Opinions Invited On Rabble Rousing Chess Blogs

[Carl Hibbard]

I'm not sure responding on here would gain anybody much. There are certain individuals who will attack the proposal regardless of what is said and I'm sure Alex has other priorities in Gibraltar. If a paper is published prior to the April meeting that is the time to ask questions around the detail and seek to mobilise council voters against if necessary.

We already know the silly ECF policy but declaring it publicly would help.

[Roger de Coverly]

I'm not sure responding on here would gain anybody much.

I think you may have crossed thread. I suspect it was being asked whether the Home Director had any thoughts on controversies surrounding the recently appointed Controller of the Grand Prix, given, presumably, that it was one of his appointees.

[Carl Hibbard]

I'm not sure responding on here would gain anybody much.

I think you may have crossed thread. I suspect it was being asked whether the Home Director had any thoughts on controversies surrounding the recently appointed Controller of the Grand Prix, given, presumably, that it was one of his appointees.

No I was talking general principles even Alex should avoid the above.

[Andrew Zigmond]

I'm not sure responding on here would gain anybody much.

I think you may have crossed thread. I suspect it was being asked whether the Home Director had any thoughts on controversies surrounding the recently appointed Controller of the Grand Prix, given, presumably, that it was one of his appointees.

It was Brian Towers who brought up the grading debate on this thread and similar questions have been posed on both threads.

[Brian Towers]

It was Brian Towers who brought up the grading debate on this thread and similar questions have been posed on both threads.

Yes, that was just me using the home director's excellent proposal as a sharp stick to give Roger a poke . Response always guaranteed.
I enjoyed it so much I thought I'd try again on the other thread.
Simple minds, eh?

[NickFaulks]

I've been busy for just a couple of days and discover that this new thread is already on page 7. It has long since veered onto sandbagging, which I know from personal experience to have been commonplace in England for at least 40 years.

The US, where rating restricted prizes are much larger, put this problem to bed decades ago. They take the view that anyone who has achieved a certain level can do so again and is not eligible for any prize based on being weaker than that. It is simple and it works.

Please don't bore me with stories of octogenarians who have lost some of their powers and are cruelly punished. That can be handled, but first of all you must accept the general principle.

[Michael Farthing]

A man may be able to do something but choose not to and I don't think anyone has ever suggested that an ECF official should be made conmpulsorily to post his views here. At least I hope not - particularly given that he is abroad.

Of course, in time, a man might change his mind.

[Carl Hibbard]

I'm not sure responding on here would gain anybody much. There are certain individuals who will attack the proposal regardless of what is said and I'm sure Alex has other priorities in Gibraltar. If a paper is published prior to the April meeting that is the time to ask questions around the detail and seek to mobilise council voters against if necessary.

We already know the silly ECF policy but declaring it publicly would help.

Blimey cross posting to the other place is a new one

[Carl Hibbard]

I'm not sure responding on here would gain anybody much. There are certain individuals who will attack the proposal regardless of what is said and I'm sure Alex has other priorities in Gibraltar. If a paper is published prior to the April meeting that is the time to ask questions around the detail and seek to mobilise council voters against if necessary.

We already know the silly ECF policy but declaring it publicly would help.

Blimey cross posting to the other place is a new one

Follow up over there too.

[Martin Regan]

Take a bow Mr Farr:

M Regan:

1) That quote is mis-attributed. I made a quite specific reference to Martin Smith's pieces
2) No, he didn't make the trains run on time; that's a myth. You have also achieved a variant of Godwin's Law.

Has there been a person, ever, who has missed the point by such a wide margin. I salute you sir.

[PeterFarr]

Take a bow Mr Farr:

M Regan:

1) That quote is mis-attributed. I made a quite specific reference to Martin Smith's pieces
2) No, he didn't make the trains run on time; that's a myth. You have also achieved a variant of Godwin's Law.

Has there been a person, ever, who has missed the point by such a wide margin. I salute you sir.

Sigh. I agree with Paul McKeown's comment yesterday.

[Martin Regan]

Peter Farr:

Sigh. I agree with Paul McKeown's comment yesterday.

Sign, double sigh, triple sigh.

You really do lack self awareness.

A man whose chess results are a bit odd is condemed,without evidence, as a a cheat, on a widely read public forum. Hung, drawn and quartered by, frankly, the chess fascists, and your response is to cite a nonsense comment by a silly man. The English are not what they were.

[Roger de Coverly]

A man whose chess results are a bit odd is condemed,without evidence, as a a cheat, on a widely read public forum.

If he's getting bad results when ill, then using these poor results to gain eligibility for tournaments he then proceeds to win when on better form is gaming the grading system. There's a Facebook page which claims to have drawn attention to this a couple of years ago. This has contributions by those directly affected, in other words players of lower grades who believe they have an entrant to their tournaments who shouldn't be eligible.

It was mentioned on this forum shortly after the Scarborough tournament. Carl closed the discussion on the grounds that the person mentioned was not a forum member. That might have been it, particularly as the player concerned announced his retirement from Minor tournaments, had not the ECF appointed him as Controller of the Grand Prix.

It's attracted considerable interest as witnessed by the number of comments on the Streatham blog.

The chess public want chess grades to be a reasonable representation of chess strength. By and large they are, but it's a cause for concern when a case can be made that they aren't.

[Carl Hibbard]

Thread closed while this http://www.englishchess.org.uk/Forum/vi ... ?f=4&t=495 whatever it means takes place.