Check out the decisive armageddon game in the US championship.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNQjXHjRkNQ

Anna Zatonskih won with 1 second left



Chessbase report says:
"A tense game ensued and both players entered severe time trouble. At one point Anna had two seconds left compared to about 20 for Irina. But Anna's draw odds were a big advantage here – she could blitz out moves hardly thinking (just moving the piece nearest to the clock), while Irina actually had to do something with her moves since she had to win. Krush lost on time with 0:01 left on Anna's clock! It doesn't get any closer than that."

Yes, it was understandable that Krush was upset about losing, but the way she threw a piece and stormed off was definitely unprofessional...

She probably wanted to tipp her king over to aknowledge defeat. It's just that the king was full of adrenalin and jumped across the whole room

She probably came back a few moments later and congratulated her opponent.


It's always funny to watch (it's definatelly not funny to play them) those kind of games when pieces are flying and noone even bothers to pick them up and place them on the board again. Did you notice that Krush accidentally tipped her rook over, but there was no time to place it on the board again?
I've seen such endings where kings were steping into the check, moving for two or even three squares, light squared bishops becoming dark squared and so on. There is just no time to process anything, your only task is to move something as quickly as possible (Anna said that she was moving her rook back and forth beecause it was the closest to the clock )

I'm notoriously bad in those situations. In my whole life I managed to win only 2 games in such situations where the pieces were flying across the board.

Players still tip their king over when resigning? I thought that was outdated, and only still done in movies for dramatic effect.

Krush's actions were unprofessional, but many people are making seem like the end of the world... much like the Short/Cheparinov handshake (or should I say non-handshake) incident.

If I had been in Krush's position, I can't say that I would have handled the situation better.

Oh dear, oh dear!
Khollister they were playing the playoffs of the U.S. championship! If I had been in Krush's position I would have thrown the chair to my opponent not the king

It is outdated and rarely done. And she couldn't have resigned anymore since she already lost

That day those two ladies were playing the whole day. Sometime around noon the last round started. After that (since tied) they had to play tie-breaks. First they played two rapid games, since it was tied they played two blitz games, and since it was still tied, they played an armageddon game. By that time it was almost midnight. So all the tension and frustration for coming that close had to come out some way. At least only the white king (and knee from that spectator) took a beating

I didn't catch anywhere if she later reapeared and congratulated her opponent. If she did then everything is fine and I'm sure her opponent would understand her reaction. If she didn't then it does make her a sore loser. After storming off and probably bursting into tears she should have collected herself in time to come to the closing ceremony and congratulate the winner.

You have a good point. Frankly, as both players were very tired, I have to wonder why they didn't decide to do another match the next day...

I also watched the video again; only this time, I turned on the sound. One of the spectators was whispering and laughing during the match! That being considered (along with the fatigue and tension), it's no wonder Krush was upset.

I've never been to a chess tournament before, but I always imagined they were relatively quiet events -- how could players concentrate if someone was (intentionally or unintentionally) distracting them?

Perhaps more tournaments should have a way of keeping spectators at bay (like at M-Tel)...

OK, I reconsidered my position: Krush is a sore loser!

http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2008/05/irina-krush-pro...-in-open-letter.html

After reading her letter, I watched the video again, and I think she made some valid points.

However, she lost me in the the last sentence of her letter, when she implied that Zatonskih was "a clock-punching monkey". That was extremely unprofessional!

If they were valid then she should have called the arbiter. She didn't so it doesn't matter what happened. They could have played ilegal moves but without a claim the moves become 'de facto' legal. Thats blitz

I agree. I can certainly understand that Krush was "in disbelief" over what happened, but she should have immediately demanded the arbiter intervene.

At this point, what's done is done. It's far too late to demand another game, or ask to share the title. It's like beating a dead horse -- it doesn't do any good.

I should add that I've never beaten a horse -- be it alive or dead.

For those who haven't seen it, Irina Krush is still upset about her loss to Anna Zatonskih...

Final Letter From Krush

Ebutaljib posted a response on Susan Polgar's blog:

RE: More from Irina Krush

I have to agree with Ebutaljib... it's far too late to complain; she should forget about this and focus on her next match.

This whole thing is getting rediculous.

1. If you see something against the rules you have to complain imediatelly. This is specially true for blitz - it is too late to complain even one move after, not to mention after the game is finished, or (like Krush has done) one week after the tournament finished.


2. Every grandmaster who was present or commented the video, said that they saw nothing unusual, just a normal blitz game.


3. I have to give her credit - she is very brave (or foolish) to admit she doesn't know the rules
Maybe in the future FIDE should set up some sort of exam which the player has to pass, before awarding the titles of FM, IM or GM.
However (like outside the board) IGNORANCE IS NO EXCUSE.


4. The tournament regulations were known in advance and by participating she, like everyone else, accepted them. It's her own fault if she didn't read them. Again, ignorance is no excuse.


5. I wonder if she would find the tie-breaks so unfair and if she would be willing to share her title, if she was the one who would win by 1 second.

I doubt it...

I'm glad to see that Zatonskih isn't giving in to Krush...

Interview with Anna Zatonskih