Tuesday, May 09, 2006

A solution to GM draws?

News of alleged match-fixing in the final of a major Chinese chess event last week has rocked sports circles in Vietnam...

It happened at the Phuong Trang Cup which wrapped up last Sunday in Ho Chi Minh City when one of the finalists accepted "defeat" though his king was under no threat.

Spectators shouted at Nguyen Vu Quan of Hanoi after he "lost" to Truong A Minh after only 22 moves.

There are allegations that the two players had agreed upon the result beforehand and to equally share the top two prizes totaling VND42 million (US$2,650)....

The organizers have not said if the affair would be referred for police investigation.

It was this last line that got me thinking ... if premature draws, suspected sandbagging, etc. were always referred to the police for investigation and possible prosecution, I suspect we'd see a lot less of them.

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