English Chess Forum player of the year

[IM Jack Rudd]

I'm a bit puzzled that Mickey Adams' name doesn't feature. Not a special year by his own standards, but we were reminded yet again in Tromso that, while other English players sometimes produce good results, without him we really haven't got a team.

His name didn't feature because nobody had yet nominated him. They have now, and so his name is now on the list.

[David Shepherd]

Not sure a quite what the period is meant to be but Chris Kreuzer for scoring 7.5/9 in the World Deaf Team Championships in June 2014, also Chris Ross is an amazing player and probably deserves to be in there most years.

[IM Jack Rudd]

My usual rule of thumb would be that Mayday marks the end of a year, so yes, Chris K's performance is within the timeframe.

[Jonathan Rogers]

....
I must admit, I don’t really understand the other Jonathan’s point. I consider it a good thing that we can choose our 'Player of the Year' on a range of criteria and not just absolute playing strength or results.

Brendan O’G, for example. I’m sure he would acknowledge himself that he is not the best chess player in England. I doubt there are many who can top him for enthusiasm though. So why shouldn’t be be Player of the Year on that basis?

I don't mind other criteria beside results being relevant for "player of the year", but what I find laughable is that some people seem to think that this actually means that the results themselves might become irrelevant, or even that negative results should actually become relevant as a virtue!

Surely it about impressive results first and foremost?

Whatever - I will vote for David Howell, though for what it is worth I think Daniel Bisby should have been on Stewart's long list too.

[JustinHorton]

Surely it's about impressive results first and foremost?

That may be your assumption, but it isn't mine and I see no listed criteria to suggest that it needs to be.

We're not voting for Winner of the Year but for Player, and what is most creditworthy about a Player may not necessarily be that they Win.

[Mick Norris]

Indeed, my own club has a trophy that goes to Most Improved Player - the other trophies go to those who win club tournaments

[Jonathan Rogers]

Indeed, my own club has a trophy that goes to Most Improved Player - the other trophies go to those who win club tournaments

BUT THEY TOO HAVE WON ON THE BASIS OF RESULTS!

[Roger de Coverly]

As far as the ECF is concerned, this is what Roger Edwards as President wrote in 2013

All members of the Federation are entitled to vote for this prestigious title. In making your decision, you should take into account exceptional performances; overall good results; quality of chess played; sportsmanship; how players represent chess to the wider public; and any other aspect you consider important. The award can be made to correspondence as well as over-the-board players.

You were invited to rank five players of your choice.

This year Stewart wrote as follows:-

If you wish to make a nomination for a player to be shortlisted, please do so to [email protected] by 9th May, explaining your choice. There is no need to do so for the players 2600+ as they have already been considered. For a player to be eligible he/she must be registered with FIDE for England and be a member of the ECF …

This was an item on the ECF website, presumably only a handful of people responded. In view of the furore the voting short list has generated, he could have put up a list as selected by his Awards Committee and invited additions. Perhaps he should have consulted one or both of the forums.

[Michael Farthing]

Agree with your post almost entirely Chris, but do we actually know it was an "attempt to stop joke candidates" that motivated the switch of system? I know several people have suggested that this is a good reason to change, but I’ve yet to hear/see anything that makes it clear this was the ECF’s thinking.

:
Could you add Stewart Reuben to the list on the grounds that he regularly informs us he is frequently consulted on many chess matters?

Was the suggestion of Stewart's name a deliberate irony as he is conducting the ECF award? I do find it rather sad that he has probably unwittingly got himself wrapped up in the latest "ECF non communication" flame - though one being conducted with relative civility (there) and good humour (here).

I too had suspected that the motivation for change was the junk candidate problem and have suggested that to Stewart. His reply did seem to confirm that this was at least a part of the thinking.

[Jonathan Rogers]

Surely it's about impressive results first and foremost?

That may be your assumption, but it isn't mine and I see no listed criteria to suggest that it needs to be.

We're not voting for Winner of the Year but for Player, and what is most creditworthy about a Player may not necessarily be that they Win.

But your stance is rather more extreme than that. In what sort of topsy turvy world is their most creditworthy feature the fact they always lose?!

I should think that these players who enjoy the game despite almost always losing (and I always have time for anyone who genuinely loves chess) are still happy to be left to it. Might they not actually be embarrassed that someone wants to give them a "player of the year" award and might they wonder briefly whether that someone is trying to take the £££**?

[Andrew Zigmond]

I think perhaps this has got a little blown out of proportion. I think Justin's original point was that extremely low graded players sometimes deserve recognition in their own way. It's not comparable with the performance of a Grandmaster on a hot streak but perhaps both this thread and the one elsewhere is proving how hard it is to choose a `player of the year` when you're not comparing like with like.

I agree with Jonathan Rogers that you have to be a bit careful when drawing attention to players with continously poor results. However, and this is true in the case of my friend mentioned above, we're not sneering at their play but celebrating the fact that they stick at it. After all the Tour De France has long recognised the last man overall (the lantern rouge as they call it).

[JustinHorton]

In what sort of topsy turvy world is their most creditworthy feature the fact they always lose?!

It's not that they always lose but that they lose and always come back regardless.

It's part dedication, part love of the game and part the fact that these type of people are the type of people "without whom", aren't they? Par excellence.

In most circumstances when we play a game of chess there are two players. And the loser of the game is no less a player than the winner.

[MartinCarpenter]

It definitely shows an admirable detachment from results.

Talking about blind players (with Chris Ross), reminds me of John Gallagher's improvement this year. Makes even Webb look like a slow coach Actually its objectively incredibly impressive given his age, let alone everything else.

He started the season from an ECF of ~140. His Yorkshire grade is now comfortably over 200 from 23 games and his ECF might well catch up with it when the summer ECF list is out - he was +30 ECF in January. Worth a nomination you'd think.

Not to win it mind, as I think you should ideally need to do something vaguely historically notable to do that over the whole season.

[David Robertson]

This thread is one of the most bizarre I have seen on this forum (no small feat, of course). It is one thing to...confuse "player of the year" with "personality of the year"

There's a very simple way to end this confusion. And I propose to do it - by nominating myself for both!

For 'Player of the Year', really guys, what more do I have to do? Just look at this, all without a single word of consultation from Stewart Reuben:

Chester & N Wales League 'Player of the Year'

Wirral League 'Player of the Year'

For 'Personality of the Year', what can I say? I've said it all, often and at length. I'd say 'shoo-in' here, were I not a shy and modest soul

[Jonathan Bryant]

It definitely shows an admirable detachment from results.

Talking about blind players (with Chris Ross), reminds me of John Gallagher's improvement this year. Makes even Webb look like a slow coach Actually its objectively incredibly impressive given his age, let alone everything else.

He started the season from an ECF of ~140. His Yorkshire grade is now comfortably over 200 from 23 games and his ECF might well catch up with it when the summer ECF list is out - he was +30 ECF in January. Worth a nomination you'd think.

Not to win it mind, as I think you should ideally need to do something vaguely historically notable to do that over the whole season.

Wowser. I’d never heard of this guy before. That’s astonishing.