Kangaroo caught

Recent parallels in the worlds of physical and mental sport have raised some interesting questions. Global opinion is divided on the problems of Novak Djokovic’s ejection by the government, from the Australian Tennis Open Tournament. Indeed, the eventual victory in that event of Rafael Nadal, who has now moved into the lead in terms of all time Grand Slam laurels, though generally regarded with acclaim, has been damned with faint praise from some begrudging quarters, while others have been downright uncomplimentary.

A notable feature of Djokovic’s  katabasis   has been the fact that Australian government fiat trumped judicial opinion. Some might regard the outcome as the process of a kangaroo court, but my soundings from Australian friends indicate that the population, who have suffered lockdown deprivations for an extensive period, are 85 per cent in agreement with Djokovic’s deportation for failing to comply with Covid regulations.

Djokovic, who has now fallen behind Nadal in the all time Grand Slam table, hereafter faces the dilemma of surmounting Covid regulations for coming events at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York and Roland Garros in Paris, if he continues to maintain his principle of rejecting Covid vaccination. Will he be permitted to compete, or not? 

Meanwhile, the concurrent elite chess tournament at Wijk aan Zee in Holland has been won convincingly by the world champion, Magnus Carlsen. 

Sadly, the competition was blighted by a series of defaults, involving Grandmaster Daniil Dubov of Russia, who had in fact attracted serious criticism from his Russian colleagues, for seconding Magnus in his recent world title bout against Russian Grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Once again, Covid was the culprit. When one of his own assistants contracted Covid, Dubov refused to wear a mask for his game against Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri. Dubov was promptly defaulted, after Giri declined a replay on the free day. Giri’s refusal was fully endorsed by British superstar, Nigel Short, who, in the past, has suffered from inept attempts by organisers to rewrite his tournament schedule for the convenience of his rivals.  

Towards the end at Wijk aan Zee, Dubov himself contracted Covid, and defaulted his final games, including that against his erstwhile employer, Magnus Carlsen. One thing that puzzles me is the failure to reorganise games by Dubov from isolation in his hotel room. In 1965, Bobby Fischer, under duress from the US State Department, was denied permission to compete in the Capablanca Memorial to be held in Havana. Fischer circumvented the government restrictions by playing by telex from New York, and even went on to take silver, behind the eventual winner, Vassily Smyslov ( world champion from 1957-1958) whom Fischer actually defeated in their individual encounter .

If Fischer could compete from a separate country fifty seven years ago, surely Dubov could have played from a separate room in the same hotel in 2022? Not to mention the recent trend for important Mind Sports events to be held entirely online, not just for chess but also the 2021 and 2022 (30th) World Memory Power championships. 

The spectre of kangaroo courts looms, as a visible trend is emerging for sports organisers, both in mind and physical competitions, to lose patience with competitors, even the most eminent, who fail to comply with the letter of Covid regulations. The doctrine of special treatment for the super elite is beginning to wear thin. 

According to Wikipedia, the term “Kangaroo Court” has often been used in sport, without any negative connotation, for example by many  Major League Baseball  and  Minor League Baseball  teams, to punish players for  errors  and other mistakes on the field, as well as for being late for a game or practice, not wearing proper attire to road games, or having a messy locker in the clubhouse. Fines are allotted, and at the end of the year, the money collected is given to  charity . Typically (and topically), such organisations may also use the money for a team party at the end of the season.

This week’s games are Carlsen’s full house from Wijk aan Zee

Raymond Keene’s latest book “Fifty Shades of Ray: Chess in the year of the Coronavirus”, containing some of his best pieces from TheArticle, is now available from  Blackwell’s .

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