Babies are cute but they do not belong in serious chess tournaments. Babies are too temperamental and unpredictable. They cry at the least provocation. This disturbs people around them. That's distraction.
I was surprised that the arbiters in the Malaysian Chess Festival had allowed this lady to have her baby around her when she played her games at the Merdeka rapidchess open tournament and later, the AmBank chess challenge. Personally, I feel this is wrong. What is the message that we are trying to project: that the Malaysian Chess Festival is a serious event or a fun event?To the top teams that played in the Merdeka rapidchess open, competing for the prize monies was not a fun business. To them, it was a serious event. But most of the other teams that played on the lower boards, perhaps the antics of a baby would be more tolerable. The organisers probably has this in mind when they allowed her to play with her baby on her lap.
But come to the Dato Arthur Tan memorial chess tournament and the AmBank chess challenge, both events being run side-by-side in the same function room, this lady should no longer be allowed such liberties. In the Arthur Tan event, we have top regional grandmasters and other titled players coming here to compete. They expect the highest professional level of organisation. Babies that make noise should be the last thing that the players should be concerned about.Yes, I know that the organisers have arranged for her to sit beside a changing room where the player could go to attend to her baby's needs but this solution is rather unacceptable. Why allow the players to be distracted when the baby starts crying? I see no reason for this.
Well, I'm no longer at the CitiTel Hotel in Kuala Lumpur so I cannot obsserve the latest on this episode. But I hope efforts have been made to disallow cute distractions from serious chess events. This is my two cents' worth of opinion.
What is the message that we are trying to project: that the Malaysian Chess Festival is a serious event or a fun event?
ReplyDeleteWhile I do take your point about the child being a potential - POTENTIAL, mind you distraction - I think the idea behind allowing the lady to bring her child did not diminish the seriousness of the event, and it's a shame to say that any women with child make an event more frivolous.
If anything, it shows that the organisers are inclusive, and don't discriminate against people with responsibilities, esp. in such a male-dominated world as chess is.
Hi, Sheena, you speak like a true non-chess player and feminist. No, I do not have any objection to women playing in chess competitions. Chess is no longer a male-dominated game. It hasn't been for the past three decades.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there are rules to follow in serious chess competitions and one of them says there must be no distracting of the opponents during a chess competition. If a handphone goes off during a game, the player gets an automatic loss for that game. It's that serious. If you have a baby sitting with you at the chessboard for three hours at a stretch, what are the chances that the baby will not cry? In the still of a tournament room, a noise can be very distractive to the players. No, I hate to say this but you just don't understand chess to be able to comment logically.
Regards
SS Quah
Ow! Dude, I DO play chess!
ReplyDeleteBut you're right, I didn't know the bit about the automatic loss should the handphone ring.
(Fine, I play competitively, but not THAT competitively.)
Anyhow, I dropped by again because I forgot to mention in my last comment that I thought those pictures you took of the woman & the baby were good... illustrated your post very nicely :)
And if you would allow me to indulge my feminine side for 2 seconds... the baby is soooo cute!
K, you can stop retching and I shall refrain further from commenting on big matters of men, both the real ones and tiny chessmen.