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In past World Chess Championships when they finished tied with points the current champion retained the title, which I found disappointing https://en.wikipedia.

In past World Chess Championships when they finished tied with points the current champion retained the title, which I found disappointing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Chess_Championship_1987#1987_Championship_match https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Chess_Championship_1987#...

fjsolwmv 8y ago
The effectively cointoss plan for this tourney isn't better. They should accept co-titles for equally matched players
- nic_wilson 8y ago
  I like this idea but not sure how that would work in the format of the World Chess Championship.
- tedeh 8y ago
  At the next tournament, two challengers are presented to the two champions with a co-title. Imagine they also tie all their matches; now the world has four reigning chess champions!
  - adrianN 8y ago
    Well, if they all play equally well, what's the problem?
ubernostrum 8y ago
I believe Carlsen is on record as disliking the current format. The way it works right now, the reigning champion does nothing until a challenger has earned the right to face him by winning a candidates tournament. Then the winner of the candidates tournament faces the reigning champion in a match for the title. Carlsen, as I understand it, would prefer that the champion take part in a tournament. The women's championship (also played this month) does feature a tournament. 64 players were seeded, and played single-elimination two-game matches (with rapid games as tiebreakers). The final two players then faced each other in a four-game match (again with rapid games as potential tiebreakers). The final did go to tiebreaks, and was won by defending and now repeat champion Ju Wenjun.
- slowmovintarget 8y ago
  What I don't understand is why there needs to be a separate women's tournament. It's chess, not football. Edit: I suppose that makes sense to encourage more women to play if that was an issue. (I'm used to more casual clubs where membership requires only interest and showing up.)
  - adrianN 8y ago
    In chess there are two kinds of tournaments: women only and open to all. For some reason or other, men dominate in chess, so it makes sense to have a separate women's tournament imho.
  - Jabbles 8y ago
    What is the gender ratio in the casual clubs you're familiar with? Which country is that?
  - pilpulpitbull 8y ago
    We are a sexually dimorphic species. Physical differences between men and women are not limited to muscle mass.
    - ctchocula 8y ago
      Citation needed. In lieu of such data, a simpler explanation is that boys are more encouraged to play chess from a young age than girls. This results in more teenage boys playing chess, a deeper talent pool, and thus better top ranked players. This is similar to what is seen in soccer. Even though China has much bigger population than Holland by almost 100x, the number of Chinese kids playing organized soccer is less than Holland by at least 10x.
      - pilpulpitbull 8y ago
        > Citation needed https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/04/study-finds-some-significant-differences-brains-men-and-women https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/04/study-finds-some-sig... > “[That previous study] finds no average difference in intelligence, but males were more variable than females,” Ritchie says. “This is why our finding that male participants’ brains were, in most measures, more variable than female participants’ brains is so interesting. It fits with a lot of other evidence that seems to point toward males being more variable physically and mentally.” So if you’re looking for outliers (such as a chess prodigee), you are more likely to find them in the male population than in the female population. Your explanation is not simpler by any stretch, it just spares you some cognitive dissonance.

fjsolwmv 8y ago

The effectively cointoss plan for this tourney isn't better. They should accept co-titles for equally matched players

nic_wilson 8y ago
I like this idea but not sure how that would work in the format of the World Chess Championship.
tedeh 8y ago
At the next tournament, two challengers are presented to the two champions with a co-title. Imagine they also tie all their matches; now the world has four reigning chess champions!
- adrianN 8y ago
  Well, if they all play equally well, what's the problem?

ubernostrum 8y ago

I believe Carlsen is on record as disliking the current format. The way it works right now, the reigning champion does nothing until a challenger has earned the right to face him by winning a candidates tournament. Then the winner of the candidates tournament faces the reigning champion in a match for the title. Carlsen, as I understand it, would prefer that the champion take part in a tournament. The women's championship (also played this month) does feature a tournament. 64 players were seeded, and played single-elimination two-game matches (with rapid games as tiebreakers). The final two players then faced each other in a four-game match (again with rapid games as potential tiebreakers). The final did go to tiebreaks, and was won by defending and now repeat champion Ju Wenjun.

slowmovintarget 8y ago
What I don't understand is why there needs to be a separate women's tournament. It's chess, not football. Edit: I suppose that makes sense to encourage more women to play if that was an issue. (I'm used to more casual clubs where membership requires only interest and showing up.)
- adrianN 8y ago
  In chess there are two kinds of tournaments: women only and open to all. For some reason or other, men dominate in chess, so it makes sense to have a separate women's tournament imho.
- Jabbles 8y ago
  What is the gender ratio in the casual clubs you're familiar with? Which country is that?
- pilpulpitbull 8y ago
  We are a sexually dimorphic species. Physical differences between men and women are not limited to muscle mass.
  - ctchocula 8y ago
    Citation needed. In lieu of such data, a simpler explanation is that boys are more encouraged to play chess from a young age than girls. This results in more teenage boys playing chess, a deeper talent pool, and thus better top ranked players. This is similar to what is seen in soccer. Even though China has much bigger population than Holland by almost 100x, the number of Chinese kids playing organized soccer is less than Holland by at least 10x.
    - pilpulpitbull 8y ago
      > Citation needed https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/04/study-finds-some-significant-differences-brains-men-and-women https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/04/study-finds-some-sig... > “[That previous study] finds no average difference in intelligence, but males were more variable than females,” Ritchie says. “This is why our finding that male participants’ brains were, in most measures, more variable than female participants’ brains is so interesting. It fits with a lot of other evidence that seems to point toward males being more variable physically and mentally.” So if you’re looking for outliers (such as a chess prodigee), you are more likely to find them in the male population than in the female population. Your explanation is not simpler by any stretch, it just spares you some cognitive dissonance.