The rule of thumb for a Swiss open is that, given n players (say 64), it takes the square root of n +1 rounds (8+1=9) to have a clear champion.

Chess (#675)

Business Standard

India&rsquo;s eternal quest to find a genuinely quick bowler continues.

Need for speed?

The Euro Championships ended with a controversy regarding the tie-breaker system, with Peter Heine Nielsen pointing out how it&rsquo;s illogical. That has sparked a massive debate about alternatives.

Chess (#676)

A Formula 1 race is a three-day carnival for spectators. Delhi is all set to host the 17th race of the 2011 season on October 30. Jaypee Sports International will host the race at Greater Noida&rsquo;s 5.14 km-long Buddha International Circuit which can seat up to 120,000 spectators. According to CEO Sameer Gaur: &ldquo;We promise an event that will be world class; spectators from India and abroad will have an enjoyable experience.

Formula for success

An Armageddon bid tiebreaker was required in the US women&rsquo;s Championship Semis. Irina Krush and Anna Zatonskih were tied after two normal matchgames and two rapid tiebreakers. Krush bid the maximum 45 minutes, almost guaranteeing white while Zatonskih bid 27 minutes. Black has draw odds in Armageddon and Krush lost. Zatonskih meets Tatev Abrahamyan, who beat Camilla Baginskaite in the other semis, also in a tiebreaker but not Armageddon.

If the more familiar Southeast Asian martial art forms such as karate, taekwondo and jujitsu, or Israeli&rsquo;s krav maga no longer appeal to you, then flex your muscles with these other martial arts.

Fighting fit

You would expect an athlete to be elated after winning half a dozen medals at the National Games. But Ashish Kumar is far from satisfied with his performance at the recent National Games in Ranchi. &ldquo;I won only two gold medals; I could have done far better,&rdquo; says the Allahabad-based gymnast. Kumar has come a long way from being just another gymnast to India&rsquo;s best gymnast. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t call me that,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;If I was the best I would have won all the gold medals.

Bend it like Ashish

After starting the Doha Grand Prix with a first round loss against Nana Dzagnidze, Koneru Humpy seemed to have only a mathematical chance to win the challenger&rsquo;s slot in the next title match against Hou Yifan. Humpy had to win Doha, while Dzagnidze had to land lower than second, given their respective GP standings. Elina Danielan set a scorching pace, scoring 6.5 from the first 7 games to make this look impossible.

CHESS (#670)

In the latest rating list, Carlsen is 2872 with Kramnik 2810, and then Aronian 2809. Anand is at no.6 with 2780 behind Radjabov (2793) and Karjakin (2786). Harikrishna has hit 2705 while Sasikiran is on 2677. In the womenâ€™s list, Humpy is no:3 with 2597 behind Judit Polgar (2690) and Hou Yifan (2617). There are five other Indians in the top 100, namely Harika, Tania Sachdev, Mary Ann Gomes, Eesha Karavade, Vijayalakshmi.Peter Zhdanov has also tried to estimate earnings in terms of prize money and appearance fees (ignoring endorsement income) in 2012. Chess appearance fees are rarely disclosed. The German Bundesliga and the Russian Team championships both pay handsomely, again at negotiable rates.As Zhdanov points out, this system indicates an inability to attract clean high-end sponsorship where fees would have to be transparently disclosed. Anand and Gelfand top the list. Third is Carlsen, then Aronian, Karjakin, Caruana, Nakamura, Kramnik, Grischuk, and surp

Chess (#1031)

It's time to keep world-class trainers in your pocket

Sporty apps and fitness fads

Swede Jesper Parnevik, who plies his trade on the more lucrative US PGA, has made himself unavailable for European Ryder Cup selection, sparking off a controversy. 


Ryder Cup controversy

International Management Group Academies Bharata (IMGB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of IMG Academies East (IMGE), unveiled the company's Rs 700-crore project to develop a world-class athletic training,

IMG unveils Rs 700cr project

Team India is set to score a crackling century on a different pitch. The endorsement market for Sourav's boys is expected to grow nearly 40 per cent to nudge Rs 100 crore from the current Rs 70 crore

Team India set to score Rs 100 crore

Mayabazar, a Rs 20.80-crore private snow theme park and an arts gallery, built with an investment of Rs 6 crore by the state government, will be added to the tourist attractions of Hyderabad during

Snow theme park to open next week

With the Men in Blues struggling against the men in Baggy Greens, there is a different kind of a strategy that marketing managers have begun adopting. 


Selling the players

Carlsen is going from strength to strength at the Tata Steel. After ten rounds, he leads with 8 points (+6,=4) and an amazing TPR of 2950. The Norwegian GM has three straight wins in the last three rounds. Carlsens's live rating is 2872. Given his age, he should peak about a decade later, which is a scary thought.

Chess (#1029)

On January 14, during an exclusive interview with TV host Oprah Winfrey, Lance Armstrong&mdash;winner of seven consecutive Le Tour De France (1999-2005) and a testicular cancer survivor&mdash; confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) during his career. The sportsman had already received a lifetime ban from competition by the United States Anti-Doping Agency last year after he refused to continue to fight the allegations against him.

Counting on blood

In cricket, 99.94 has been an unattainable batting average since Bradman retired in 1948. In chess, the equivalent high rating has changed several times.

Chess (#1030)

Every time a fast bowler appears on the Indian cricket scene, there&rsquo;s a sense of anticipation &mdash; will he be the &ldquo;genuine&rdquo; quick bowler that India has been looking for? As many as 24 fast bowlers have played Test cricket for India since Kapil Dev retired in 1994. Of these, only three &mdash; Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan and Ishant Sharma &mdash; have taken 100 or more wickets. It&rsquo;s a sorry statistic for which you can blame injuries, inconsistency or simply that these players were, perhaps, not good enough at the international level. Here are some of the fast bowlers who&rsquo;ve now faded into obscurity.

Not so fast, not so furious

Updated at 1725hrs India won the second ODI today at Faridabad to take a 2-0 lead in the seven match series. India overtook their target of 227 runs in 48.5 overs. Suresh

Cricket Update: India go up 2-0

Other Sports: Get the latest news headlines of other sports category such as Badminton, Chess, Volleyball, basketball and other Olympic Games with live coverage on Business Standard.

Other Sports News: Latest News from Olympics Games, Volleyball, Badminton | Business Standard

Get the latest news headlines of other sports category such as Badminton, Chess, Volleyball, basketball and other Olympic Games with live coverage on Business Standard.

Page 804 - Other Sports News