Questionable Sydney Tournament

Sydney player and chess organiser, Peter Hanna, made a complaint to FIDE regarding some apparently inappropriate actions during the St George Open last year. Basically the problem seems to be that some games were recorded as draws even though the games were never played. To make matters worse, the situation apparently had the benediction of the chief arbiter of the tournament, Dr Charles Zworestine.

International arbiter and himself a former member of various FIDE Commissions Peter Parr made the following demands to correct the situation:

As it had not been established if there were even more games unplayed I advised Gletsos [NSWCA president] that this had become a very serious matter and I suggested the correct course of action for the NSWCA would be to (a) demand a written response from the arbiter why he was in breach of FIDE regulations in agreeing with the players the results of games in a FIDE Rated event without play. (b) The NSWCA must insist that the score sheets of all games not played at the venue must be inspected by the NSWCA to clarify once and for all which games were actually played.

The FIDE minutes mentioning the above complaint can be read here.

The St George Open was held in the premises of the St George Chess Club. It is possibly Sydney's strongest outfit with GM Rogers often appearing on board 1. Several years ago I even saw Ftacnik play for this team! If FIDE does decide negatively against this club, it will be a dark day indeed, not just for the club, but for the local chess association that should have taken appropriate action in good time when the controversy was just blowing up.