Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Boris Baczynskyj

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. Cirt (talk) 06:24, 26 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Boris Baczynskyj

Fails notability as a chess player; no media coverage indicated other than obituaries. WP:ATHLETE says notability is achieved by competing at the highest level. There is no indication that Baczynskyj ever played in the U.S. (Closed) Championship or in significant international tournaments. He holds the FM title, but we deleted Charles Weldon on grounds of non-notability, and he was a FIDE Master with, as I recall, several state championship titles. For Baczyskyj there is no information beyond the FIDE Master title that is relevant to notability. I see from the USCF obituary that he was editor of Chess Life magazine for two months, but I doubt that is sufficiently notable. I think the consensus among members of WikiProject Chess is that even the higher IM title, without more, is not necessarily enough to confer notability. Most GMs, the highest title, don't even have Wikipedia articles. Krakatoa (talk) 17:19, 21 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Note: Weldon also won the US Amateur Championship and was on the cover of Chess Life as a result. FWIW. Bubba73 (talk), 18:24, 21 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment: Notability for Boris should take into account his local Philly status and contributions to the community.Tstrobaugh (talk) 18:26, 21 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comment: I think deleting Charles Weldon was a mistake if he actually won titles. That said, Fide Master says: "The most usual way for a player to qualify for the FIDE Master title is by achieving a FIDE Rating of 2300 or more. The title is open to both men and women who play in international chess competitions." so he must've played international championships that can be referenced. - Mgm|^(talk) 19:13, 21 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Response: Responding to Tstrobaugh: His contributions to the community might be relevant to notability, but the article says nothing about them. Responding to Mgm: the text you quote may not be accurately stated. One has to participate in tournaments that are rated by FIDE in order to get a FIDE Master title, but I don't believe that there is a requirement that the tournaments must be "international", i.e. that they have players from different countries. I should also have made clear (as I have now tried to do by adding the word "significant") that I don't believe that participation in any international tournament would be notable. A tournament like the U.S. Open is international in the sense that it has players from other countries, but since it is open to anyone, simply playing in it can't be enough to make one notable. Krakatoa (talk) 19:24, 21 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Delete I'd echo Krakatoa's opening comments. For male players in the modern era, the minimum criteria is (loosely) IM title plus something outstanding, for example national champion, national/euro/world junior champion, top coach, renowned chess writer, or maybe winner of a prestigious international tournament. Anything less would certainly open the floodgates. Brittle heaven (talk) 19:54, 21 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Delete per nominator, we have to set up a limit somewhere. SyG (talk) 21:45, 21 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Delete. IM title is in my view the borderline state, FM is below that; national champions and GMs are generally sufficiently notable as they are almost always the subject of press attention. The FM title does not mean that you have had to play in any international championship, just that you have gotten a 2300+ rating from playing in tournaments which are FIDE rated (and those are common, including the open section of the local Bergen Grand Prix I expect to be playing in this weekend.) An FM title is an accomplishment, and evidence of being a strong player; but not an outstandingly strong player of top level like the GM title indicates. Most FMs are not professional chess players. Some exceptions, such as John Cox, can be made, but that's because of them being national champions or (in the case of Cox) prolific authors of chess books. Sjakkalle (Check!) 08:54, 24 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Response. Unless I'm missing something, there is no Wikipedia article on John Cox the chessplayer and author. However, he is an IM, not an FM as you seem to think. Graham Burgess is an example of an FM who's written a lot and is the subject of a Wikipedia article. Krakatoa (talk) 16:38, 24 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  - Ah, I see. The book I have by him ("Starting Out:Alekhine's Defense") says he is an FM, but he has apparently gotten the IM title since then. You are also right that we don't have an article on him, but if we did, I would support including it. Sjakkalle (Check!) 07:20, 25 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.