It has been almost 3 years since I last wrote this blog, I hope you forgive me dear reader as I have been battling a few health issues that took away my motivation to write. Thankfully that is all behind me now!
The last year from an arbiting point of view has been the most exciting. Firstly I was asked to be the Anti-Cheating Officer at the Isle of Man and then to cap it all off, I was invited to be the Deputy Chief Arbiter at the Candidates in Yekaterinburg. It was an incredible experience with the backdrop of what was happening with Covid-19. I met some very kind people out there. Despite the comments that were made, we were never in any danger. FIDE promised us they would get us home and on that fateful day when we got up and were told that we had until midnight to get out of the country, they moved heaven and earth to get us all home. I'll never forget what they did and I really appreciate the care they took of us.
The only downside to the candidates was this got unleashed on the world, the comments from players from Scotland were priceless....
I am under orders to wear this on duty in Scotland!
So the lockdown has hit us and suddenly us Arbiters have no tournaments to do. It is quite likely that the Candidates will be the last tournament I do for OTB this year. So as good arbiters do, we have moved the tournaments online. The downside for me as I am well known for my abilities for detecting people using an engine so rather than having a nice quiet lockdown, I am busier than ever! I am not going to lie I enjoy it!!
People ask me why I became an arbiter. I wanted to give something back and found I really enjoyed it. Before I knew it I was an FA, then an IA. When we complete the Candidates, I will be able to up my licence to Category A which is something I never thought I would be able to do!
The other reason is, well when I play I am capable of feats of Scottishness. We are well known for grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory. Take my game tonight in 4NCL I am white and the following position arose
Black has just played Qa6 (Queen was on a5). Hands up in the air anyone who would not play Bb5? Oh just me then??? I actually discounted the move as I worked it out to going to a BBvB endgame which I did not fancy. I actually played bxc5?? as I missed the back rank mate. I ran the computer analysis you can do on Lichess after your game and when it finished laughing at me, it told me I had gone from approx +8 to -6, a 14 point swing. Basically I overthought it and lost the game.
And that Ladies and Gentlemen is why I am an Arbiter :D
I hope you are all keeping safe and well and I look forward to seeing you all back in the Chess hall when this is all over.
Andy
Sounds like we made a similar mistake. Missed a fork that would have got me the exchange up. Better luck next time.
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