4NCL RAPIDPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Venues, fixtures, teams and related matters.
Roger de Coverly
Posts: 21301
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:51 pm

Re: 4NCL RAPIDPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Post by Roger de Coverly » Sat Jul 06, 2013 9:25 pm

Angus French wrote: Should not an application for an exemption for the 4NCL Rapidplay competitions have been made at that time?

If you follow the letter of the Regulations, isn't the Saturday event a rapidplay league and thus charged at £ 1 per game per non-member, with the Sunday event a tournament and charged at £ 6 per head per non-member.

If the ECF were running it, the minimum requirement would be prior Silver membership or £ 18 per head and that would also apply to any passing international players including Scots, Welsh and Irish.

Mike Truran
Posts: 2393
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:44 pm

Re: 4NCL RAPIDPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Post by Mike Truran » Sat Aug 10, 2013 1:16 pm

There will be live games transmission at the 4NCL Rapidplay weekend - with thanks to David Clayton and the team.

Mike Truran
Posts: 2393
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:44 pm

Re: 4NCL RAPIDPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Post by Mike Truran » Tue Aug 27, 2013 9:42 pm

Here's what the estimable Jonathan Rogers wrote about last year's 4NCL Rapidplay. Many thanks to him, and of course to the equally estimable CHESS magazine:

http://www.4ncl.co.uk/rep_rapidplay2012.htm

I confess to having thought that we had already published this on the 4NCL website with CHESS's permission - so herewith rectification of a regrettable oversight.

Craig Pritchett
Posts: 91
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 7:54 pm

Re: 4NCL RAPIDPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Post by Craig Pritchett » Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:16 pm

I note the reference above to sundry international players, including passing Scots, in next weekend's 4ncl rapidplays. Sadly, as a Scot, however, I can indeed confirm that I'll be charged the £6 fee for "non-ECF members" for the privilege of crossing the border to take part.

Actually I'm informed that it's £6 for EACH day (Team and Individual). Nice one ECF! But who came up with this extremely odd policy?

I'm sure that Gawain Jones, Mark Hebden, Danny Gormally and other ECF members of slightly lesser ilk, who played in the recent Scottish International Open, at zilch additional charge, as "non-Chess Scotland members", will happily club together to buy me a few pints to compensate for the ECF's, to my mind quite bizarre tax on "foreigners". Isn't this policy just ridiculous, not to say little more than daylight robbery?

Can anyone name any other FIDE member country that levies such a charge? Do ECF members get charged equivalent £6 fees when they toddle off to play in any other countries, e.g. anywhere else in Europe? Foreign visitors, moreover, generally have to invest more time and cost than host nationals to play in foreign events, so what's the logic in loading them with an extra charge (that, as in ECF events, can only be avoided by taking out membership of a SECOND FIDE member country that isn't the slightest use to them)?

I live in the heart of old Enlightment Scotland, near to the birthplace of that greatest of philosophers, David Hume. I have a passing acquaintance with logic, I hope. Maybe I'm just missing a trick here. Can someone enlighten me as to the point of this policy, or at least relieve me from a sense that I may simply be having my pocket picked ... as a "foreigner".

On second thoughts, maybe the ECF in a muddled sort of way is trying to encourage me to vote "Yes" in next year's Scottish Independence Referendum.

User avatar
IM Jack Rudd
Posts: 4818
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 1:13 am
Location: Bideford

Re: 4NCL RAPIDPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Tue Oct 01, 2013 12:22 am

ECF Board member calling in to explain the policy:

The idea of the ECF's "pay-to-play" fee for tournaments and what remains of Game Fee for leagues is that it is priced so as to encourage, but not compel, people playing in England to join the ECF. It doesn't target English players or foreigners; we do not distinguish between the two except for FIDE rating purposes, and at the time this membership tiering system was designed, there were no such things as FIDE Rapid and Blitz ratings.

The system will probably undergo slight modifications in the future, and those will no doubt take into account the existence of FIDE-rated Rapidplay events, and you could certainly argue a case for saying that non-ENG players in those events shouldn't need to be ECF members.

Roger de Coverly
Posts: 21301
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:51 pm

Re: 4NCL RAPIDPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Post by Roger de Coverly » Tue Oct 01, 2013 12:31 am

Craig Pritchett wrote: Can anyone name any other FIDE member country that levies such a charge? Do ECF members get charged equivalent £6 fees when they toddle off to play in any other countries, e.g. anywhere else in Europe? .
The Hastings club nip over to France every so often to play in local rapidplays. Their experience varies as to whether they are allowed to play on the basis of being foreigners or whether they have to buy a licence to be allowed to play chess.

If you travel to the USA, you appear to be barred from participation even in FIDE rated events if you aren't a USCF member.

Be thankful that you can play in the rapid-play for a mere £ 6 a day. If you qualify as ENG, are nominated in a squad, you might have to pay as much as £ 28 potentially for a single game in the 4NCL.

But feel free to rant at the ECF and the 4NCL Organiser. Neither will take the slightest notice.


Many countries apply monopoly rights and compulsory membership as a condition of residents taking part in local events. International tournaments are usually exempt, but leagues aren't. Of course it might be consolidated in the entry fees. Scotland and previously England were relatively unique in not applying such a chess prevention tax. Chess Scotland apply a rating fee to each event. One of the more influential English organisers would refuse to run an event in Scotland because of this.

Sean Hewitt
Posts: 2193
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2012 8:18 pm

Re: 4NCL RAPIDPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Post by Sean Hewitt » Tue Oct 01, 2013 2:20 am

Craig Pritchett wrote:Can anyone name any other FIDE member country that levies such a charge?
USA.

John Cox
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2008 12:53 pm

Re: 4NCL RAPIDPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Post by John Cox » Sat Oct 05, 2013 10:15 pm

Am I the only one who can't make the live games work properly on the website? I get Display 1 and Display 2, each of which has eight games in from about round four, and that's it.

Richard Bates
Posts: 3338
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2008 8:27 pm

Re: 4NCL RAPIDPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Post by Richard Bates » Sat Oct 05, 2013 10:20 pm

John Cox wrote:Am I the only one who can't make the live games work properly on the website? I get Display 1 and Display 2, each of which has eight games in from about round four, and that's it.
They were working 'live', but on a round by round basis (ie. previous rounds weren't accessible). Presumably a pgn will be produced at some point.

Mike Truran
Posts: 2393
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:44 pm

Re: 4NCL RAPIDPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Post by Mike Truran » Sun Oct 06, 2013 11:32 am

Team results, table, photos etc here: http://www.4ncl.co.uk.

Barbican win by half a game point from Guildford!
Last edited by Mike Truran on Sun Oct 06, 2013 12:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
John Saunders
Posts: 1717
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2007 3:10 pm
Location: Kingston-upon-Thames

Re: 4NCL RAPIDPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Post by John Saunders » Sun Oct 06, 2013 11:35 am

Mike Truran wrote:Team results, table, photos etc here: http://www.4ncl.co.uk.

Guildford win by half a game point from Barbican!
I thought Barbican 1 won by half a point from Guildford...?
Personal Twitter @johnchess
Britbase https://www.britbase.info
(I prefer email to PM - contact me via this link - https://www.saund.org.uk/email.html)

Mike Truran
Posts: 2393
Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:44 pm

Re: 4NCL RAPIDPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Post by Mike Truran » Sun Oct 06, 2013 12:09 pm

Post corrected - many thanks. It's a good thing I was only allowed to write out the blank cheques rather than fill in the payees and present them. I'm clearly not safe to be let out on my my own.
Last edited by Mike Truran on Sun Oct 06, 2013 3:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Jonathan Rogers
Posts: 4640
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:26 pm

Re: 4NCL RAPIDPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Sun Oct 06, 2013 2:50 pm

If Barbican 1 had only beaten Barbican 2 by 2.5-1.5 in the last round (instead of 3-1 as happened) then who would have won between Barbican 1 and Guildford?

You'll never guess .... it would have been a coin toss, because we would then have been tied on gamepoints, matchpoints, sum of opponents gamepoints and matchpoints (Not such a surprise. For the main part we played against the same teams, and the two different teams we each played made the same gamepoints and matchpoints too).

A coin toss, it would have been - despite Barbican comprehensively outplaying the 3GMs and I IM from Guildford in the head to head, probably our best rapidplay match ever. But the tiebreak rules say nothing about head to head matches! Mike, please put that back in for next year ....

Jonathan Rogers
Posts: 4640
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:26 pm

Re: 4NCL RAPIDPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Sun Oct 06, 2013 3:35 pm

Zakarain, don't play the King's Gambit v Hebden !!!!

User avatar
John Saunders
Posts: 1717
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2007 3:10 pm
Location: Kingston-upon-Thames

Re: 4NCL RAPIDPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Post by John Saunders » Sun Oct 06, 2013 3:56 pm

Gawain Jones was joint leader on 4½/5 with Alan Merry, Gavin Wall and Dave Smerdon but was then sensationally defeated by Alan Merry. The latter leads by half a point with one round left.

Personal Twitter @johnchess
Britbase https://www.britbase.info
(I prefer email to PM - contact me via this link - https://www.saund.org.uk/email.html)