So there

Hikaru Nakamura has won the US Championship in convincing style with 8/11, ahead of Ray Robson and Wesley So. Things might have turned out differently had So not been disqualified after just six moves of his game against Akobian. These moves were: 1 d4 e6 2 c4 d5 3 Nc3 c5 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Nf3 Nc6 6 dxc5. Apparently, Akobian complained to the arbiters that Wesley So, the most promising grandmaster ever to emerge from the Philippines and currently ranked no. 8 in the world, had been scribbling notes to himself during the opening phase of the game. Since the opening is well known these notes could have had nothing to do with the position. But it is illegal to write notes during the game and So had been warned about this during an earlier encounter. The arbiter therefore took the decision to default So.

It is extremely irritating to have one’s concentration disturbed by opponents who scribble things down during the game, as I can testify.