An appeal to enrich the pool of Senior ECF Arbiters

[Mick Norris]

Secondly, the pool of Senior Arbiters is very limited both in number and geographically. Should the first step in removing the perceived blockage be simply to promote some of the more active registered Arbiters to the Senior rank and to ensure a good geographic spread?

Yes, I can name half a dozen that are good enough, I am sure others could name more

[Andrew Zigmond]

I appear to have opened a can of worms here and we are perhaps in danger of getting sidetracked slightly.

Obviously this arose from the debate about the quality of the live coverage which the ECF concede is an opportunity going forward. One solution would be a dedicated team on site to focus on this and members of this team would not have to be qualified arbiters.

Michael made the point on the other forum that the team at the British seems to be the same faces year on year which led to my quoted comment. Roger then pointed out that the qualification requires a detailed knowledge of swiss pairing methodology which in his view a computer could and should do (so the ECF are shooting themselves in the foot by insisting on knowledge of manual swiss pairings being a requirement). Apologies to both Michael and Roger if any context has been lost here but I think this was the gist.

I believe that trainee arbiters have to take a two day course delivered by a senior arbiter which of course needs to be held on a weekend when the senior arbiter doesn't have another commitment and when a suitable venue can be found. So again it's area that needs focus and perhaps a strategy.

Ironically a new generation of arbiters wouldn't solve the logistical problem the British throws up; namely that the arbiting team have to be in a position to live out of a suitcase for two weeks during the school holidays.

[Roger de Coverly]

Ironically a new generation of arbiters wouldn't solve the logistical problem the British throws up; namely that the arbiting team have to be in a position to live out of a suitcase for two weeks during the school holidays.

I ran down the list of Senior Arbiters. With the exception of the three who are under 60, they had all been involved with chess, usually on the organisational side as well as playing since the days of Fischer. So it wasn't a problem for them to spend two weeks at the British when younger. Exactly the same point about being away from home applies to players. In the same way as the Congress offers one week and weekend events for players not playing the whole 14 days, it's possible for arbiters to just be present for the weekend or one week only.

[Andrew Zigmond]

Ironically a new generation of arbiters wouldn't solve the logistical problem the British throws up; namely that the arbiting team have to be in a position to live out of a suitcase for two weeks during the school holidays.

I ran down the list of Senior Arbiters. With the exception of the three who are under 60, they had all been involved with chess, usually on the organisational side as well as playing since the days of Fischer. So it wasn't a problem for them to spend two weeks at the British when younger. Exactly the same point about being away from home applies to players. In the same way as the Congress offers one week and weekend events for players not playing the whole 14 days, it's possible for arbiters to just be present for the weekend or one week only.

Well it depends on their personal circumstances to an extent. Of the two senior arbiters currently under fifty one is a former manager of the championship but works in education. It is true that the arbiters don't need to be present for the whole event, however there is a clean difference between players and officials (and leaving aside the professionals at the top of the draw I suspect the vast majority of competitors in the championship proper are either in full time education or retired).

Maybe there was more reward in chess officialdom in the seventies, or else less to compete with it? Since I wasn't even alive at the time, let alone active in chess, I'm not qualified to comment.

[Roger de Coverly]

(and leaving aside the professionals at the top of the draw I suspect the vast majority of competitors in the championship proper are either in full time education or retired).

Personally I would doubt that and the increasing numbers of the retired taking part in the Congress is down to the sheer numbers of young players in the 1960s and 1970s. For those employed with 20 days plus as the norm for holiday allowances, spending 10 of them on what for some is a once a chess lifetime chance to play in the Championship is a reasonable expenditure. Other adults are contract based and can coincide their holiday periods to align with new contracts.

[Michael Flatt]

I believe that trainee arbiters have to take a two day course delivered by a senior arbiter which of course needs to be held on a weekend when the senior arbiter doesn't have another commitment and when a suitable venue can be found.

In fact, being a Senior Arbiter does not in itself confer the right to to run an Arbiter training course. There are separate more restrictive requirements relating to the award of ECF Arbiter Instructor.

The list of ECF Arbiter Trainers is a very select group comprising only seven names. Surprisingly, one of those deemed competent to run an Arbiter trainer course has yet to be awarded the Senior Arbiter title. I assume that omission will soon be corrected.

It might be further argued that there are only four ECF Arbiter Trainers since two are registered with other FIDE Federations (WLS, SCO) and a third, although recognised as a FIDE Lecturer does not appear to hold the ECF Arbiter Instructor title.

Reference: http://www.englishchess.org.uk/arbiters ... structors/

[Stewart Reuben]

Senior does not of course mean the same thing in the context of arbiters as it does for players. Arbiters can gain adequate experience well before the age of 50.
But nobody has remotely hit on the real point. In order to be an arbiter, one should have officiated at chess events. To be a Senior Arbiter, an FA or IA, at several events, of a different type. Much of the chess played in England does not have an arbiter present. If you want to enrich the pool of ECF Senior Arniters, or for that matter IAs, you need more chess activity.
Where is the encouragement for organisers to blossom? Particularly, if you want IAs, IOs.

[Michael Flatt]

Quite right, Stewart.

As many of the more experienced Congress Organisers retire from the Congress scene it is uncertain how some traditional Congresses will survive. This year, for instance, Southend Easter Congress almost didn't happen. Although there was an Organiser, I understand that there weren't sufficient local players willing to join the Congress committee and make it happen.

The Congress did finally go ahead by importing an experienced Arbiting team from an adjacent County (Middlesex).

The regulation regarding the appointment of Senior ECF Arbiters does seem to me to be overly stringent given that candidates have to have worked (and presumably have received nominations) from three different Senior ECF Arbiters and the final stamp of approval of the Chief Arbiter.

Given that there are so few active Senior ECF Arbiters (see above posts) the opportunities to be admitted to the magic circle are few and far between. If I recall correctly, when making the last appointment the regulations were waived on the basis of the candidate's generally acknowledged competence and wide experience as an Arbiter.

Further down the food chain the appointment of regular (level 2) Arbiters is unnecessarily restricted by the lack of sufficient active Senior Arbiters to endorse their applications.

Is it intended that ECF Arbiters should disappear and be replaced by FIDE Arbiters, the title of which many might find more readily attainable?

[Mick Norris]

Michael

Matthew Carr is Manager of Arbiters, so maybe contact him? [email protected]

[Stewart Reuben]

There is no ECF Manager of Organisers. The IOs are not even listed in the ECF YearBook. I think the active ones may be: Lara Barnes, Scott Freeman, Adam Raoof, David Welch and me. Inactive Chris Dunworth, Sean Hewitt, Gerry Walsh, Peter Wilson. We also have Alex McFarlane and Kevin Staveley.

I think nearly every one of those IOs is also an FA or IA.

[Michael Flatt]

1. Recently, Marinel Miu organised a series of three ECF graded and FIDE rated Watford Rapidplays and registered as an IO.
I understand that his future competitions will be neither ECF graded nor FIDE rated.

2. Adam is in the anomalous position of being an IO, IA and trainee ECF Arbiter (level 1). A ludicrous situation for a prolific Organiser and Arbiter of popular and well-run chess events in London and Internationally.

3. A number of BCF Arbiters were unfairly excluded from the ECF list of Arbiters when the unnecessary requirement to be CRB registered was introduced. Since that regulation was rescinded the missing BCF Arbiters have not been readmitted to the list. Surely, this omission should be corrected?

4. The responsibility for Arbiters is split between the Director of Home Chess and Director of International Chess. This schism is artificial and damaging. Wouldn't it make sense for ALL Arbiters to report through a single Director? It seems to me that should be the Director of Home Chess.

5. There are simply too few active Senior ECF Arbiters.

[Stewart Reuben]

I don't personally know Marinel Miu. He is rated about 1800. He is not registered as an IO. The events that Michael Flatt mentiones would not be enough by themselves for him to be awarded the IO title. For one thing there is now a course and an exam to pass. Perhaps he was registered as the organiser of these rapidplays.

[Michael Flatt]

I don't personally know Marinel Miu. He is rated about 1800. He is not registered as an IO. The events that Michael Flatt mentiones would not be enough by themselves for him to be awarded the IO title. For one thing there is now a course and an exam to pass. Perhaps he was registered as the organiser of these rapidplays.

A mere technicality. The point was that Marinel has organised FIDE rated tournaments but now prefers to go his own way. The IO title is relevant to a particular class of International tournament which may not be of interest to local organisers.

It is perhaps a subject worthy of its own thread as it distracts from the primary theme of this one.

With effect from January 15th 2012, there will be no more direct application for the title of International Organizer. All candidates shall be required to attend and pass an examination in the Seminar for Organizers. The awarding of the title through exams should be combined with some minimum experience.

Reference
09. Regulations on Seminars & Title Award for Organizers. http://www.fide.com/fide/handbook.html? ... w=category

[Andrew Zigmond]

At the risk of opening (another) can of worms a look at the current list of qualified arbiters suggests that many events I play in are not run by an official arbiter and don't have one in the team. In practical terms this isn't a major problem as entrants have to undertake to accept the decision of the organisers as final and binding. If anything it shows that there is a pool of semi qualified arbiters out there (event organisers who make badly informed decisions are unlikely to last very long) that could be tapped.

Seperately I've linked to this thread on the official forum. Just in case this draws Carl's ire I've done this so that the questions arising can be put formally to the board,

[Carl Hibbard]

Separately I've linked to this thread on the official forum. Just in case this draws Carl's ire I've done this so that the questions arising can be put formally to the board.

I hope you get a better answer than Mike has done over there.