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MatPlus.Net Forum General FIDE Album judging: an idea for ensuring fairness.
 
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(1) Posted by Ian Shanahan [Saturday, Feb 9, 2008 00:01]

FIDE Album judging: an idea for ensuring fairness.


When submitting problems for FIDE Albums, we are all required to produce 5 copies of each position with one's name and full publication details thereon. Are these sheets what the judges actually receive? If so (and I strongly suspect it is: why else would 5 copies be needed?), then I make a plea for anonymity - in order to avoid any judging bias (either deliberate or subconscious: it's all too human to be overly impressed by 'big names', or to underrate relative unknowns). Such anonymity would be very easy to achieve: we simply send 5 copies as before WITHOUT the abovementioned details, but instead include a code-number and a 'motto' (yes, very old-fashioned!) in English or Latin (say) - i.e. some common language suggested by the PCCC - together with a decoding sheet which matches these to the composer's name(s) and their positions' publication details. Naturally, the judges would never see this sheet, which would be held only by the relevant section's controller. Granted, competent and well-read judges may well be able to guess (or remember) a position's composer - by recognizing their 'style', or recalling the position's original publication - but this is impossible to avoid. Anyway, if section-controllers do already 'anonymize' FIDE-Album submissions by re-diagramming them, then what I am proposing would save them a lot of time! What do others think?
 
(Read Only)pid=1981
(2) Posted by Hauke Reddmann [Saturday, Feb 9, 2008 17:27]

Not an anticipated motto, of course. Somewhere in the very old
protocols of the "Deutsche Schachbund", when the yearbook still
contained a problem section, some judge bitterly complained
about the lack of originality in mottoing, leading to
annoying duplicates.

Hauke
 
(Read Only)pid=1984
(3) Posted by Thomas Maeder [Saturday, Feb 9, 2008 21:06]

 QUOTE 
When submitting problems for FIDE Albums, we are all required to produce 5 copies of each position with one's name and full publication details thereon. Are these sheets what the judges actually receive? If so (and I strongly suspect it is: why else would 5 copies be needed?),

Yes, that's what judges receive.

It's one copy per judge, one for the director and one for Album production.

 QUOTE 
then I make a plea for anonymity - in order to avoid any judging bias (either deliberate or subconscious: it's all too human to be overly impressed by 'big names', or to underrate relative unknowns).

This won't help; on the contrary actually. Any competent judge will know a fair share of the Album candidates already, including their authors.

[If anything, my bias would not be in favour of big names, but against them. I expect holders of big names to be able to determine what to submit for the Album (and what not to) while I can accept lack of this ability by less experienced composers.]
 
 
(Read Only)pid=1985
(4) Posted by Ian Shanahan [Monday, Feb 11, 2008 01:53]

Yes Thomas, I know what you mean; and your last point is spot on. However, I don't see how my idea could actually be counter-productive; and then there's that old adage about 'not only being fair, but being *seen* to be fair".

@Hauke (on mottoes): You're right, of course. But actually, I wasn't just thinking of mottoes purely in the 19th-century sense; one could use 'synthetic language' or 'nonsense names' to avoid duplication.
 
   
(Read Only)pid=1986
(5) Posted by Hauke Reddmann [Monday, Feb 11, 2008 13:31]

Oh, you probably mean tripcodes.

<oops>
<engaging Bart Simpson mode>
MatPlus is NOT MatPlusChan
MatPlus is NOT MatPlusChan
MatPlus is NOT MatPlusChan
MatPlus is NOT MatPlusChan
MatPlus is NOT MatPlusChan
MatPlus is NOT MatPlusChan
...

:-)

Hauke
 
 
(Read Only)pid=1987

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MatPlus.Net Forum General FIDE Album judging: an idea for ensuring fairness.