Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Gormallygate: Howler Tracker

OK, with so many media agencies now running with this story, written by journos who know nothing of chess, we thought we should keep a track of some blatant howlers and maybe clarify a few things.

Dear readers, you're very much part of this process. If you spot anything, we'll add it in.

Is Arianne a grandmaster (GM)?
No. She is a woman international master (WIM). This title is a good few notches below that of a GM. Arianne does hold "norms" for higher titles: one international master (IM) norm and 2 woman grandmaster (WGM) norms.

Is she ranked number 3 in Australia?
No. We can look at this using both the international rating (FIDE) and the local rating (ACF) lists. On the international list, Arianne is ranked 66th in Australia; on the ACF list she comes in at 38th overall.

UPDATE: A reader notes that WIM Arianne Caoili did play on board 3 for the Australian women's team at the recently concluded Olympiad in Torino, Italy.

Has she ever reached a rating of 2400 (FIDE)?
I've heard this claim myself but I have not been able to confirm it. It's likely to be untrue. Actually, Arianne once played under the surname "Bo" but there's no record of her having reached 2400 with that surname.

Can we consider her the "Kournikova of Chess"?
In fact, as has been pointed out elsewhere on the net, this label belongs to another chess player - that overexposed Russian, Alexandra Kosteniuk. See this one, for example.

For our journo readers, here is the first real Kournikova of chess - www.kosteniuk.com

Is this a fair label?
We say, well who cares? Some readers suggest that to be dubbed "Kournikova of chess" is an insult. ACF boss Denis Jessop thinks so. Says he: "I think that the Kournikova of chess is actually a sort of insult as AK [Anna Kournikova] was attractive but never won a major event".

It is true, AK never won a major singles event, but she was a successful doubles player. Here is her entry in Wikipedia.

Danny Gormally - England's world no. 4?

This item by an Australian media agency claims that GM Danny Gormally is "England's world no. 4". He isn't. Gormally did play on board 4 for England in the recently concluded Olympiad, in Turin. Gormally's score was 1.5 points out of 5 games.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

What about the going out with Aronian comment?

Surely that isnt true.

The Closet Grandmaster said...

It's not likely to be true. I'll let you know once I have the written confirmation.

Anonymous said...

Professionalism associated with chess? haha.

They voted for Kirsan again!

Anonymous said...

I think the idea that she's ranked #3 in Australia came from one paper calling her Australia's #3 on account of her being board 3 at the Olympiad and then it drifted from there.

Anonymous said...

That's what she has to say about all that fuss

http://www.lenuvole.org/TORNEO_2/allegati/MissArianneCaoilistatement.pdf

Anonymous said...

Has anyone mentioned this trashy comment in the updated English Telegraph article?..

"Clearly a party girl, she had a reputation, according to one source on the chess circuit, "for coming back at 2am and waking people up, then having recharged her batteries, leaving again at 5am".

Seems people feel Arianne is fair game for negative comments.

Anonymous said...

Since my handle on ChessChat.org is "greg", several people have asked me to substantiate my comments against Keene. These are not my comments and I have no idea who "greg" is here on Amiel's blog.

Greg Canfell