Final weekend (2013-14 season)

[Christopher Kreuzer]

The ratings all check out. So I think the 2466 TPR is correct. The only thing I can think of is that because the player scored 3/3 on the final weekend, he might not have been on the radar of the 4NCL arbiters doing calculations, and hence didn't make it into John Saunders' report. I had (incorrectly it seems) assumed that this was all picked up as a matter of course.

EDIT: The previously missing IM norm (by Guillaume Camus de Solliers) has now been included in John's report.

[Richard Bates]

Captains do talk, Roger, even though not on this forum. It is quite normal for them to need to be sure that their seeker will play a titled player or someone of a certan minimum rating. So I already knew of Justin and Suarez's norm chances befiore the weekend, as well as those of Yang-Fan (though he lost in the end to another norm seeker, Roberson, a pairing which might have been avoided).

I heard that somebody else was requested but firmly declined on the grounds that he didn't play black on Sundays So Peter happily stepped into the breach. Personally I think requesting a player to beat with white is a bit cheeky...

I think FIDE should tighten the regulations to enforce a balance of colors for norms. 4/11 minimum or equivalent.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

It might be a bit unfair to name names, but do you actually know of people who got norms with a wild imbalance of colours? Or to put that another way, has anyone done the work of going through (say) all the norms attained in the 4NCL and seeing if the colours are as imbalanced as some imply they can be?

[Jonathan Rogers]

I could name some names, but have decided to be (a bit) less provocative on this forum ...

[James Coleman]

Not sure what one of our players - who, when he does play, has probably only had white once or twice in the last decade or so of 4NCL, would think to these proposed colour-balance regulations

[Richard Bates]

Not sure what one of our players - who, when he does play, has probably only had white once or twice in the last decade or so of 4NCL, would think to these proposed colour-balance regulations

Would they care? Doesn't exactly sound like they would be affected.

[IM Jack Rudd]

The ratings all check out. So I think the 2466 TPR is correct. The only thing I can think of is that because the player scored 3/3 on the final weekend, he might not have been on the radar of the 4NCL arbiters doing calculations, and hence didn't make it into John Saunders' report. I had (incorrectly it seems) assumed that this was all picked up as a matter of course.

Picking it all up is very difficult; there could be loads of players in with a chance of a norm after six rounds (and they could be spread all over the place; I'm not the only player over the 4NCL's history to have got an IM norm playing for a second-division side). That's why the 4NCL ask people to contact them.

[Roger de Coverly]

Picking it all up is very difficult; there could be loads of players in with a chance of a norm after six rounds (and they could be spread all over the place;

You might presume that the database software or spreadsheet macros used to consolidate results would be capable of picking this up almost automatically. Perhaps it was broken by two novelties - FIDE's requirement to rate games in the next available monthly list and the 4NCL allowing teams to choose which rating system to use for board order purposes at an individual player level.

Specifically if you can analyse the FIDE TPR for every player, then potential Norm opportunities drop out almost automatically when you sort by games played and TPR to date. Captains and players would possibly work it out if TPRs and games played were available for download after the conclusion of round 8. At a lower level, the right TPR gives a British Championship qualification. Any news on those qualifying by that route?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

The ratings all check out. So I think the 2466 TPR is correct. The only thing I can think of is that because the player scored 3/3 on the final weekend, he might not have been on the radar of the 4NCL arbiters doing calculations, and hence didn't make it into John Saunders' report. I had (incorrectly it seems) assumed that this was all picked up as a matter of course.

Picking it all up is very difficult; there could be loads of players in with a chance of a norm after six rounds (and they could be spread all over the place; I'm not the only player over the 4NCL's history to have got an IM norm playing for a second-division side). That's why the 4NCL ask people to contact them.

Thanks, Jack. That makes sense. I did think, like Roger, that it might be possible to have calculations done automatically from after round eight onwards, but I can also see it could be difficult. I've presumed that the captain of the player in question (or the player himself) was in touch with the 4NCL arbiters, but maybe not. I'll double-check that, in case it has been missed for whatever reason.

[Mick Norris]

Nice results summary been posted now

After an exciting year congratulations should go to the following winners:
Div 1: Championship Pool: Guildford 1;
Div 1: Demotion Pool: Wood Green HK 2.
Div 2: Promotion Pool: The ADs;
Div 2: Demotion Pool: White Rose 2.
Div 3: Winners: Guildford 3.

The following teams were promoted/relegated:
Div 1: Relegated: Oxford 1; 3Cs 1; Kings Head 1; Grantham Sharks 2.
Div 2: Promoted: The ADs; Hackney; Warwickshire Select 1; South Wales Dragons.
Div 2: Relegated: Brown Jack; Wessex; Bradford DCA Knights A; Poisoned Pawns.
Div 3: Promoted: Guildford 3; Spirit of Atticus A; MK Phoenix 1; Sussex Smart Survivors 1.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

And a summary of norms achieved has also been posted:

Title norms achieved during the 4NCL’s 2013/2014 season are listed below. These are subject to confirmation by FIDE.

412384 [England] Peter Roberson - Final IM norm
631256 [France] Guillaume Camus de Solliers - IM norm
406252 [England] James Adair - Final IM norm
3206882 [Australia] Justin Tan - IM norm
2218534 [Spain] Alberto Suarez Real - IM norm
410110 [England] Adam Ashton - IM norm
4301498 [England] Sue Maroroa - IM norm

Pity the various GM norms that were possible didn't materialise, but 7 IM norms seems good to me. (Technically, should Sue Maroroa's WGM norm also be listed?) It would be nice to know which other norm seekers (such as Yang-Fan Zhou and Chris Dorrington) came close to getting norms (or should this information only be covered at the discretion of those writing reports?).

A question for the 4NCL history buffs: What are the records for number of norms achieved in a 4NCL season?

[Lewis Martin]

Picking up on this thread, I cannot see any indication on the 4NCL website of a spreadsheet detailing every player's results/performances. I appreciate that it takes a while, but I thought it is usually published by now? Or have they stopped doing this?

[NickFaulks]

(Technically, should Sue Maroroa's WGM norm also be listed?)

I've just noticed this comment, and find it quite extraordinary. Of course norms for women's titles should be listed.

[David Sedgwick]

Picking up on this thread, I cannot see any indication on the 4NCL website of a spreadsheet detailing every player's results/performances. I appreciate that it takes a while, but I thought it is usually published by now? Or have they stopped doing this?

It was done by Neville Belinfante, who is currently unwell.

[David Sedgwick]

(Technically, should Sue Maroroa's WGM norm also be listed?)

I've just noticed this comment, and find it quite extraordinary. Of course norms for women's titles should be listed.

I think the point is that an IM norm obtained by a female player is automatically also a WGM norm. Had Sue obtained only a WGM norm, I'm sure that it would have been listed as such.