Originally posted by GalaxyShield
I agree that a lot of her claims are shady, but I believe this one was well supported.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2554
Well supported by Polgar maybe. Here is another chessbase article:
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2632
In which Andrew Martin spells out his concerns. As the previous record holder, you might say that it is a case of sour grapes, but I think he genuinely believed the figures claimed by Polgar were implausible.
The most unbelievable number is the "1,131 Consecutive Games Played". This was achieved in 16.5 hours (according to Martin's letter, I haven't checked how long Polgar says it took) which works out at 1 minute 8 seconds per game (obviously only for Polgar's side of the game). You can do you own calculations for how long that is per move (*)
I think the telling phrase in Polgar's reply to Martin is this:
"We did not allow any pass. Therefore, a move must be made as I arrive at the board."
I have done a number of simuls myself (never more than twenty people) and it is impossible to make all the players stick to this rule!
The inexperienced ones especially will get flustered and forget what they had planned (if they had anything planned) and try to find a move as you arrive. All you can do is allow them to pass and go on to the next board, otherwise you waste too much time waiting for them.
If players weren't allowed to pass in her simul then I'm guessing that they were told that they had lost the game if they didn't have a move ready. Or perhaps her opponents were encouraged to resign if they were losing badly? (pieces down).
I'd be really interested in hearing from anyone who took part or witnessed the Polgar event .
(*) The last simul I did was nine very inexperienced players and one experienced one who I had to play in a forty minute timeslot. Even with four minutes a game and allowing passes I still only managed to win seven of the games in the allotted time (and I was going for cheap mates from move 1!).