Tuesday 13 September 2016

Scott Wastney Gains Double IM Norm in Baku

Congratulations to Scott Wastney who gained a double IM norm at the Baku Olympiad.
Previously I said he had gained the IM title, but I'm still not sure if that's the case.
Here is the last round game he had to win for the norms. He makes it look so easy!






Update re the norms (and the comments), Russell sent this from Dubai where he's waiting for his connection back home:

"Just to clarify Scott's IM situation, he still needs another IM norm and he also needs to get his FIDE rating over 2400 before he gets the IM title.  He needs about another 60 rating points and is hoping to gain some of them in the Wellington Club Champs (assuming that this is FIDE rated).  I'm not sure how willing his Wellington Club Championship competitors are to contribute to his cause.  We shall see in the next few months!!!

I think both teams performed alright at the Olympiad.  The women's team significantly improved their ratings, while the three young girls (aged 10, 13 and 15) all gained valuable experience and will be better players for having played in the Olympiad.  The Open team obviously had Scott's double IM norm to celebrate and if my memory serves me right, this might be the first double IM norm achieved in the Open team at an Olympiad, since a certain Russell Dive achieved one at the 1994 Moscow Olympiad.  If that is in fact correct, it's been a long 22 year wait for another one!!!  This is also the last Olympiad that double norms will be given out (they resort to single norms at the next Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia in 2018, so Scott picked a great time to do it."



4 comments:

  1. I think he may need 1 more norm. In any event I watched the game and thought Scott played extremely well. A very nice combo.

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  2. On Chess Chat Scott himself has chipped in and unfortunately he needs another norm and a 2400 rating. Still, a great effort.

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  3. On Chess Chat Scott himself has chipped in and unfortunately he needs another norm and a 2400 rating. Still, a great effort.

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  4. Thanks Andrew and Bill. How are we going to get Scott his last norm? Maybe we need to organise a tournament in Wellington and invite a few grandmasters?

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