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EOSC 2012 Commentary: Round 13

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Go to: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 9, Round 10, Round 11, Round 12, Round 13, Round 14, Round 15, Round 16, Round 17, Round 18, Round 19, Round 20, Round 21, Round 22, Round 23, Round 24, Round 25, Round 26, Round 27, Round 28, Round 29, Round 30, Round 31, Round 32, After the Tournament.

From about 16:00 onward, the sun strikes our side of the building and the room starts to warm from a very comfortable temperature to an arguably tolerable one. Next weekend, when we have a larger group in, we will definitely have to run the air-conditioning. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to test it tomorrow.

Players A and B sign and submit a score slip, but write the winner's data on the side marked "Loser", and vice versa. When this is brought to their attention, Player B remembers that she forgot to add 5 points on for a failed challenge. Player A disputes this, and whether or not the result may in any case be changed after submitted, albeit incorrectly.

Take a look at the pattern of average game totals each round so far: 815.9, 792.2, 774.5, 806.4, 811.8, 799.4, 808.9, 782.8, 816.5, 798.4, 798.1, 788.7, 794.1. There's quite a wide range, from 774.5 in Round 3 up to 816.5 in Round 9. Round 3 was the round in which the top quartile played the second, and the third vs. the fourth; it was the one in which players were paired with opponents closest to their own skills, resulting in fewer runaway games. It was also the third straight game played without a break. The only time so far when a later game in a break has scored more than an earlier one was in Round 5, which at 811.8 narrowly outscored Round 4. I started off this investigation with the hypothesis that the hottest room temperatures (Rounds 3, 4, 13 and 14) might correspond to the lowest scores; the data does not seem to bear this out.

Now back to what actually happened this round.

At Board 18, Reno Zammit (MLT) scored the biggest upset of the event so far, beating Kevin Synnott (Eng) 432-355 despite the 629-point difference in their WESPA ratings.

We began with six players on 9–3, with two pairs of them playing each other, the possibility that there would be from two to four players on 10–4 this round. As it turned out, each of the 9‐3s who were playing an 8‐4 lost, giving Mikki Nicholson (Eng) and Helen Gipson (Sco) a chance to open up a small lead, by beating respectively Craig Beevers (Eng) and Esther Perrins (AUS). Seven players are one game behind: Perrins, Beevers, Joanne Craig (NZL), Howard Wilde (Eng), Tony Sim (SGP), Siu Hean Cheah (SGP) and Theresa Brousson (MLT).

Leading Class B is Duncan Keet (ZAF), 8–5 +347, and close behind is Mohammad Sulaiman (ARE), 8–5 +316.

Leading Class C is Nuala O'Rourke (NIr), 7–6 +351, and close behind her is Brid Ni Bhriain (IRL), 7–6 +185.

Two more games today.