Luke McShane

Half measures

Would you slice a book in two? I learned of this peculiar practice in January, and I can’t fault its brutal pragmatism. Undeniably, half of War and Peace is more portable than the whole thing, and perhaps even less intimidating. When you finish the first chunk, you just swap it for the second. Books want to be read, not fetishised. For all that, I recoil from the idea, and I’m not alone.

The Candidates tournament in Yekaterinburg, a 14-round epic, was put on hold after just seven, but not due to illness among the players. When the Russian government announced that international air traffic would be suspended indefinitely, Fide’s president Arkady Dvorkovich, a former deputy prime minister of Russia, halted the event while there was still time for the players, their seconds, arbiters, organisers and journalists to get back home.

Two weeks ago, I wrote that ‘if anybody does become ill, it is hard to imagine how the tournament could be fairly concluded’. Fide’s solution was for the players to agree beforehand that results hitherto will remain valid, and remaining rounds will take place at a later date. There is no better way, but the tournament is fundamentally altered. The leaders have months to redouble their analytical efforts, and a stronger incentive than the tail-enders. But can they maintain their form after a hiatus?

Fide still insists that starting the event was justified based on their information at the time. Even if the risk was modest, filling the auditorium at the opening ceremony looked like tempting fate. The players, inevitably, were uncomfortable throughout the event. Teimour Radjabov, who argued that the event should be postponed, and subsequently withdrew in protest before the event began, is at least partly vindicated, and is now considering legal action.

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