Manchester Rapidplay Sunday 25 March 2012

[Mick Norris]

We had a total of 121 players (previous record 87) today at the City of Manchester Stadium

The Open was won by Alan Walton with Daniel Fernandez and James Hanley joint second

Full results to follow

[Mick Norris]

Chess and the City 5 - Manchester Rapidplay 25 March 2012

The fifth Manchester Rapidplay Chess Tournament was held at the City of Manchester Stadium on Sunday 25 March 2012. The event was organised by Sport4life on behalf of the Eagle Chess Club in association with the Manchester Chess Federation (MCF).

We were delighted with the numbers, with our best ever entry of 121 playing, an increase of 39% on our previous best entry. Possibly the introduction of an online entry system, and the bulk discount available to MCF clubs (albeit this was only taken up by 3Cs), made the difference.

The MCF would like to thank the sponsors, New East Manchester Ltd, Street Games and Equity Solutions; Chess Direct who supplied the bookstall; all the staff of Manchester City FC and the stadium who helped to make us welcome; and especially all the staff from Sport4Life.

With a number of photographers in attendance, look out for the post event publicity. Some photos will appear at http://www.manchesterchessfederation.co.uk/.

The entry fees were again tiered to encourage early entry, £15 before end February and £20 in advance. Despite this, a few players turned up to pay £25 on the day.

In each case, there was a £5 entry fee discount for juniors, but an extra £6 charged to non-ECF members, which obviously did not deter the players.

My thanks go to controllers Fiona Green, Julian Clissold and Rod Middleton; and to Rod for grading the results.

In the U120 section (56 players), the Trophies were won by:
1. Yousuf Bin-Suhayl (Wisbech grade 98) with a score of 6/6 winning £100
2. George Parkin (3Cs grade 94) with a score of 5.5/6 winning £50

Third place prize money was split on 4.5/6 with Bajram Paskali (Eagles grade 100), Josh Pendlebury (Worsley grade 101), Alexander Cartlidge (Cheddleton & Leek grade 102), George Scattergood (Holmes Chapel grade 109) and Jonathan Mahoney (Leeds grade 118) each winning £5

The U100 grading prize was won by Lee Hindley (Eccles grade 83) with 4.5/6 winning £40

In the U160 section (40 players), the Trophies were won by:

1. Balvinder Grewal (Nottingham Univ) with a score of 5/6 winning £50
2. Jamie Horton (3Cs grade 153) with a score of 5/6 winning £100
Brendan Brown (Clitheroe grade 151) was joint first with 5/6 and also won £100

The U140 grading trophy was won with 4/6 by Chris Hodgson (Worsley grade 137) winning £20 with the prize shared by Phillip Cattermole (Macclesfield grade 139) also winning £20

In the Open section (25 players), the Trophies were won by:

1. CM Alan Walton (3Cs grade 204) with a score of 5.5/6 winning £150

2. IM Daniel Fernandez (Marple grade 230) with 5/6 winning £87:50
James Hanley (Lancaster) was joint second with 5/6 and also won £87:50

The U180 grading trophy was won with 3.5/6 by Nathan Taylor (3Cs), with the prize money shared with Daniel Abbas (3Cs) and Hope Mkhumba (Chorlton) each winning £13.67

The Junior (U16) Trophies were won by:
1. Alexander Cartlidge (Cheddleton & Leek)
2. Stephen Chung (Skelmersdale)

We hope to stage the event again next year, subject to stadium availability.
Mick Norris
MCF President

[Mick Norris]

Cross Tables of results attached

[Phil Makepeace]

What on earth was Billy doing in the Under 160 section? He's >2100!

[Ian Kingston]

What on earth was Billy doing in the Under 160 section? He's >2100!

Good point. His last (and highest) rapidplay grade was 157 in 2005, so I suppose if you're only considering rapidplay grades that's perfectly reasonable.

[Alan Walton]

There were a few people complaining when they found out he was rated 2100+, but if you look at the report he only won £50, so presumably there was a rule ungraded players cannot win 1st prize in the lower sections

[Mick Norris]

It is the first year I haven't checked the entries myself - if I had done, he would have been in the Open, although he is currently ungraded (ECF)

I was pleased he came joint, rather than outright, first, as the other 2 joint winners were clearly eligible

Every year we have people entering sections which I don't think they should, but I don't know what to do about that

And every year, at about round 4 or 5 when it is too late to do anything about it, we have a complaint (normally, it is the same player who complains, but that's another story)

We have always had a rule that ungraded (ECF) players can't win grading prizes and can only win half of other prize money in grading limited sections

[Adam Raoof]

People who enter sections that they really shouldn't be playing in are a problem. However it is the organisers responsibility to check these things. It is often useful to have an eagle-eyed player complain

You might want to revisit the wording on the entry form for next year.

Grades as published in the most recent ECF listing will be used for this tournament.

That boxes you into a corner. Why specify the most recent list?

Players without a grade in the ECF are very welcome to enter, but must give details of any
previously held grading, or current grading from another body e.g. Yorkshire, NW ELO.

At this point you should pick up any players without any grades at all. Players with previous normal grades or rapidplay grades can easily be identified now on the ECF Grading Database.

Ungraded players are eligible to win all prizes except the grading prizes. Ungraded juniors
are also eligible to win one of the junior prizes

Why are they eligible?

Players who enter on the day can be checked online on the ECF Grading Database. If they have no FIDE rating or ECF grading history at that point, and they couldn't be bothered to supply and evidence of their ability, then they are ungraded and should probably NOT be eligible for cash prizes. Or at least a percentage.

[Richard Bates]

People who enter sections that they really shouldn't be playing in are a problem. However it is the organisers responsibility to check these things. It is often useful to have an eagle-eyed player complain

You might want to revisit the wording on the entry form for next year.

Grades as published in the most recent ECF listing will be used for this tournament.

That boxes you into a corner. Why specify the most recent list?

ECF grading becomes meaningless if organisers reserve the right to wilfully ignore the results it throws up. There may be a case for organisers using their discretion and a range of evidence for currently ungraded players, but it can hardly be right for them to pick and choose any grade published over the last few years for those with currently published grades. If you are going to use grading then you have to use the most recent one or if not (eg. the situation where organisers are using the last but one because of timing issues) the approach must be consistent for all players.

[Adam Raoof]

How about

Grades as published in the most recent ECF listing will be used for this tournament. Where a player does not currently have a published grade, all other information available to the organisers will be used to determine eligibility for grading limited sections and to allocate a grade for the tournament.