Comments on: Lip Balm Stains Chess Tourney

By: Terry Doherty

Terry Doherty — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:19:42 +0000

I have just read about the way Ms. Rudolf was treated by this group of older, experienced chess players who really ought to know better! No wonder we have such trouble encouraging women to play chess and retaining them in the game if the reaction when they play well is that they must be cheating.
Sadly this is a symptom of the sexist nature of international society as well as the world of chess and I would like to offer my sympathies, for what they might be worth, to the young lady concerned. (I’m not all that good at this internet business so I don’t know if she will see this but I would be grateful to anybody who can pass my message along to her.) I am a 40 year old male player from Scotland who comes nowhere near the skill levels shown by Ms. Rudolf but I have been dismayed by the paucity of women playing in league and tournament chess. Before taking the game up again about 5 years ago I had last played aged 11 at Primary School where the only other pupil who could beat me was a girl in my class- I wish she were playing now as I’m sure I could get my own back after all these years!

I would just like to encourage Anna Rudolf to ignore the jealous whinings of these ne’erdowells- continue to do your talking over the chessboard and wipe the smug grins off their faces!

PS Just on the off chance, can you recommend a good lip-balm? ;o))
Nil illigiti carborundum!

By: Howard Goldowsky

Howard Goldowsky — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:10:57 +0000

From a psychological point of view, I don’t think that the accusations alone would hurt this girl. If anything, it’s a compliment to be accused of cheating. If she really was cheating, then she has to live with herself; if she really wasn’t cheating, then she knows it and these accusations are an ego boost. What really gets me is that so many people have such confidence in the supposedly rock-solid certainty of the rating system. Not only does a rating have variance, it also has uncertainty. Sometimes the paper-dog wins (even a few times in a row). Duh.

By: pollychess

pollychess — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 01:44:23 +0000

It’s disgraceful that players are allowed to get away with such crap. Unfortunately there is such a culture of cheating that any remarkable performance by a young lower rated player with be eyed suspiciously. Hopefully Miss Rudolph will be able rise of this nonsense and beat the shit out of these low life accusers the next time she plays them.

By: paulhoffman

paulhoffman — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 12:32:07 +0000

What the men said was nonsense. The incident, of course, is not, which is why I said that false allegations are a threat to chess.

By: Sissyfus

Sissyfus — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 06:42:46 +0000

This is why chess people choose to accuse each other for slander and sue each other. Chess trolls like Sam Sloan are products of the accusational nature of current chess rules!

By: Janet Newton

Janet Newton — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 04:30:40 +0000

Paul, I object to you use of the term “nonsense”. That implies that this story isn’t worthy of reporting - that, in essence, it was about nothing. In fact, it is of utmost importance. That three no-name IM bullies can get away with this sort of behavior against ANY player is not nonsense - it is criminal. It is the worst sort of personal slander and of course it will have a negative impact on any player (I don’t care who the player is.

Rules need to be put into place as soon as possible to address the leveling of cheating charges against any player without evidence. Putting the burden of proof of innocence on the accused party is ABSURD, pure and simple.

The three accusers in this case - girlie men!

By: jay bonin

jay bonin — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 21:58:51 +0000

It seems that any superb performance in any sport is now met by suspicion. This young lady may be scarred for life. Lip balm? How absurd!

By: Ryan Emmett

Ryan Emmett — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 19:36:10 +0000

I couldn’t agree more with you when you say that the ACCUSATIONS are as damaging to chess as the possibility of actual cheating.

The presumption of innocence must be maintained in all such cases unless someone can provide any actual evidence. This incident seems like just another case of sour grapes from players who couldn’t face the fact that a lesser ranked player (and a woman at that) was beating them. Shame on them all.