Tradewise agree generous funding to assist English chess

[IM Jack Rudd]

Adam Raoof hasn't been in charge of the county championships for years. You want to talk to Alex Holowczak (the Director of Home Chess) or Andrew Zigmond (the Manager of the County Championships).

[Keith Arkell]

2) made me laugh. There are currently prizes for all sections of the Grand prix, except for the outright winner, who gets precisely nothing.

I didn't think there were money prizes for any of the sections.

This is what the rules say at the moment

4. Prizes
The winner of each section will receive a commemorative trophy provided by the Sponsor. A Member may win trophies and prizes in more than one section.

There may have been a year where they cancelled just the prize in the top section, but the removal of any monetary prizes was one of the ECF's economy measures after the DCMS Grant was abolished as a Government Spending Cut.

Ah ok, fair enough Roger. I guess I'm a bit out of date then. I seem to recall that being the case when the Hawk won it a few years ago.

[Martin Crichton]

Thanks Jack

shows how long I have been away from county chess...Spin doctor Adam Raoofs comments all that time ago still rankle!

but yes to the guys in charge now....believe me, the members and players that reach the finals want a small momento in the form of a trophy to show that they were champions or runners up. Anyone can buy a packet of digestives in the local shops...they don't last very long (normally pass through you within 24 hours )

Regards
Martin

[IM Jack Rudd]

The sandwiches I had last time I visited the county championships finals were very nice. I'd much rather have those than a trophy. As ever, one's mileage may vary.

[Martin Crichton]

Jack
I dare say, being an IM that you have probably won many many trophies and medals in your day...however many of the rank and file players that play county chess may never even have won a single medal or trophy.
Regards
Martin

[IM Jack Rudd]

My view on the subject of where Tradewise's sponsorship money should go is that it should go to events where the bottleneck is money. That's where it'll actually make the sort of difference we're hoping for.

[Mike Truran]

As various others have suggested - some actual numbers would be very helpful. Until they are available, this is something of a data free debate.

[Matthew Turner]

On the face of it the decision to sponsor Hastings is a bit odd. It seems unlikely that Tradewise are going to funnel massive funds into Hastings so it is presumably going to always be something of a pale shadow of the Gibraltar event. As a commercial sponsor, then Hastings seems like a strange choice too, wouldn't a sponsor get more bang for their buck supporting the British?
Therefore, I just speculated whether the name Hastings might be significant - presumably if Tradewise are moving into UK car insurance then Hastings Direct could be an important competitor/suitor/acquisition target. Having a presence in their backyard might have an impact. I believe Hastings direct might also be planning a float some time soon and if Goldman manage to get a punchy valuation it might not be a bad idea to get you insurance company linked in with that. All a bit of a long shot of course, but if it costs £10,000 to sponsor Hasting maybe worth a punt.

[Roger de Coverly]

I believe Hastings direct might also be planning a float some time soon and if Goldman manage to get a punchy valuation it might not be a bad idea to get you insurance company linked in with that.

This is what Hastings Direct have to say for themselves
http://www.hastingsinsurancegroup.com/history/

The Group operates its retail broking operations from Bexhill, Newmarket, Leicester and its insurance operations from Gibraltar.

Tradewise already has a presence in UK Motor Insurance although not usually marketed under its own name.
The ECF deal appears to be a first for that.

http://www.insure4aday.co.uk/tradewise-insurance

ECF members are directed to https://www.tradewise64.com/, but the rest of the world would probably find
www.tradewise.co.uk except they would get a redirect to http://www.tradewiseinsurance.com/ which doesn't exist.

So something of a rebuild going on behind the scenes.

Google "tradewise insurance"

[Tim Spanton]

It really is great news for English chess. I wonder if Tradewise are looking for an advertising slogan. How about?

"Smart people go with Tradewise. Sponsors of the English Chess team."

Or maybe one of these ...

"Make a smart move - trade up to Tradewise."

"Trade up to Tradewise - it's chess the job."

In each case with the ECF's logo.

[Carl Hibbard]

Chris Fegan is again hard work in his comments over there in the other place

[LawrenceCooper]

Chris Fegan is again hard work in his comments over there in the other place

Indeed. It appears the type of comment that was considered toxic and might put off potential sponsors. Fingers crossed no one from Tradewise reads the federation's forum

[Carl Hibbard]

Chris Fegan is again hard work in his comments over there in the other place

Indeed. It appears the type of comment that was considered toxic and might put off potential sponsors. Fingers crossed no one from Tradewise reads the federation's forum

A better strategy Chris would be to delete the last paragraph.

[Roger de Coverly]

Chris Fegan is again hard work in his comments over there in the other place

Perhaps he didn't intend it to sound that way, but his comments are in the style of "it is traitorous to criticise the supreme leader" and "enemies of the revolution should be punished".

(edit) The debate continues with a rebuffed suggestion that most of it be deleted. I did think that was the point of the ECF having control of a forum, that spats between ECF insiders could be deleted and the lack of archiving would make it possible to deny that any such spat ever took place. (/edit)

[Carl Hibbard]

As various others have suggested - some actual numbers would be very helpful. Until they are available, this is something of a data free debate.

The money question been answered yet?