4NCL NORTHERN LEAGUE

[Sean Hewitt]

If there is the interest, I would be prepared to run some all play alls in the Manchester area during the summer to get people rated.

I've done this before, and usually entails two weekends - playing Fri 7pm ; Sat 10am ; Sat 3pm ; Sun 10am ; Sun 3pm in weekend 1 and then Sat 10am ; Sat 3pm ; Sun 10am ; Sun 3pm in weekend 2.

You can create 6 newly rated players for every 4 rated players. The first event is usaually the most difficult to run due to lack of FIDE rated players - the newly rated players can play as rated players in the next event!

If anyone thinks there would be interest let me know and I'll see what kind of venues might be available.

[David Clayton]

If there is the interest, I would be prepared to run some all play alls in the Manchester area during the summer to get people rated.

I've done this before, and usually entails two weekends - playing Fri 7pm ; Sat 10am ; Sat 3pm ; Sun 10am ; Sun 3pm in weekend 1 and then Sat 10am ; Sat 3pm ; Sun 10am ; Sun 3pm in weekend 2.

You can create 6 newly rated players for every 4 rated players. The first event is usaually the most difficult to run due to lack of FIDE rated players - the newly rated players can play as rated players in the next event!

If anyone thinks there would be interest let me know and I'll see what kind of venues might be available.

And of course, anyone wanting to top up their FIDE games count can always play in the Leyland Congress which has for the last 3 years had a 6 round FIDE Open and is run over the August Bank holiday.

Dave

[Matt Mackenzie]

Of course, the Blackpool top section was FIDE-rated for a few years. Why was that stopped last year?

[Roger de Coverly]

Of course, the Blackpool top section was FIDE-rated for a few years. Why was that stopped last year?

There was a thread about that last year.

http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=630

It didn't really find out then either !

[Andrew Wainwright]

Sean

If the Warrington Congress goes well would there be any chance of another event like this before October in the north?
The 2 weekend all play all sounds interesting, but as always it depends on dates over the summer. Also the World Cup needs to be factored into peoples thinking on dates this summer - I see that the Chester Congress (which I really enjoyed last summer) is on a date when England may well play should they progress from the group stage, as is the Harrogate Congress the following weekend if England progress further.

All of the players from my club and my local league in Bradford who play in the e2e4 tournaments can't say enough good things about them. I am really looking forward to Warrington and will recommend to those who have shown an interest in playing 4NCL with me next season to also play.
I would hope that there is enough support from Yorkshire and Lancashire alone to make e2e4 tournaments financially viable in the north.

The developments of late with the 4NCL and e2e4 looking to host more northern based events is really positive. There is a wealth of "grass roots" chess in Yorkshire in particular with sizeable local leagues in Bradford, Leeds, Sheffield, York, Hull and Calderdale. This is supplemented by the Yorkshire Saturday league, county chess and various strong congresses such as York, Scarborough, Doncaster, Hull, Bradford, Huddersfield and Calderdale. All that has been missing is the opportunity for those up and coming players in these competitions to easily progress to FIDE rated tournaments. A problem which I think is now being addressed.

[Mike Truran]

Andrew, thanks for the kind words about e2e4 and the 4NCL. If you and your colleagues can continue to spread the word about and drum up support for both events that would be very helpful - they will only succeed if there is a critical mass of support from northern players.

[Mick Norris]

Sean

If the Warrington Congress goes well would there be any chance of another event like this before October in the north?
The 2 weekend all play all sounds interesting, but as always it depends on dates over the summer. Also the World Cup needs to be factored into peoples thinking on dates this summer - I see that the Chester Congress (which I really enjoyed last summer) is on a date when England may well play should they progress from the group stage, as is the Harrogate Congress the following weekend if England progress further.

All of the players from my club and my local league in Bradford who play in the e2e4 tournaments can't say enough good things about them. I am really looking forward to Warrington and will recommend to those who have shown an interest in playing 4NCL with me next season to also play.
I would hope that there is enough support from Yorkshire and Lancashire alone to make e2e4 tournaments financially viable in the north.

The developments of late with the 4NCL and e2e4 looking to host more northern based events is really positive. There is a wealth of "grass roots" chess in Yorkshire in particular with sizeable local leagues in Bradford, Leeds, Sheffield, York, Hull and Calderdale. This is supplemented by the Yorkshire Saturday league, county chess and various strong congresses such as York, Scarborough, Doncaster, Hull, Bradford, Huddersfield and Calderdale. All that has been missing is the opportunity for those up and coming players in these competitions to easily progress to FIDE rated tournaments. A problem which I think is now being addressed.

Andrew

Interesting comments

I have been mulling over whether to move the Manchester Summer Congress to later in the year due to the World Cup and other committments

There is also the issue of where to hold it, as the University venue we were given last year at late notice was not great

We could make the Open FIDE rated if we felt there was enough support for this to justify it - we are talking about 5 rounds over 1 weekend

Any observations are welcome

[Sean Hewitt]

Sean

If the Warrington Congress goes well would there be any chance of another event like this before October in the north?
The 2 weekend all play all sounds interesting, but as always it depends on dates over the summer. Also the World Cup needs to be factored into peoples thinking on dates this summer - I see that the Chester Congress (which I really enjoyed last summer) is on a date when England may well play should they progress from the group stage, as is the Harrogate Congress the following weekend if England progress further.

Andrew,

For players to have a FIDE rating for 4NCL purposes they would need to FIDE rated in the list published prior to the 4NCL commencing. The 4NCL starts in October, so players need to be rated in the list on 1st September 2010 as there is no October rating list. Therefore any event needs to have finished by 24th August 2010 (7 days in advance of the new list) to qualify. I do not believe, no matter how successful the e2e4 Warrington event is, that we could host another weekend swiss in such a short timescale. I certainly wouldn't put on an event during the world cup - that would be financial suicide in my opinion and I have already declined one opportunity for an event in June for that reason.

Of course, if the Manchester event were scheduled prior to 24 August and the Open were FIDE rated that would compliment the e2e4 Warrington event perfectly, although it's unlikey in my opinion that an unrated player would play the required 9 rated opponents in the 10 rounds available to him in these two events to achieve a full FIDE rating.

It's perfectly feasible to run the all play alls though, which guarantee an unrated player a full FIDE rating in one event (with a couple of caveats of course). A first weekend held mid - late July (after the world cup but before the British Championships) with a second weekend in mid August would work - and this is the format we've used at Littlethorpe previously. Of course, not everyone would be available for this but c'est la vie. 20 players is all that would be needed to make this work.

I'll source a venue and advertise such an event next week. I'll need a break from inputting 80 games a day at Uxbridge.

Then we can see if the horse wants to drink the water!

[Andrew Wainwright]

Sean

Sounds good. I will keep an eye out for this.
On a purely selfish note a venue North East of Manchester (M62) corridor would be preferable for the Yorkshire players.

[Mike Truran]

Bradford DCA Knights have now also confirmed their entry to the Northern League following Manchester Chess Federation's earlier confirmation.

[Sean Hewitt]

Sean

If the Warrington Congress goes well would there be any chance of another event like this before October in the north?

Your wish is my command!

Runcorn Congress : 24-26 September 2010

www.e2e4.org.uk/runcorn

[Andrew Wainwright]

Sean
Great news on the Runcorn event. I hope that it goes well. For the Yorkshire based players though the weekend you have chosen may be an issue as last season this was the weekend of the first fixture of the Yorkshire Saturday League. I know that a few players from the NW also brave a trip over the Pennines to play in this Saturday league so they may also face a dilemma as to which comp to play in. The YCA fixtures have not yet been posted for the 2010/2011 season to my knowledge but I think it may be a safe bet that they go for Saturday 25th Sept as the week before is the Bradford Congress and the week after is the Whitby Congress. I just wanted to give you a heads up that support from Yorkshire may therefore be down if there is a clash, not because we don't want to play but because we have prior obligations to our Yorkshire clubs in the YCA league.
Andy
p.s. YCA League consists of 32 teams of 8 players.

[Sean Hewitt]

Cheers Andy.

Hotel availability dictates when these events can be held as clearly function rooms suitable for our events are not empty every weekend. And whilst I do of course consider clashes when looking at dates I can't consider dates that have not yet been confirmed or even published.

If the Yorkshire league look at the calendar to avoid clashes with events such as Bradford and Whitby hopefully they will try to avoid clashing with us also. After all, the lure of pleasant surroundings and five rounds of FIDE rated chess may mean that some choose to play Runcorn rather than play one game in the Yorkshire league.

[Peter Shaw]

Sean
Great news on the Runcorn event. I hope that it goes well. For the Yorkshire based players though the weekend you have chosen may be an issue as last season this was the weekend of the first fixture of the Yorkshire Saturday League. I know that a few players from the NW also brave a trip over the Pennines to play in this Saturday league so they may also face a dilemma as to which comp to play in. The YCA fixtures have not yet been posted for the 2010/2011 season to my knowledge but I think it may be a safe bet that they go for Saturday 25th Sept as the week before is the Bradford Congress and the week after is the Whitby Congress. I just wanted to give you a heads up that support from Yorkshire may therefore be down if there is a clash, not because we don't want to play but because we have prior obligations to our Yorkshire clubs in the YCA league.
Andy
p.s. YCA League consists of 32 teams of 8 players.

Hi Andy,

I will mention this at the YCA AGM tomorrow. They normally ask for local congress dates at the AGM so they can sort out the Yorks league dates. You can mention it too if you're going!

I haven't missed a Yorkshire league game for 15 years (except for one where I was in hospital), but I probably will be missing one if they schedule a fixture on the Runcorn weekend.

[Mike Truran]

Peter

Perhaps you can mention the 4NCL Northern League dates as well, which it would be helpful to avoid a clash with if at all possible. All the dates are shown both on the 4NCL and the ECF websites.

Many thanks

Mike