned rather than playing Qh5 mate. Niemann responded to Kramnik's disgraceful display by simply saying that he has much respect for Kramnik and does not understand why Kramnik did this. Niemann apparently felt that he took the high road by resigning, but if I had been in his shoes I would have checkmated Kramnik and trolled back by saying something like, "I beat this guy so thoroughly last game that he forgot how to play chess and fell into the Fool's Mate." If Kramnik wanted to lose like a fool, Niemann should have fulfilled his wish.

Kramnik behaved like a petulant child--just like Carlsen did after losing to Niemann--because Kramnik is too arrogant and insecure to admit that Niemann outplayed him. Rather than losing with dignity and grace, Kramnik--echoing Carlsen's shameful behavior when Carlsen resigned against Niemann after one move rather than play against him in the online $150,000 Generation Cup tournament--chose to make a mockery of the rematch game, likely assuming that people will pay more attention and credence to the implication that Niemann is a cheater than to the fact that Niemann outclassed Kramnik in the prior game. 

If you have followed Kramnik's career, then you know that he has never lost a post-mortem analysis session; his post-game press conference performance after drawing with future World Champion Ding Liren is legendary--and not in a good way, because Kramnik comes across as either incredibly delusional or insufferably arrogant. If you don't watch the whole video, at least check out around the one minute mark when Kramnik is running his big mouth about how he is winning before Ding quietly but confidently refutes Kramnik's moves. Kramnik still insists that he is better, but Ding just chuckles and says, "I don't think so."

In short, Kramnik has always been a sore loser (or "drawer" in the game with Ding Liren), so his behavior after Niemann beat him is par for the course. What first Carlsen and now Kramnik are making abundantly clear is that the tight circle of elite Grandmasters who are invited to big money tournaments to play against each other do not want an interloper joining their club. They don't like Niemann, they don't respect Niemann, and they don't want him to ever be included. It is not clear if Niemann will ever become a top 10 player--his peak to this point has been 31st in the world rankings earlier this year--but it is very clear that Carlsen and Kramnik are afraid of the mere possibility that Niemann will crack the exclusive private club where a handful of chess players make far more money than even other Grandmasters make.

It is worth emphasizing that there is no evidence that Niemann has ever cheated in over the board competition, nor is there any reason to believe that he cheated in his recent win versus Kramnik--but there is plenty of evidence about who Kramnik is and how he will be remembered by knowledgeable, objective observers.

History will not remember Kramnik as a great World Champion or as one of the 10 greatest players of all-time; yes, he beat Garry Kasparov in the 2000 World Championship match, but by that time Kasparov had already reigned as the World Champion for 15 years. Kramnik's reign lasted just over half as long as Kasparov's. Kramnik spent eight years as World Champion before losing the title to Viswanathan Anand, who Kasparov defeated 10.5-7.5 in the 1995 World Championship match. 

When Kasparov retired from top level chess in 2005, he remained the highest rated player in the world, and he had received the Chess Oscar--the chess world's Player of the Year award--a record 11 times, including in both 2001 and 2002 when Kramnik was the World Champion. Anatoly Karpov is second with nine Chess Oscars, while Kramnik received the award just twice. 

Shamefully, Kramnik did everything in his power to avoid a World Chess Championship rematch with Kasparov, knowing full well that Kasparov had an excellent chance of retaking the crown. An exasperated Kasparov criticized Kramnik's refusal to arrange a rematch:

I believe it is the duty of the world champion to defend his title against the most dangerous opponent. When I beat Karpov in 1985 I was forced to defend my title against him within eight months. The organizers and the public believed that Kramnik was the most dangerous opponent, so I had to play him--I had no choice. Kramnik knows this and now he is champion he must prove to the world he is "real" by facing his most dangerous opponent--me.

In the last six months I have proved I am still the world number one and I beat Kramnik recently. But now Kramnik, who was not made to win a qualifier to play me, implies that I must qualify to play him. I don't want to diminish the importance of his victory. He deserved to win. But it is Kramnik's turn to prove Kasparov didn't go mad in London. The public need another match to prove Kramnik is the real thing.

Kasparov and Kramnik played 10 tournament games against each other after their 2000 World Championship match, with Kasparov scoring one win and nine draws. Kasparov's victory came on the White side of the Ruy Lopez Berlin Defense, demonstrating that he had figured out how to defeat the main weapon Kramnik used to wrest the title away from Kasparov. 

As noted above, after losing or drawing games Kramnik tends to insist that he was winning all the way until the end, despite the fact that his assertions are often demonstrably false--but if we take Kramnik at his word that he has squandered numerous winning positions then perhaps he is the biggest choker in the history of elite level chess; after all, Kramnik committed one of the most ghastly blunders ever made by an elite player when he fell into a mate in one in the second game of his six game match versus the supercomputer Deep Fritz.

How can chess be promoted as a big-time sport and be taken seriously by the public if top players behave like whining crybabies when they lose, and if top players (and media members) throw around unsubstantiated cheating allegations? Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura recently whined about being dragged into Niemann's lawsuit, but Nakamura was not dragged into anything: he opened his mouth to spew unsubstantiated cheating allegations against Niemann and as a direct result of that Niemann sued him. "Start no stuff and there will be no stuff" would be a good mantra for Nakamura to live by in the future. Further, if Nakamura is truly interested in promoting chess as opposed to just generating more clicks and obtaining more viewers, then he should think twice about making unsubstantiated accusations that cast aspersions on the sport. There is a reason that the NBA fines owners, coaches, and players who make negative statements about officiating: such statements are bad for the league.

Nakamura is more of a chess streamer than a full-time player at this point, so he may figure that anything that creates content is good for his business model in the long run. Kramnik has retired from top level play for the most part, but he often speaks about promoting the game, as does Carlsen--but Carlsen and Kramnik seem much more interested in promoting themselves and their brands than in promoting the game. For instance, Carlsen's refusal to defend his World Championship title is bad for chess: why should anyone outside of the chess community take the World Championship seriously if the World Champion does not take it seriously? Note that Carlsen has not retired from chess; he is very busy playing in a host of big money tournaments--usually invitation-only--which is not only lucrative for him but also keeps his name in public view, which helps him promote his businesses and corporate sponsorships that are providing the bulk of his income now.

There is good reason to believe that the ratings of the top chess players are inflated now because they have essentially created a separate rating pool amongst themselves (and the ratings of other chess players are likely deflated, but that is a topic for another day). Instead of whining about losing games to Niemann, it would be great to see Carlsen--and other elite players--participate more often in open tournaments so that they put their money--and their rating points--where their big mouths are.

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Magnus Carlsen and Chess.com Reached a Settlement Agreement With Hans Niemann

Magnus Carlsen and Chess.com have reached a settlement agreement resolving Hans Niemann's claims against them, thus avoiding further litigation. On June 27, 2023, Judge Audrey Fleissig of the Eastern District of Missouri dismissed with prejudice the antitrust claims in Niemann's federal district court lawsuit against Carlsen, Chess.com, and Hikaru Nakamura--meaning that Niemann can never file that same claim against the same parties based on the same set of alleged facts--but Niemann retained the right to file his defamation claims at the state court level, and he had made clear his intention to do so. 

After Niemann beat Carlsen over the board in the prestigious Sinquefield Cup tournament last year, Carlsen--despite zero credible evidence that Niemann cheated against him in that Sinquefield Cup game--not only withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup but he later resigned after one move versus Niemann in a major tournament with a $150,000 prize fund, thereby skewing the pairings for all of the tournament's participants; as I wrote at that time, "By throwing a game to Niemann without a fight and then competing hard against all of the other players, Carlsen has placed every player other than Niemann at a disadvantage. In short, there is no proof that Niemann cheated against Carlsen, but there is proof that Carlsen threw a game. As Grandmaster Jon Ludvig Hammer--a fellow Norwegian Grandmaster who has served as Carlsen's second--declared, 'It's completely unacceptable behaviour to lose on purpose. It's the most unsportsmanlike [act] you can do in a competitive sport.'"

Each party issued a statement regarding the settlement:

Chess.com: "We are pleased to report that we have reached an agreement with Hans Niemann to put our differences behind us and move forward together without further litigation. At this time, Hans has been fully reinstated to Chess.com, and we look forward to his participation in our events. We would also like to reaffirm that we stand by the findings in our October 2022 public report regarding Hans, including that we found no determinative evidence that he has cheated in any in-person games. We all love chess and appreciate all of the passionate fans and community members who allow us to do what we do."

Magnus Carlsen: "I acknowledge and understand Chess.com's report, including its statement that there is no determinative evidence that Niemann cheated in his game against me at the Sinquefield Cup. I am willing to play Niemann in future events, should we be paired together."

Hans Niemann: "I am pleased that my lawsuit against Magnus Carlsen and Chess.com has been resolved in a mutually acceptable manner, and that I am returning to Chess.com. I look forward to competing against Magnus in chess rather than in court and am grateful to my attorneys at Oved & Oved for believing in me and helping me resolve the case."

It is not clear if Chess.com or Carlsen paid any money to Niemann as part of this settlement. The key elements of this settlement are (1) the public acknowledgment by both Chess.com and Carlsen that there is no evidence that Niemann cheated in any in-person games, (2) Carlsen stating that he will play against Niemann in future events, and (3) Chess.com fully reinstating Niemann. In short, this is a win for Niemann regarding his assertion that he has not cheated in over the board play, regarding his attempt to be reinstated at Chess.com, and regarding his participation in over the board events without concern that Carlsen would refuse to play against him or refuse to play in the same events with him.

It is worth emphasizing that Niemann's 2699 performance rating in the 2022 U.S. Championship--his debut appearance in that event, taking place under intense scrutiny in the wake of the anti-Niemann actions and statements by Carlsen, Chess.com, Nakamura, and others--matched his pre-tournament rating of 2699. A 2700 FIDE rating is considered the benchmark for elite status, so Niemann demonstrated--in an event with strict anti-cheating measures--that he can play at or near elite level in a major tournament against top Grandmasters. Niemann is relatively young and he is known for being a hard-working chess player, so it is reasonable to assume that he could push his rating well above 2700 (he achieved his peak rating of 2708 in May 2023).

There is a regrettable and growing trend to deny the meaning and value of objective truth/objective standards, and to base decisions on feelings as opposed to evidence, which has created what is often referred to as "cancel culture": a person or organization can be "canceled" because of how people feel about that person or organization regardless of whether there is any evidence that the accused person or organization violated any laws or committed any misconduct. That is what Chess.com and Carlsen attempted to do to Niemann: cancel him because of how they feel about him, regardless of what the evidence shows. It should be added that this type of flawed thinking regarding the meaning and value of objective truth/objective standards has also led to the popularization of the idea that people should be rewarded with scholarships and jobs based not on the objective merits of each applicant but on subjective determinations of equity and entitlement; discussion of that idea is beyond the scope of this article, but the implications of reorganizing society based on subjective feelings are significant: do you want your fate in the hands of the best qualified person to make a medical diagnosis, to decide a court case, or to fly a plane, or do you want your fate in the hands of a person who has subjectively been deemed worthy of receiving an unearned benefit in the name of equity/entitlement? America is founded on principles of equality, while Orwell's Animal Farm depicts what happens when a society is founded on the principle that everyone is equal but some people are more equal than others; when merit and objectivity are replaced with feelings and subjectivity, chaos ensues.

Here, the reality is that both Carlsen and Chess.com acted improperly because they defamed Niemann without evidence supporting their assertions, and because their actions harmed Niemann's status as a professional chess player. I am not a Niemann fan and I condemn his admitted online cheating, but unless or until past online cheating is considered disqualifying for over the board play one's online conduct and one's over the board conduct are separate issues. Further, Chess.com had already dealt with Niemann's prior online cheating, so the principle of res judicata (that which has been litigated before cannot be litigated again) should have applied in the sense that Niemann should not be punished twice for the same offense; he was punished for his proven online cheating, so it was wrong for Chess.com to ban Niemann after Carlsen's petulant behavior and unfounded accusations/insinuations.