English Chess Forum

Brian Valentine wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 19, 2018 8:28 am

1. Any conversion has to take into account non FIDE alternatives, e.g Welsh or Scottish Elo.

Or, we need alternative formulas for them.

Brian Valentine wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 19, 2018 8:28 am

2. It is not clear that all organisers want the safety margin on the side of FIDE as opposed to on the side of ECF

I'm not sure I want a "safety margin", as such. But I would like a conversion formula that's accurate, and we don't really have that at the moment.

Brian Valentine wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 19, 2018 8:28 am

2. The ECF grades in 2009 were set too close together. They are still dispersing to a more stable position.

It was obvious that increasing the "average" player by around 20 to 25 points whilst leaving the top players unchanged reduced the gap between the elite and the average. Those who were shouting at the ECF that the grades were wrong were not prepared to accept this as undesirable.

In the grading range we are talking about, Congresses would increase their cut off for the second section from 170 to 180. Kidlington did this for example.

It is inevitable that when there are grading restrictions someone could lose out by one point. More so if there is more than one grading criteria to meet. There are plenty of congresses to chose from.
I'm looking for congresses which do not clash with southwestern train rail strikes and failing miserably.

Why not organise one yourself in the railway waiting room with entries from other stranded passengers?

Most waiting rooms were closed long ago. I'm trying to remember seeing a table at a waiting room.

Many organisers mess around with gradings on fide and ECF.
What most of us want is games against similarly graded players and no defaults or wins by byes.
Are there a lot of players that want to win prizes based on a restricted entry to get our kicks?

Those that do not drive are looking for a reasonable public transport journey.

Nick Grey wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 21, 2018 1:35 pm

Are there a lot of players that want to win prizes based on a restricted entry to get our kicks?

When a weekends chess typically costs a couple of hundred quid - its more a case of hoping for some occasional damage limitation.

The fact that all tournaments offer cash prizes answers your question.
The fact that when given the choice of an open tournament or a restricted tournament with good prizes - the majority choose the latter, also answers your question.

I would suggest that the thrill of winning a tournament is as important as a prize also.

Nick, I hope you find your tournaments. The January 2019 list will be out in February. Plenty of time to lose a few points.

A weekend chess with overnight stay is expensive in terms of what I can justify to my better half.

Then again my last chess tournament win was before I met her.