🚀 go-pugleaf

tell us what happened ?

Alan OBrien wrote:
> What is the story behind the scandalous behaviour of the British player?

  Can you be more specific? What did he do?

"Taylor Kingston" <tkingston@chittenden.com> wrote in message
news:1149372002.762308.59020@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com...
>
> Alan OBrien wrote:
>> What is the story behind the scandalous behaviour of the British player?
>
>  Can you be more specific? What did he do?

"The English squad is now down to five players after board four GM Danny
Gormally flew home a couple of days ago. Before leaving, he displayed the
first sign of real aggression seen from the English squad since its arrival
in Turin. Sadly it was not at the chessboard, but at the Bermuda party on
the night before the second rest day. From what the BCM has been able to
gather from various sources present in Turin, the facts appear to be as
follows: annoyed that a young lady player (Arianne Casioli of Australia)
preferred to dance with Levon Aronian of Armenia, Gormally landed a punch on
the world number three. Thankfully the blow did not do any real damage but
the Armenian delegation was understandably incensed that their top board
should be treated in this way. To keep the peace, the English delegation
decided that Gormally would have to be sent back home immediately.
Incidentally, Gormally's team-mate Nigel Short voiced criticism of his
colleague in his weekly column in the Guardian on 1 June (presumably written
before the alleged incident at the Bermuda party). Curiously, the London
newspaper does not seem to have published this online yet as they usually
do, but here is a quotation: "Danny is clearly wrestling with demons of his
own. When the entire hall rose for a minute's silence as a mark of respect
for the victims of the Indonesian earthquake, England's fourth board
remained slouched in his chair. Suffice it to say that he lost miserably.
While everyone can be excused the occasional poor result, bad form combined
with bad attitude is less easily forgiven." It seems that all was not
sweetness and light in the English camp even before the incident at the
party. Regrettably this is not the first time that an English-registered
player has behaved in this manner in the course of a tournament. It goes all
the way back to the 19th century master JH Blackburne who is alleged to have
thrown Steinitz through a window on one occasion. There was a rather more
recent incident - only last year - in which a young English player lashed
out at an arbiter during a tournament in Ireland. This received very little
publicity in the press (with the exception of New in Chess magazine). The
tendency to keep unsavoury incidents under wraps seems to be the norm in
English chess circles, but perhaps it is time that we learnt to air these
matters more publicly. The English Chess Federation tends to keep very quiet
about incidents but it is our view that the English chess public should have
the right to know how players behave when they have been chosen to represent
their country. Well, there we are - the headlines read "English player
thumps rival in nightclub incident" - and the World Cup hasn't even started
yet..."

Alan OBrien wrote:
> "Taylor Kingston" <tkingston@chittenden.com> wrote in message
> news:1149372002.762308.59020@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com...
> >
> > Alan OBrien wrote:
> >> What is the story behind the scandalous behaviour of the British player?
> >
> >  Can you be more specific? What did he do?
>
> "The English squad is now down to five players after board four GM Danny
> Gormally flew home a couple of days ago. Before leaving, he displayed the
> first sign of real aggression seen from the English squad since its arrival
> in Turin. Sadly it was not at the chessboard, but at the Bermuda party on
> the night before the second rest day. From what the BCM has been able to
> gather from various sources present in Turin, the facts appear to be as
> follows: annoyed that a young lady player (Arianne Casioli of Australia)
> preferred to dance with Levon Aronian of Armenia, Gormally landed a punch on
> the world number three. Thankfully the blow did not do any real damage but
> the Armenian delegation was understandably incensed that their top board
> should be treated in this way. To keep the peace, the English delegation
> decided that Gormally would have to be sent back home immediately.
> Incidentally, Gormally's team-mate Nigel Short voiced criticism of his
> colleague in his weekly column in the Guardian on 1 June (presumably written
> before the alleged incident at the Bermuda party). Curiously, the London
> newspaper does not seem to have published this online yet as they usually
> do, but here is a quotation: "Danny is clearly wrestling with demons of his
> own. When the entire hall rose for a minute's silence as a mark of respect
> for the victims of the Indonesian earthquake, England's fourth board
> remained slouched in his chair. Suffice it to say that he lost miserably.
> While everyone can be excused the occasional poor result, bad form combined
> with bad attitude is less easily forgiven." It seems that all was not
> sweetness and light in the English camp even before the incident at the
> party. Regrettably this is not the first time that an English-registered
> player has behaved in this manner in the course of a tournament. It goes all
> the way back to the 19th century master JH Blackburne who is alleged to have
> thrown Steinitz through a window on one occasion. There was a rather more
> recent incident - only last year - in which a young English player lashed
> out at an arbiter during a tournament in Ireland. This received very little
> publicity in the press (with the exception of New in Chess magazine). The
> tendency to keep unsavoury incidents under wraps seems to be the norm in
> English chess circles, but perhaps it is time that we learnt to air these
> matters more publicly. The English Chess Federation tends to keep very quiet
> about incidents but it is our view that the English chess public should have
> the right to know how players behave when they have been chosen to represent
> their country. Well, there we are - the headlines read "English player
> thumps rival in nightclub incident" - and the World Cup hasn't even started
> yet..."

  In view of the fact that Aronian is less than 5 feet tall, one
wonders if perhaps Mr. Gormally has been unduly influenced by the Randy
Newman song "Short People."

"Taylor Kingston" <tkingston@chittenden.com> wrote in message
news:1149423110.880459.65510@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>
> Alan OBrien wrote:
>> "Taylor Kingston" <tkingston@chittenden.com> wrote in message
>> news:1149372002.762308.59020@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com...
>> >
>> > Alan OBrien wrote:
>> >> What is the story behind the scandalous behaviour of the British
>> >> player?
>> >
>> >  Can you be more specific? What did he do?

>  In view of the fact that Aronian is less than 5 feet tall, one
> wonders if perhaps Mr. Gormally has been unduly influenced by the Randy
> Newman song "Short People."

Don't pick short prople up; it irks them.

Gaf wrote:
> On 2006-06-04, Taylor Kingston <tkingston@chittenden.com> wrote:
> >
> >   In view of the fact that Aronian is less than 5 feet tall
>
> Not sure if you're joking or not, but Aronian is about 1.65 - 1.70m tall.

  Which would be about 5' 5". Yet it was reported here recently, in the
thread "Aronian's Height," that he was somewhere between 4' 6" (137 cm)
and 4' 10". My apologies if those data were in error.

On 2006-06-04, Taylor Kingston <tkingston@chittenden.com> wrote:
>
>   In view of the fact that Aronian is less than 5 feet tall

Not sure if you're joking or not, but Aronian is about 1.65 - 1.70m tall.

Actually, in the original version of the story, Blackburne did not
throw Steinitz out of a window. Steinitz claims to have been attacked
without provocation by a drunken Blackburne, who sobered up after
Steinitz shoved Blackburne into a window.

In the recent attack, although the British lout's behavior is
unacceptable, I am even more shocked by the majority's lack of
character in failing to elect Bessel Kok. Yet another sad demonstration
by the chess world, though at least this time I do not have to be upset
at my own federation for this.

Jerry Spinrad

Alan OBrien wrote:
> "Taylor Kingston" <tkingston@chittenden.com> wrote in message
> news:1149372002.762308.59020@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com...
> >
> > Alan OBrien wrote:
> >> What is the story behind the scandalous behaviour of the British player?
> >
> >  Can you be more specific? What did he do?
>
> "The English squad is now down to five players after board four GM Danny
> Gormally flew home a couple of days ago. Before leaving, he displayed the
> first sign of real aggression seen from the English squad since its arrival
> in Turin. Sadly it was not at the chessboard, but at the Bermuda party on
> the night before the second rest day. From what the BCM has been able to
> gather from various sources present in Turin, the facts appear to be as
> follows: annoyed that a young lady player (Arianne Casioli of Australia)
> preferred to dance with Levon Aronian of Armenia, Gormally landed a punch on
> the world number three. Thankfully the blow did not do any real damage but
> the Armenian delegation was understandably incensed that their top board
> should be treated in this way. To keep the peace, the English delegation
> decided that Gormally would have to be sent back home immediately.
> Incidentally, Gormally's team-mate Nigel Short voiced criticism of his
> colleague in his weekly column in the Guardian on 1 June (presumably written
> before the alleged incident at the Bermuda party). Curiously, the London
> newspaper does not seem to have published this online yet as they usually
> do, but here is a quotation: "Danny is clearly wrestling with demons of his
> own. When the entire hall rose for a minute's silence as a mark of respect
> for the victims of the Indonesian earthquake, England's fourth board
> remained slouched in his chair. Suffice it to say that he lost miserably.
> While everyone can be excused the occasional poor result, bad form combined
> with bad attitude is less easily forgiven." It seems that all was not
> sweetness and light in the English camp even before the incident at the
> party. Regrettably this is not the first time that an English-registered
> player has behaved in this manner in the course of a tournament. It goes all
> the way back to the 19th century master JH Blackburne who is alleged to have
> thrown Steinitz through a window on one occasion. There was a rather more
> recent incident - only last year - in which a young English player lashed
> out at an arbiter during a tournament in Ireland. This received very little
> publicity in the press (with the exception of New in Chess magazine). The
> tendency to keep unsavoury incidents under wraps seems to be the norm in
> English chess circles, but perhaps it is time that we learnt to air these
> matters more publicly. The English Chess Federation tends to keep very quiet
> about incidents but it is our view that the English chess public should have
> the right to know how players behave when they have been chosen to represent
> their country. Well, there we are - the headlines read "English player
> thumps rival in nightclub incident" - and the World Cup hasn't even started
> yet..."

On 2006-06-04, Taylor Kingston <tkingston@chittenden.com> wrote:
> Gaf wrote:
>> On 2006-06-04, Taylor Kingston <tkingston@chittenden.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >   In view of the fact that Aronian is less than 5 feet tall
>>
>> Not sure if you're joking or not, but Aronian is about 1.65 - 1.70m tall.
>
>   Which would be about 5' 5". Yet it was reported here recently, in the
> thread "Aronian's Height," that he was somewhere between 4' 6" (137 cm)
> and 4' 10". My apologies if those data were in error.

http://www.fide.com/news/photos/turin/armeniach.jpg

Not the greatest picture, but Aronian can be spotted second from the right.