<How?> The first thing is to know exactly what the prizes are. The advertized prizes are never the correct ones unless the prize fund is "unconditionally guaranteed," meaning the prizes do not go up or down. Usually the prizes are based on the number of entries, but there is a certain amount guaranteed (say, 70% of the projected prizes). If the number of players exceeds the projection, the prizes are higher than advertized, otherwise they are lower.

The Organizer figures out the EXACT prizes, and then creates a prize sheet. A copy of this sheet is posted at all the section charts so that the players know what the actual prizes are, and also given to each computer TD (they calculate prizes, not the floor TDs).

As far as actually calculating the prizes, it's pretty easy: clear first place gets the first place prize, for example. If for example there is a tie for first place among three players, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes are summed and divided equally among the three players (this is different from the Hort System used in Europe).

Can you explain why Sokolov won $253.00 more than Shabalov ($12,926.50 vs. $12,673.50; see: http://chesstournamentservices.com/...)?

# Name Rtng Tot
Prize

1 GM Ivan Sokolov 2676 NED 7.0
$12926.50

2 GM Alexander Shabalov 2534 PA 7.0
$12673.50

<3 GM Wesley B So 2650 PHI 6.5 $1484.57>

4 GM Aleksander Lenderman 2613 NY 6.5
$1484.57

5 GM Giorgi Kacheishvili 2605 GEO 6.5
$1484.57

6 GM Ray Robson 2601 FL 6.5
$1484.57

7 GM Yury Shulman 2588 IL 6.5
$1484.57

8 GM Alexander Evdokimov 2544 RUS 6.5
$1484.57

9 IM Marc Tyler Arnold 2529 NY 6.5
$1484.57

10 GM Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli 2628 VEN 6.0
$70.34

Wes had a good chance to land on the top if not for missed opportunities in the penultimate round against Shabalov. Still top 3 is not bad at all.

<Still top 3 is not bad at all.>

not bad indeed if you consider he was in the company of 32 gms out of 118 entries...also including plenty IM's FM's and WGM's...

http://chesstournamentservices.com/...

Wes is the true world blitz champion.

The one won by Grischuk was a phony. Grischuk won over a group selected by FIDE...most didn't even pass through the rigors of qualification...How could it then be a representation of the Chess World's elite?

Whereas this one was an open competition...where all were given a chance to participate. There was no cherry picking made.

Come again?

<The one won by Grischuk was a phony. Grischuk won over a group selected by FIDE...most didn't even pass through the rigors of qualification...How could it then be a representation of the Chess World's elite?>

If the organisers had invited <everyone> in the top 10-15 and gotten all but a couple, would you still say this?

<...Whereas this one was an open competition...where all were given a chance to participate. There was no cherry picking made...>

Long Live Wesley So! The true 2012 World Blitz Champion.

<If the organisers had invited <everyone> in the top 10-15 and gotten all but a couple, would you still say this?>

Of course. Wesley remains world champion. He qualified fair and square but what did FIDE do? He dropped him in favor of their favored lot. This supposedly elite assembled were not even the best in blitz...the elo rating used pertains to classical chess. They were handpicked like the spoiled cherries they are.

<Do you really think all the 2700+ players in the world would fly to Philadelphia to avoid the stigma of not being 'cherry-picked'?>

Well, they don't need to...at the rate they are being fed their daily supply of quaker oats. Spoonfed like the pampered goldfish they truly are...if they are left in the open, the barakudas will eat them alive.

<Besides, I'm sure a fish like me would have crushed players of Carlsen's calibre if I'd been invited. That's it-they were scared to death!>

OK, let's all agree So was kept out of the World Blitz tournament unfairly. (Not sure about that, but let's suppose.) Why would anybody just assume that had he played he would have won?

"Carlsen's ascendancy to the top of the leaderboard is a product of multifarious invitations from discriminating organizers- giving him elo points in a silver platter. He is overated."

There were 71 entries in the World Open. Compared to 16 handpicked cherries in the bogus World Blitz Championship. Who's laughing now.

Wes is Asia's best in blitz. Breezing past the opposition like a hurricane. http://asianchess.net/wp/?p=1641

Asia is home of the bulk of the world's population. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area (or 30% of its land area) and with approximately 3.9 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.

That must be true in basketball as well, right? And football? Yet Asian teams rarely advance very far in international competitions in those sports. Yet Asia completely dominates in sports such as squash and badminton, as well as some martial arts, and has competitive teams in cricket.

Relative population doesn't matter. What counts is the quality of the players.

I like Wesley So's games. He plays enterprising chess. But I think his fans are even more annoying than Carlsen's.

<dx9293> : I think I'm entitled to.

<tolengoy>: *You want answers?*

<dx9293> : *I want the truth!*

<tolengoy>: *You can't handle the truth!

Well, they don't need to...at the rate they are being fed their daily supply of quaker oats. Spoonfed like the pampered goldfish they truly are...if they are left in the open, the barakudas will eat them alive.>

Tolengoy speaks the truth. These 2700-2800 had been spoon feed for the longest time and when you let them go on their own to search for a higher ground, they will not know how to act. They will be lost in the dark and then gone.

<dx9293: There's no reasoning with <tolengoy>, <Jim Bartle>. He's going on my ignore list.>

http://youtu.be/5j2F4VcBmeo>

Making believe?
Carlsen and the other 2700-2800 have already gone through opens and minor tournaments and blazed right through them. So is still there.