Hook-and-loop fastener Mestral's patent expired, prompting a flood of low-cost imitations from Taiwan, China and South Korea onto the market. Today, the trademark is the subject of more than 300 trademark registrations in over 159 countries. George de Mestral was inducted into the national inventors hall of fame for his invention. The big breakthrough George de Mestral made was to think about hook-and-eye closures on a greatly reduced scale. Hook-and-eye fasteners have been common for centuries, but what was new about hook-and-loop fasteners was the miniaturisation of the hooks and eyes. Shrinking the hooks led to the two other important differences. Firstly,
Swiss-system tournament rating scored two and a half points better than one performing at 2518. In Swiss system tournaments, the later rounds have a much greater bearing on the final results than the earlier rounds. In fact, it can even be an advantage to have a poor start to a Swiss system tournament because the player is then more likely to be paired against weaker opposition. Chess players colloquially refer to this as a “Swiss Gambit”. The system is used for selection to the English national pool team. Sixty-four players start the tournament and after six rounds, the top player will qualify