World Youth U14/16/18 2016

[LawrenceCooper]

http://chess.ugramegasport.ru/participants/

22nd September - 4th October 2016

England:

Hafstad, Leif
Sit, Victoria

Coach: Neil McDonald.

[Leonard Barden]

That's an under-14 boy rated 1705 and ranked No 31 U14 in England, and an under-18 girl rated 1768 and ranked No 5 GU18,

No England U18 or U16 boys or U16 or U14 girls for these world championships.

[IM Jack Rudd]

It's (a) in term-time and (b) in Siberia, which probably puts people off.

(If I had a child in that age-range, I'd probably prefer to take them to some random international Open in Western Europe. It would probably be just as good for their chess.)

[John Higgs]

Leif gained an impressive 153 rating points in the Vienna Open B last month, with a TPR of 1913:

http://www.chess-results.com/tnr208123. ... 84&snr=167

[Coral Bennett]

Rhys Bennett of Wales is an Under 18 rated 2105.
He is not only the highest rated under 18 in Wales, but also the 19th highest rated active player in Wales.
He gained an impressive 394 rating points over the summer.
He was not invited to take part.

[Leonard Barden]

Rhys Bennett of Wales is an Under 18 rated 2105.
He is not only the highest rated under 18 in Wales, but also the 19th highest rated active player in Wales.
He gained an impressive 394 rating points over the summer.
He was not invited to take part.

Seems the effective closing date for the 2016 world U18 was 20 July, while Rhys Bennett's quantum jump at the Vienna Open was in mid-August.

The WCU has given his success in Vienna a big positive write-up
http://www.welshchessunion.uk/tag/rhys-bennett/

so there are sure to be opportunities in future.

I think he will still be eligible for the world U18 next year, and after such an impressive surge he should think ahead to aiming for a place in the Welsh national team for the 2018 Olympiad in Batumi. He has been playing in U2000 tournaments but it would be logical now for him to switch to opens to gain more high level experience. Good luck!

[Ian Thompson]

so there are sure to be opportunities in future.

You probably need to read Mrs. Bennett's most recent post in the context of her previous posts on this forum.

[Leonard Barden]

so there are sure to be opportunities in future.

You probably need to read Mrs. Bennett's most recent post in the context of her previous posts on this forum.

I was fully aware of those posts when composing mine.

[John Higgs]

Good luck to Leif and Victoria - I will post the elusive chess-results link when found.

Players fly out on Tuesday via Moscow - it's a long way to Siberia!

[Coral Bennett]

I think he will still be eligible for the world U18 next year, and after such an impressive surge he should think ahead to aiming for a place in the Welsh national team

Thank you for your rather optimistic suggestion Leonard !

Unfortunately you appear to be under the impression that International selection for Wales is based on merit ! This year, the Welsh national Glorney U18 team had players down to a Welsh rating of 1362 and the Welsh national Liverpool Quadrangular U16 team fielded three defaults. Rhys was not selected for either of these Internationals.

At the time of selection on this occasion, Rhys was the 2nd highest rated Under 18 in Wales. In the past, Wales have selected up to four children to attend the World Youth in one age category.

Although the WCU has a new webmaster, who has indeed given Rhys two nice write-ups, selection is still controlled by the same nepotistic ‘nexus’. We are not prepared to grease palms in order to facilitate selection as we believe selection should be based on merit.

[Michael Farthing]

The previous posts referred to by Ian have said asll thst can be said on this subject. I hope we will not be revisiting the matter.

[John Higgs]

Still no joy on the chess-results link.

First past the post please upload!

[John Higgs]

Chess-results link for Leif Hafstad:

http://chess-results.com/tnr239600.aspx ... 821&snr=67

Chess-results link for Victoria Sit:

http://chess-results.com/tnr239603.aspx ... 821&snr=40

First round tomorrow at 3pm local time - 11am UK time.

Updates, photographs etc via Twitter:

@ECFJuniors2016

[NickFaulks]

First round tomorrow at 3pm local time - 7pm UK time.

11am?

[John Higgs]

Chess-results link for Leif Hafstad:

http://chess-results.com/tnr239600.aspx ... 821&snr=67

Chess-results link for Victoria SIt:

http://chess-results.com/tnr239603.aspx ... 821&snr=40

First round tomorrow at 3pm local time - 11am UK time.

Updates, photographs etc via Twitter:

@ECFJuniors2016