How Many Chess Players Does the Pope Have?

To the tune of "Eddie the Eagle" and the Jamaican bobsled team comes this story of Don Valerio Piro, representing the Vatican in the upcoming European chess championship.

What do you think: an unqualified player gaming the system, or a fun, "feel-good" story of an underdog getting a chance to play in the event of a lifetime?

HT: Supy

Comments

[um]

From the tournament website

3. PARTICIPATION
The 11th European individual chess championship for men and women is open to all players representing the Chess Federations which comprise the European Chess Union (FIDE zones 1.1 to 1.9) regardless of their title or rating. There is also no limit of participants per federation.

So it is simply an Open for ECU players and so he qualifies.

[Kajetan Wandowicz]

What do you mean by "gaming the system"? The EICC is open, anyone can play:

3. PARTICIPATION
The 11th European individual chess championship for men and women is open to all players representing the Chess Federations which comprise the European Chess Union (FIDE zones 1.1 to 1.9) regardless of their title or rating. There is also no limit of participants per federation.

If the Championships were closed with a limited number of participants, well, then I would say he shouldn't have been invited. I don't like the idea of "equalling chances" in sports by inviting athletes from countries where the particular sport is not at a great level to championship events. I think athletic championships are about performance. Suppose there are ten places in the Alpine Skiing World Championships and it so happens that the ten fastest skiers are all from Switzerland. Well, so be it: we will have an all-Swiss championships this year. We don't invite a guy from Kenya whose personal best time is twice the PB of the Swiss guy. When there are ten places in the 15-km run World Championships, you don't invite the Swiss guy who can't catch up with the Kenyans for the life of his. Sorry, the Swiss guys simply deserve to compete in the alpine skiing championships because they are the best. And the Kenyan guys simply deserve to compete in the 15-km run championships because they are the best. That's what we hold any individual championships for: to determine who is the best. For the spirit and for uniting of nations we have the Olympic Games.

But since the tournament is open, he doesn't take away a place from anyone (who, if they were better than him, would deserve more to play in the championships), so there is absolutely no problem: he is a legal participant, representing the Italian Chess Federation, and at 2069 is not even the last at the starting list: he is 371st out of 420 male players.

[Kajetan Wandowicz]

Whoops, "um" was quicker :-)

[Dennis Monokroussos]

Thanks for looking that up! Given the strength of the event (240 GMs!) and that he was playing "unofficially" for the Vatican even though he is registered with the Italian federation, I assumed that there was some sort of restriction. Looks like another reminder of what happens when one makes assumptions!

[Marc]

Isn't he an expert in the Hail Mary gambit?

[Eric J.]

Maybe this could be an unfair "Divine Intervention" advantage! We'll see...

[Stephen Dunning]

I see he lost in round 1!