Bunratty Chess Festival

[Martin Crichton]

ICU site updated

Rules Governing ICU Membership and Participation in Tournaments
Pat Fitzsimons


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With effect from the 1st of February the following rules will apply to all tournaments (other than international team tournaments held under the auspices of the ICU, such as The Glorney Gilbert International) held in Ireland which are ICU rated:

All participants in such tournaments, irrespective of their nationality or native chess federation, must be fully subscribed members of the ICU.

No person can be accepted as a participant in any tournament governed by these rules unless he/she fulfils the above condition.

The responsibility rests with the organisers of the tournaments in question to ensure that these rules are fully implemented.

Where a person wishes to become a member of the ICU in order to participate in a tournament or event, the organisers should facilitate the collection of the requisite fee prior to the commencement of the tournament or event through the use of the ICU online subscription form.

Where a player who is not a member of the ICU participates in a tournament governed by these rules, the tournament or event organisers will be liable.

The ICU reserves the right to take action in cases where it perceives that the organisers of a tournament have been negligent in applying these rules or have been persistent offenders in this regard. Such action may include refusal to rate the tournament as a whole, withdrawal of grants to the organisers in question, and any other action which the ICU deems appropriate.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Created 2015-01-27 ◦ Last updated 2015-01-27 ◦ Editor BT

seems to me that the Buntatty organisers / festival / federation will be footing any shortfall in membership fees should they fail to comply. My understanding (which might be a little better than Rogers on this topic) is that this rule had been in effect for a very long time ...just not implemented firmly enough until very recently. The new ICU exec they have addressed this matter. Like any change it is only to be expected that it will not be popular with everybody. It is 20 Euros membership for foreigners not resident in Ireland. (not 35 Euros)

[Colm Daly]

Snipped. All is well again.

[Roger de Coverly]

It is 20 Euros membership for foreigners not resident in Ireland. (not 35 Euros)

So it's the equivalent to a 20 Euro surcharge on the entry fee, presumably plus an administrative headache. Just don't moan when someone in Ireland tries to run an International tournament and no-one shows up. Would foreigners get any voting rights for their 20 Euros?

Just to reiterate. Irish players playing in English tournaments do NOT have to become members of the ECF. The same reciprocal rights are being withdrawn to English and other players to play in Ireland.

In general chess Federations only expect membership, affiliation etc. for foreign players taking part in club and league events, not "international" tournaments.

[Richard Bates]

SNIP

The internal politics of the ICU, what grants have or haven't been given to Bunratty and/or other congresses, and the enforcement or otherwise of pre-existing rules on membership for Irish participants in Irish tournaments is ultimately not going to be of much interest to outsiders so I imagine you're wasting your time trying to put your side (or the ICU Executive's side, I don't know) on here. We've got enough issues with internal ECF politics without wasting any time worrying about Ireland's.

However we do, obviously, have an interest in the change in relation to foreign players. To argue that one month is sufficient notice is ridiculous, since most foreign players will have booked flights and/or accommodation some time before. So the question is this - does the new rule require foreigners to become members of the ICU or doesn't it? And, in passing, what if said foreigners were to object to becoming members of the ICU on principle? Or is membership of the ICU a complete red-herring and this is just an attempt by the ICU to appropriate a share of their perception of the riches that Bunratty receives in sponsorship money? I can't imagine that the sponsor sees the paying of foreigners' membership fees as an appropriate use of his money, but who knows...

It's one thing to put a rule such as this in place with genuinely fair advanced warning, leaving foreigners can decide whether to vote with their feet or otherwise. The way it has been done, as an outsider, just looks shabby. Perhaps the ICU just don't care about that if they get the funds they want.

[Colm Daly]

Would foreigners get any voting rights for their 20 Euros?

Of course they would, full members just paying at an overseas rate.

[Colm Daly]

There was an old man who lived in a shoe.

[Colm Daly]

SNIP

The internal politics of the ICU, what grants have or haven't been given to Bunratty and/or other congresses, and the enforcement or otherwise of pre-existing rules on membership for Irish participants in Irish tournaments is ultimately not going to be of much interest to outsiders so I imagine you're wasting your time trying to put your side (or the ICU Executive's side, I don't know) on here. We've got enough issues with internal ECF politics without wasting any time worrying about Ireland's.

However we do, obviously, have an interest in the change in relation to foreign players. To argue that one month is sufficient notice is ridiculous, since most foreign players will have booked flights and/or accommodation some time before. So the question is this - does the new rule require foreigners to become members of the ICU or doesn't it? And, in passing, what if said foreigners were to object to becoming members of the ICU on principle? Or is membership of the ICU a complete red-herring and this is just an attempt by the ICU to appropriate a share of their perception of the riches that Bunratty receives in sponsorship money? I can't imagine that the sponsor sees the paying of foreigners' membership fees as an appropriate use of his money, but who knows...

It's one thing to put a rule such as this in place with genuinely fair advanced warning, leaving foreigners can decide whether to vote with their feet or otherwise. The way it has been done, as an outsider, just looks shabby. Perhaps the ICU just don't care about that if they get the funds they want.

Excellent points Richard

[Roger de Coverly]

Excellent points Richard

So what's the bottom line? Is it demanded that Foreign players or Bunratty contribute 20 Euros per head to the coffers of the ICU on pain of the whole event not being ICU rated? In the UK, it was mostly sufficient sanction that an event not be graded to enforce the ECF ambitions of mandatory membership. Here and there Guernsey, Wales, some Yorkshire Leagues, the organisers said "no" and went ungraded.

In almost all of Europe, it's a given that if you play in a an International tournament, that you don't need to be a member/affiliated/registered of/with the local National Federation. Bunratty is arguably an International tournament by precedent of those who have played there, the problem being that its move rates fall between those allowed for FIDE rating. 90 15 is equivalent to G/105 which is 15 minutes short of G/120 and 45 minutes longer than G/60.

[Sean Coffey]

A further announcement has been made on the ICU web site (http://www.icu.ie/articles/487, February 1):

-------

Since announcing the decision to strictly apply the above policy with effect from 1 February 2015, a number of concerns about its operational impact have been expressed to the ICU Executive by tournament organisers. Having regard to these concerns, the Executive has decided to:

defer the implementation of the decision; and
establish a working group representative of the ICU Executive and tournament organisers to examine all of the issues involved and to report back to the ICU Executive with recommendations/options for the implementation of the policy.
The terms of reference and the membership of the working group will be posted on the website in due course.

-------

(emphasis added).

I assume this means the new overseas fee won't apply to this year's Bunratty event.

[Brian Towers]

Snipped. All is well again.

Vasectomy?

[Roger de Coverly]

. Having regard to these concerns, the Executive has decided to:
defer the implementation of the decision

That's a very rapid climb down. You would have thought ICU would have had the sense to think about the reaction of tournament organisers and the non-Irish chess community before making any announcements.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"You would have thought ICU would have had the sense to think about the reaction of tournament organisers and the non-Irish chess community before making any announcements."

Just as ECF and FIDE would!

[John McKenna]

Snipped. All is well again.

Vasectomy?

And a voluntary vasectomy at that (always to be preferred to any kind of lobotomy).

But would any operation to prune discussion have been required if it had appeared in International News instead of General Chat, I wonder? (Although there is always a debate to be had as to whether the island of Ireland is home or away due to the special relationship established over time between the two islands of Britain and Ireland and their constituents.)

[Sean Coffey]

It's certainly a welcome change. For myself I'm not too interested in casting stones after the fact: if they were going to make this change at all, best do it quickly. It's now back to discussions between the ICU and the various tournament organisers, so let's leave them to it.

[Mick Norris]

There are two distinct Bunratty tournaments this year as there were in 2013. In addition to the multi-section weekender, there is also an invitational 10 player all play all, which is designed to offer Norm chances and uses the standard move rate.

Lawrence Trent off to a good start with 2 wins
TWIC