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**zatoichi** · 01-07-2011, 11:09 AM

I have been to a few Goichberg tournaments.

The pairings are sound. The general administration is good.

But the one thing you should expect are sandbaggers. What we call sandbaggers in the USA are those players who have a rating that is much lower than their real ratiing.

In the 1996 World Open, the winners of the under 1600 section were experts in correspondence chess. In 1997 the winner of that same under 1600 section was a kid who was rated expert by the end of the year.

This tournament is not likely to be as competitive. But you should expect that there will be a number of players who will have prepared as well as they can to get a good result. Looking at the calender this tournament falls a couple weeks before the World Open in Philadelphia. These two tournaments along with the Continental Open are two class/big prize fund events that attract a certain type of mercenary element.

Outside of being as polite as one can to one's opponent, my advise is to stay positive and expect tough games, particularly if you continue to win.

01-07-2011, 11:09 AM	#3 (permalink)
zatoichi Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 15	Generally speaking whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas I have been to a few Goichberg tournaments. The pairings are sound. The general administration is good. But the one thing you should expect are sandbaggers. What we call sandbaggers in the USA are those players who have a rating that is much lower than their real ratiing. In the 1996 World Open, the winners of the under 1600 section were experts in correspondence chess. In 1997 the winner of that same under 1600 section was a kid who was rated expert by the end of the year. This tournament is not likely to be as competitive. But you should expect that there will be a number of players who will have prepared as well as they can to get a good result. Looking at the calender this tournament falls a couple weeks before the World Open in Philadelphia. These two tournaments along with the Continental Open are two class/big prize fund events that attract a certain type of mercenary element. Outside of being as polite as one can to one's opponent, my advise is to stay positive and expect tough games, particularly if you continue to win.