FIDE World Schools Individual Chess Championships 2015

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Michael Farthing
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FIDE World Schools Individual Chess Championships 2015

Post by Michael Farthing » Fri May 01, 2015 4:29 pm

The ECF website has such drawn attention to this letter that may be of interest here:
FIDE World Schools Individual Chess Championships 2015
Dear Parents,

We understand from third parties that your child will be participating in the FIDE World Schools Individual Chess Championships later this month in Thailand. The ECF seeks to protect its junior members and so we are writing to ensure that you are fully aware of some unusual risks.
It is unclear whether any UK Chess Academy (UKCA) chess coach on this trip has a clear DBS Certificate in line with English legal norms or a similar foreign police check; or that another risk mitigation measure is in place. You are recommended to check this if you have not already done so. It is unclear whether the UKCA have arranged appropriate adult supervision for all children on this trip, which of course is not an issue if each child is accompanied by his or her own parent. If your child will not be accompanied by you, you are advised to ensure that supervision will be adequate at all times. Unlike other trips to official FIDE championships, this trip is not covered by the ECF's travel insurance policy and so you should ensure that insurance that is appropriate and sufficient.

You may be wondering why the ECF is concerned. The most important reasons reflect our concern for your child's (and our member's) safety and protection outlined above. Other reasons are associated with your child's ECF membership and the ECF's role as one of FIDE's member federations. Whilst we actively encourage children to compete in international tournaments and we support independent FIDE Academies that respect English legal norms, we cannot in good conscience support all of the UKCA's actions in this matter. Some children do not have the required level of ECF Membership, and therefore need to upgrade to Gold. You may wish to check the level of your child’s membership. Some children appear to have been added to FIDE's database without the ECF's knowledge, which could be a problem if parents object to their child's personal data leaving the European Economic Area. Your child was registered for this official FIDE championship (normally closed to national federations) possibly as a result of your client relationship with the UKCA and/or possibly by virtue of a merit-based UKCA selection. Your child's participation was not based on the ECF's selection policy, which aims to develop cohorts of mutually-supportive English chess players regardless of which chess coach or training service is employed and confers the status of officially representing England. As such you should be aware that your child will not be representing England, playing for England or part of the England Team in this championship tournament. Whilst your children will be identified as English, they are not representing their national chess federation. They are representing the UKCA.

Rest assured there is no detrimental effect to your child's future eligibility for ECF selection resulting from his or her participation in this championship tournament through the UKCA. The ECF's legal responsibilities, player development strategies and commercial interests are continuously reviewed in light of changing FIDE practices. The situation for future FIDE championship tournaments will probably evolve. To summarise, our advice for this trip is to remain vigilant in all aspects of safety, respect Foreign Office travel advisories, review your travel insurance policy, and strive to get the most chess value out of this trip.

We wish your child success at the tournament.

Finally, we would appreciate your help to foster greater co-operation among organisations working to improve English chess.
Kind regards,

Phil Ehr, Chief Executive Traci Whitfield, Director of Junior Chess and Education

English Chess Federation
Cc Executive Director, FIDE
Tournament Organiser, World Schools Individual Chess Championship 2015
Chairman, FIDE Trainers’ Commission
Director, UK Chess Academy

Roger de Coverly
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Re: FIDE World Schools Individual Chess Championships 2015

Post by Roger de Coverly » Fri May 01, 2015 4:39 pm

Amalgamating with my separate post


From a adult players' viewpoint, it just demonstrates the propensity of organisers, particularly those of junior chess, to have fights amongst themselves.

If the entry list is up to date, it's hardly a major issue in terms of numbers, with only a handful of families attending as ENG entrants.
http://www.chess-results.com/fed.aspx?lan=1&fed=THA

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Carl Hibbard
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Re: FIDE World Schools Individual Chess Championships 2015

Post by Carl Hibbard » Fri May 01, 2015 10:29 pm

Seems more scare tactic that information letter so not impressive to be honest.
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Carl Hibbard

Mike Truran
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Re: FIDE World Schools Individual Chess Championships 2015

Post by Mike Truran » Fri May 01, 2015 11:54 pm

Not sure I agree with that. Why wouldn't the ECF want to protect its position if juniors are being sent abroad on events that parents may think are endorsed by the ECF but are not?

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Carl Hibbard
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Re: FIDE World Schools Individual Chess Championships 2015

Post by Carl Hibbard » Sat May 02, 2015 6:48 am

Mike Truran wrote:Not sure I agree with that. Why wouldn't the ECF want to protect its position if juniors are being sent abroad on events that parents may think are endorsed by the ECF but are not?
They must do that of course I agree but the letter could have been less harsh?
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Paul Dargan
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Re: FIDE World Schools Individual Chess Championships 2015

Post by Paul Dargan » Sat May 02, 2015 9:42 am

It does feel sometimes that the Board can't win ... if they hadnt pointed out some of these things, or protected the 'representing England' brand they would have been criticised. Now that they have they are criticised anyway ...

Do people think they could improve the letter in some way? possibly? Has the right thing been done and well enough - probably. And that's really all that's required - this isn't mission critical stuff and doesnt need to be perfect - insisting on perfection in everything just stops anything from getting done.

Paul

John McKenna

Re: FIDE World Schools Individual Chess Championships 2015

Post by John McKenna » Sat May 02, 2015 9:55 am

Sorry to disagree slightly, Paul.

Isn't the implication that the ECF are indirectly trying to dissuade parents and other organisations from doing something? (Namely, sending juniors to international events thereby breaking their monopoly.)

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: FIDE World Schools Individual Chess Championships 2015

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Sat May 02, 2015 10:29 am

The letter is very poor. It could have been half the length (or less), and should have produced concise statements. It wanders so much that I took it for a communication advising me that I had been left 10 million dollars by an unknown relative.

"This is not an official ECF team or organization. Please ensure that everything is above board before you go." And maybe a bit more would have done it.

I note that the UK Chess Academy website doesn't seem to name anyone as an organiser.

Angus French
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Re: FIDE World Schools Individual Chess Championships 2015

Post by Angus French » Sat May 02, 2015 12:12 pm

Also relevant is the ECF's attempt to levy a 100 Euro charge on UKCA participants. See http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7263.

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David Shepherd
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Re: FIDE World Schools Individual Chess Championships 2015

Post by David Shepherd » Fri May 08, 2015 1:29 pm

Results so far

SNo Name Rtg FED 1 2 3 Pts. Rk. Group
18 Remus Elliot Ariella 0 ENG 0 0 1 1.0 17 Girls U7
16 Beukes Samuel 0 ENG 1 ½ 0 1.5 23 Open U7
50 Remus Elliot Jake 0 ENG 0 0 ½ 0.5 56 Open U9
32 Chooing Han-Sen 0 ENG 0 1 0 1.0 40 Open U11
39 Remus Elliot Tai 1002 ENG 0 ½ ½ 1.0 53 Open U13
47 Modi Kishan Jagdish 0 ENG 0 0 1 1.0 44 Open U13
48 Modi Shyam 0 ENG 0 0 1 1.0 45 Open U13
23 Remus Elliot Luke 1513 ENG 0 1 0 1.0 17 Open U15

LawrenceCooper
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Re: FIDE World Schools Individual Chess Championships 2015

Post by LawrenceCooper » Thu May 14, 2015 2:00 pm


Roger de Coverly
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Re: FIDE World Schools Individual Chess Championships 2015

Post by Roger de Coverly » Thu May 14, 2015 2:32 pm

Whilst I am unsure of the merits of the ECF making a fuss over the participation of "unofficial" ENG players, isn't it unusual for the manager of the Academy providing some of the participants to also be one of only three official arbiters at the event? I would have thought anyone in such a position wide open to accusations of bias should a dispute or contentious issue arise involving "his" players.

Brian Towers
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Re: FIDE World Schools Individual Chess Championships 2015

Post by Brian Towers » Thu May 14, 2015 4:13 pm

Roger de Coverly wrote:Whilst I am unsure of the merits of the ECF making a fuss over the participation of "unofficial" ENG players, isn't it unusual for the manager of the Academy providing some of the participants to also be one of only three official arbiters at the event? I would have thought anyone in such a position wide open to accusations of bias should a dispute or contentious issue arise involving "his" players.
Out of curiosity, which of the arbiters was that?

What puzzled me was that one of the arbiters was NA Poompong Wiwatanadate where "NA" indicates that he is a FIDE National Arbiter. I thought that FA was the minimum level qualification for a World Championship?

Not that Thailand are blessed with an abundance of FIDE arbiters, 2 IAs, 1 FA and 7 NAs.
Ah, but I was so much older then. I'm younger than that now.

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IM Jack Rudd
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Re: FIDE World Schools Individual Chess Championships 2015

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Thu May 14, 2015 4:25 pm

Brian Towers wrote:
Roger de Coverly wrote:Whilst I am unsure of the merits of the ECF making a fuss over the participation of "unofficial" ENG players, isn't it unusual for the manager of the Academy providing some of the participants to also be one of only three official arbiters at the event? I would have thought anyone in such a position wide open to accusations of bias should a dispute or contentious issue arise involving "his" players.
Out of curiosity, which of the arbiters was that?
Sainbayar Tserendorj. Mongolian, but lives in London.

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: FIDE World Schools Individual Chess Championships 2015

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Fri May 15, 2015 7:55 am

"Whilst I am unsure of the merits of the ECF making a fuss over the participation of "unofficial" ENG players, isn't it unusual for the manager of the Academy providing some of the participants to also be one of only three official arbiters at the event? I would have thought anyone in such a position wide open to accusations of bias should a dispute or contentious issue arise involving "his" players."

Sadly, that appears entirely normal for junior events.