Where are the fixtures?

[Joey Stewart]

It is close to the next round and there are still no division three fixtures

[Alex Holowczak]

It is close to the next round and there are still no division three fixtures

What did Daves Welch or Thomas say when you e-mailed them about this?

[Joey Stewart]

I shouldn't need to be emailing anybody, this close to the weekend they should be available, even if they are subject to change with teams dropping out it is still handy to know if my lot are paying decent opposition or whether my opponent will be so lowly rated that there its no point me even turning up.

[Alan Walton]

I shouldn't need to be emailing anybody, this close to the weekend they should be available, even if they are subject to change with teams dropping out it is still handy to know if my lot are paying decent opposition or whether my opponent will be so lowly rated that there its no point me even turning up.

Good to see what a great team player you are, I would never consider not turning up on the reason of who I am playing, it is all about the team an not the individual in my view

[Joey Stewart]

If I dont turn up it gives some of our lower rated reserves the chance to play a 4ncl game, which is a real privilage for them, so in a way it does benefit the team.
If we are playing a side full of 1800 and lower opponents then they have a decent chance of winning as well - fide ratings are fine for you, cause you play tournaments all over the world, but for me I only get one a year and dont really want to be losing points for the sake of winning against somebody much lower.

The way I see 4NCL 25% about the team results, 50% about getting a good quality game in decent conditions and 25% about having a nice weekend away from home - if I were a stronger player and being paid for my effort then perhaps those criteria would change, but for now it is more about my having a nice weekend then desparately trying to get my team promoted which is nigh on impossible from division 3 anyway.

[Alan Walton]

You never lose rating points if you win against somebody lower than yourself

I can see where you are coming from regarding your team, but it must be because I play for my local club where I have a more team outlook on the 4NCL

[Jonathan Rogers]

You never lose rating points if you win against somebody lower than yourself

But there is pretty much nothing much to gain and everything to lose if the differences are very large. So of course they are not very enticing, unless one is being paid to do the dispatching (and to take the risk of failing to do so). I remember when our first team played Pandora's Box a couple of seasons ago. On the lower boards we had rating advantages of around 400 points, and our players asked me why some of their opponent's ratings were given in italics. "They are converted from ECF grades - they don't have official ratings" I explained, and our players clenched their fists in relief at knowing that their ratings were therefore not in jeopardy ... (They went on to win 8-0. But they didn't know that beforehand).

We have (I believe) seen more mismatches since the first and second divisions each expanded to 16 teams, in top quarter team v bottom quarter team encounters in the starting pools. This was anticipated by everyone apart, it seems, from the few who pushed through the new system.

[Alex Holowczak]

I shouldn't need to be emailing anybody, this close to the weekend they should be available, even if they are subject to change with teams dropping out it is still handy to know if my lot are paying decent opposition or whether my opponent will be so lowly rated that there its no point me even turning up.

Great rhetoric, but if there's a problem, e-mailing those who run the event is likely to give you an answer to the problem.

I've done just that, so I know why this problem occurred. I'd tell you what happened, but given you haven't e-mailed the organisers, you're presumably not that interested in what the answer is, and you just want to moan about it. So I won't bother.

We have (I believe) seen more mismatches since the first and second divisions each expanded to 16 teams, in top quarter team v bottom quarter team encounters in the starting pools. This was anticipated by everyone apart, it seems, from the few who pushed through the new system.

But of course, Joey is playing in Division 3, so that's not really an issue for him!

[Jonathan Rogers]

We have (I believe) seen more mismatches since the first and second divisions each expanded to 16 teams, in top quarter team v bottom quarter team encounters in the starting pools. This was anticipated by everyone apart, it seems, from the few who pushed through the new system.

But of course, Joey is playing in Division 3, so that's not really an issue for him!

I know, but any excuse to mention it...! It is important not to lose track of the point that people who commit themselves to weekends away with all the attendant expenses want a minimum of mismatches.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

You presumably think it would be better for 40 team captains to contact the Daves, rather than one person post a question on the forum.

I think Alex's point is that not all aspects of English chess are advertised or managed through this forum. The Daves probably either don't read this forum, or chose not to do so. And certainly the right place to advertise changes is on the 4NCL website, not here.

[Alex Holowczak]

You presumably think it would be better for 40 team captains to contact the Daves, rather than one person post a question on the forum.

I think Alex's point is that not all aspects of English chess are advertised or managed through this forum. The Daves probably either don't read this forum, or chose not to do so. And certainly the right place to advertise changes is on the 4NCL website, not here.

The forum is a useful method of communication and will be viewed by a fair proportion of the team captains.
The 4ncl website is also a useful source of information but that hasnt been updated since Jan17th and it doesnt allow captains to ask questions.

The Daves don't read the Forum, Chris is correct.

The 4NCL Board has two Directors who are Team Representatives. I know this because I'm one of them. That's one avenue to go through if you want to get answers to questions, and don't want to ask the organiser directly.

Alternatively, Mike Truran could happily have e-mailed all of the team captains, to pass the message on, had the problem been drawn to his attention.

[Joey Stewart]

I am not overly interested in "why" it has happened or looking for anybody to hold to blame, just that it gets solved soon.

Alex, I am disinclined to have any involvement in chess
management beyond the small bit of coaching
And webmastery I do. I am sure you are now well aware that showing
The most remote interest in organization leads to an avalanche of positions
Dumped on you and chess suddenly becoming a full time job.

[Mick Norris]

Dave Thomas advises the fixtures were done 10 days ago, but the webmaster has been busy

There are also some changes to Div 3 south (late entries), which mean the fixtures need to be revisited

edit - fixtures now on the 4NCL website

[LawrenceCooper]

http://www.4ncl.co.uk/1213_fixdiv3s.htm

http://www.4ncl.co.uk/1213_fixdiv3n.htm