<square dance> I don't see what part of <utssb>'s comment tells you he is clueless as to the rules of chess. He doesn't say Zatonskih broke any rules, he actually made an excelent point by stating facts. And those facts are simple: Zatonskih moved within Irina's time and that Rook was knocked over because Zatonskih didn't wait for Krush to hit the clock.

They are a despicable group of people! >

Randians? Objectivists? People who wear leather? Obama supporters? Ukrainians residing in Germany? Does this mean you despise Bogoljubov, too?

<Augalv>

<Zatonskih moved within Krush's time and that is the action which decided the game.>

All of the above, and more.

The facts aren't so simple as you think. Your argument is that it was "unfair" to engage in perfectly legal behavior, which makes little sense.

I liked Krush going into this, and still do, whereas Zatonskih wasn't even on my radar before. But the aftermath to this tournament is just an embarrassment. Krush lost both the game and the protest fair and square. I wish she'd won, but the continued harping is vaguely Topalovian and only makes her look like a bad loser (which in this case she is, quite honestly). I know the rules were bad. I wish she'd cared when it mattered.

I agree with Kafkaesque that she'd be champion now if she'd just taken her jacket off before the game.

<This may be legal but Krush didn't move within her opponent's time because she wanted to play fairly. Instead, Zatonskih did, stealing Krush's time which as usstb well says, decided the game.>

This is clearly false. Irina's initial protest made it clear that she believed at the time that the behavior was illegal.

Maybe some long-time Cubs sufferers can point to the exact game. But this reminds me of a time when the Cubs blew a critical World Series game because Hack Wilson didn't bother to call time and get his sunglasses right before a game changing play when he lost a ball in the sun. Anybody know what game I mean?

<Jim Bartle> <Wilson was so depressed about his gaffe that he slumped to 56 homers and 190 RBIs the next year.>

But the Fischergrad Cubs still haven't won the World Series. If you're implying think Wilson didn't care, think about that for a minute and think how unlikely it is.

Though maybe Wilson is a bad example here, since after 1930, he went right down the tubes and was out of baseball by 1934. Krush surely has more good years left in her than that.

At least Krush has been women's champion before. Wilson never did get that World Series ring.

Agreed, of course. Armageddon games have been used to decide tiebreaks for decades. I think it's time organizers and players finally recognize how absurd it is. Blitz playoffs and Armageddon games is part of the reason the World Cup Champion never received the same perception of credibility as the so-called Classical, even when Anand won it.

There comes a time where it's better not to give in to the public's appetite for quick blood and either declare co-champions or arrange a rapid Internet match so they can play conveniently at their homes or clubs. There's no way the PGA would have forced Woods and Mediate to playoff the same day right after the main tournament.

<There's no way the PGA would have forced Woods and Mediate to playoff the same day right after the main tournament.>

No, it's not.

<Petrosianic: To say that she knowingly and voluntarily refused to engage in <legal> behavior on the grounds that it was unsporting is not supported by the facts.>

I didn't say that. What I said is that Zatonskih moved within Irina's time, that is, she made moves before Irina could hit the clock.