JUNIOR 4NCL

National developments, strategies and ideas.
Alan Kennedy
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Re: JUNIOR 4NCL

Post by Alan Kennedy » Sun Nov 27, 2011 8:17 am

Krishna Shiatis wrote:
andrew martin wrote:Looking at the website it seems as though the entry for this weekend is disappointing.

Why aren't people entering this worthwhile event....?
I can't believe you are asking this question after everything we (the parents) have told you. (Please see my open letter to the ECF and all the parents comments who were brave enough to speak)

English Junior Chess has been strangled from the top down. Participation is falling because nobody has been listening when we have told them what the problems are and nobody has done anything.

You do not think about the children and how to encourage and inspire them. You write h0orrid things about them and generally you put down parents who speak up. How many people are really going to continue in an environment like this?

The worst thing of all is that despite the fact that participation is falling and that the ECF is struggling financially, still, still, you are ignoring the future of chess in this country - your own juniors - and apart from the select few at the top, you are systematically shooting the rest in the proverbials.
That is not my experience of the ECF. Indeed Andrew Farthing even took the time to visit our small tournament in Witney - he listened to everything we said and it was very helpful. I have been to last three Junior 4 NCL tournaments and they have been inspiration and encouraging. The coaching has been really excellent (thanks Sabrina and Nick). There are also not many tournaments where juniors have the opportunity to play a top grandmaster (albeit in Exchange chess). I for one am very grateful for the efforts that have been put in by Claire and her team and the problems that Andrew Varney referred to appear to be in the past. Thanks Claire! As regards whether horrid things are written about the children those how have attended the last three week ends have been impecably behaved, enthusiastic and a delight to teach (as I have posted previously) - as they were at most of the events I attend.

I would also reiterate Sabrina's comment that the answer to problems at the top is to get involved. For example in West Oxfordshire in the last three years we have had two new junior clubs start (Witney and Cumnor) both of which are thriving and have run two new tournaments - both of which are growing. So chess of juniors is growing and the future of chess in this country is certainly not being ignored in Oxfordshire or at the Junior 4NCL.

Mike Truran
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Re: JUNIOR 4NCL

Post by Mike Truran » Sun Nov 27, 2011 10:04 am

A certain 4NCL organiser was seen tucking into a burger yesterday lunchtime!
Guilty as charged! In my defence though I did buy it on site. Some of the other organisers helped me to keep my calorie count down though by nicking most of my chips. :roll:

I must echo Alan's comments. The arbiting and coaching teams did a fantastic job, there were many complimentary comments about the coaching and Barcelo Hinckley Island (which is of course one of the 'main' 4NCL locations) provided spacious playing conditions and lots of room for parents. There were, as always, a couple of things we need to iron out for future weekends (eg having another member of staff on the lunchtime buffet service would have speeded things up), but such things are easily rectified.

Sabrina's conversations with Phil Ehr also sound encouraging. As the saying has it 'there's many a slip......', but if Sabrina can pull something like this off it will be a very positive step forward.

Neill Cooper
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Re: JUNIOR 4NCL

Post by Neill Cooper » Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:23 pm

andrew martin wrote:Looking at the website it seems as though the entry for this weekend is disappointing.

Why aren't people entering this worthwhile event and what can be done to increase entries?
Good chess events can have a disappointing number of entries for 2 main reasons - either people do not know about it or they don't wish to take part. Only 6 schools entered yesterday's Inter-school U18 Tournament held at KES Birmingham. The small numbers were partly because it is difficult to find out about the event. Also it clashed with another junior event in the area, as well as Junior 4NCL. It was also a strong event with about 40 of the 50 players being graded over 100, which may deter some local schools.

However, I found that whilst 40 Wilson's pupils are regularly willing to give up 4 hours on Friday evening to play chess (even when there is an inset that day), only a quarter wanted to give up all of Saturday to go to Birmingham and back for 5 games of chess. For a weekend event such as Junior 4NCL even less would wish to take part.

More significant, however, than many teenagers being reluctant to give up their weekend is that I don't want to devote my whole weekend to chess.

Alex Holowczak
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Re: JUNIOR 4NCL

Post by Alex Holowczak » Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:52 pm

Neill Cooper wrote:Good chess events can have a disappointing number of entries for 2 main reasons - either people do not know about it or they don't wish to take part. Only 6 schools entered yesterday's Inter-school U18 Tournament held at KES Birmingham. The small numbers were partly because it is difficult to find out about the event. Also it clashed with another junior event in the area, as well as Junior 4NCL.
As the organiser of that "another junior event in the area", it should be noted that we picked the same weekend as last year, whereas the U18 KES Tournament (and possibly the J4NCL, I don't remember it clashing last year) moved weekend, presumably due to venue availability.

Mike Truran
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Re: JUNIOR 4NCL

Post by Mike Truran » Sun Nov 27, 2011 6:11 pm

presumably due to venue availability.
Correct.

Alan Kennedy
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Re: JUNIOR 4NCL

Post by Alan Kennedy » Sun Nov 27, 2011 7:25 pm

Mike Truran wrote:
A certain 4NCL organiser was seen tucking into a burger yesterday lunchtime!
Guilty as charged! In my defence though I did buy it on site. Some of the other organisers helped me to keep my calorie count down though by nicking most of my chips. :roll:
Thanks Mike - the chips were very tasty!

Neville Belinfante
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Re: JUNIOR 4NCL

Post by Neville Belinfante » Sun Nov 27, 2011 11:36 pm

All the children and their parents were told at the start that eating their own food (and especially McDonalds) would not be permitted. In case there is any misunderstanding, the burgers provided were single-decker ones, not the double-decker that Sean's picture shows.

results after the first weekend were.
Div 2 - 1st Yateley Manor 12; 2nd Northampton Girls; 3rd= Northampton Junior C and Yateley Manor
Div 3 - 1st Cumnor & Witney 9; 2nd Yateley Manor A 8
these carry on to the next weekend in January for which more teams have been promised

Mike Truran
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Re: JUNIOR 4NCL

Post by Mike Truran » Mon Nov 28, 2011 12:18 am

Yes, they were very tasty, but a pale shadow of the delightful-looking offering in Sean's picture.

PS I think you've got Divs 2 and 3 the wrong way round? Cumnor and Witney were the Div 2 winners.

Andrew Varney
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Re: JUNIOR 4NCL

Post by Andrew Varney » Mon Nov 28, 2011 10:51 am

Mike Truran wrote:Just to let parents know that we will have use of the Triumph Bar and the Piazza and Rotunda area at Hinckley Island as parent rest areas. The Triumph Bar on its own can accommodate large numbers of people, and the other two areas are also large open spaces. In addition, there will be a competitively priced food menu during the day, and dinner is half price for children (there will be a fixed price deal like that at the 'main' 4NCL).

If you would like to have a look at the Barcelo Hinckley Island floor plans, here's the link:
http://www.meetbarcelo.co.uk/context/li ... _floor.gif
As one of the parents brave enough to return this year after Mike's reassurances, and since I previously posted about the "bad taste" that last yaer's Oxford round left, I think it is only fair that I now post my own reassurance that things were different this time.

The food was reasonably priced for a hotel, with a suitable selection for juniors at lunch time, as well as excellent breakfast and dinner. Most importantly, though, the venue was plenty big enough to swallow the whole event and have room for more. While numbers were down from last year, I'd have been confident that the venue could have coped fairly easily with the numbers at Oxford last year. I also thought that things were more clearly signposted/laid out (despite the mazy nature of the hotel) and the timings well advertised and controlled. So almost heaven from hell!

One minor gripe that I'd like to see changed for the next weekend would be to have a reasonable time allowed for meals (especially lunch). It was quite a rush for those whose games ran almost to the end of the time controls and wanted to take part in coaching too.

Mike Truran
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Re: JUNIOR 4NCL

Post by Mike Truran » Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:08 am

Thanks for the thumbs up, Andrew. We'll have a look at the timetable for the next two weekends and see if we can build in another half hour or so for lunch.

I've fed back to Barcelo Hinckley Island that, although there are some logistical improvements that can be made to the catering arrangements (eg more people serving food at high demand times), from everything I heard everyone seemed very happy with the weekend.

Neville Belinfante
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Re: JUNIOR 4NCL

Post by Neville Belinfante » Tue Nov 29, 2011 1:25 pm

Results are now on the 4NCL website at http://www.4ncl.co.uk/jn_news_1112.htm. These correctly show Cumnor & Witney leading Division 2, not Division 3 as my last message here.

The biggest thanks must go to the hotel staff who had to look after a number of evening parties and weddings as well as other activities.

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IM Jack Rudd
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Re: JUNIOR 4NCL

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Tue Nov 29, 2011 7:30 pm

I'm locking this thread for 24 hours at the request of a poster.

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IM Jack Rudd
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Re: JUNIOR 4NCL

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Wed Nov 30, 2011 7:37 pm

The 24 hours are up, and the thread is now re-opened.

Mike Truran
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Re: JUNIOR 4NCL

Post by Mike Truran » Thu Dec 01, 2011 2:55 pm

I've been unable to get an answer from Jack as to why the thread was locked. I accept that just because I'm the author of the thread doesn't give me any particular rights, but I do find it a little odd that someone can get a thread locked just by asking a moderator while the thread originator is kept in the dark as to the reasons.

Anyway......the debate about the role of moderators seems to be raging elsewhere.

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Carl Hibbard
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Re: JUNIOR 4NCL

Post by Carl Hibbard » Thu Dec 01, 2011 4:44 pm

Mike Truran wrote:I've been unable to get an answer from Jack as to why the thread was locked. I accept that just because I'm the author of the thread doesn't give me any particular rights, but I do find it a little odd that someone can get a thread locked just by asking a moderator while the thread originator is kept in the dark as to the reasons.
I too am not happy regarding what happened on this one
Cheers
Carl Hibbard