So who's going to the British Chess Championships?

[Matthew Turner]

Carl,
If the ECF decides not to offer conditions then I certainly understad the financial rationale, but Stewart said

"The parlous state of the English Chess Federation finances is such that we are offering support only to GMs and women who are IMs who are registered ENG with FIDE this year."

If money is used for conditions then you want to do it as early as possible to get the best players and be able to advertise that X and Y are playing.

[Carl Hibbard]

If money is used for conditions then you want to do it as early as possible to get the best players and be able to advertise that X and Y are playing.

Of course yes you are correct, apologies I didn't see Stewart mentioning those conditions

[Ben Purton]

I know this is weird question but I want to run a closed FIDE tourn with some sharks/mates. Do we need a FIDE arbiter to make it offical? Itll be my mums 2nd memorial tournament, Mcshane won the first one.

I mean Im pretty sure Ill need one, because what we have planned is basically some form of party tournament with an allnighter.......at mine. with around 8-10 of us.

Let me know , mainly direct at MR R as he knows all

Ben

[Ben Purton]

I personally think its an honour to play in British championship so I agree with the only GM's and strong women thing.

[Sean Hewitt]

I know this is weird question but I want to run a closed FIDE tourn with some sharks/mates. Do we need a FIDE arbiter to make it offical? Itll be my mums 2nd memorial tournament, Mcshane won the first one.

I mean Im pretty sure Ill need one, because what we have planned is basically some form of party tournament with an allnighter.......at mine. with around 8-10 of us.

Let me know , mainly direct at MR R as he knows all

Ben

If you want it to count for norms etc you need a FIDE or International Arbiter. If its just rated you still need an arbiter, but anyone can do it.

[Sean Hewitt]

Just a couple of comments on what Stewart has said.
1. I haven't received an invite to the British yet (not even an entry form). If the ECF is going to offer conditions to GM's, then really they should do it soon, otherwise people will have made other plans.

My understanding Matthew (and I may be wrong) is that there is a limited amount of conditions available and that interested GMs need to apply to be considered for them. Applications need to go to Stewart.

[Stewart Reuben]

Matthew,
I sent your invitation c/o your father as I do not have your email address. If you play, you will get £500 start money like the rest of thre GMs, provided you are in the first 9 English GMs to enter, I think 7 have already done so.
Since neither Rowson, nor Aagard are registered for the ECF, why should the ECF provide them with support when we do not have much money? There is nothing to stop Chess Scotland subsidising them.

When Smith & Williamson sponsored the British Championships they wanted the money to be angled towards the British Championship itself and getting British Isles publicity. Others would have other objectives. It is most unlikely that a sponsor would be in favour of a random Indian winning the British Championship. It might be different if Anand entered of course! People are muddling what they think would be an attractive event and what would give sponsors publicity.

By the way, you probably have not thought of the financial implications of barring the paying Indian players from the British Championships. It reduced the entry fee income by about 10%.

Matthew is quite right to say the British and the British Junior Championships are separate considerations. I don't know whether the BICC considered the issues separately (but I doubt it). I don't know whether they actually consulted Neil Graham who was the director at that time.

Stewart Reuben

[Stewart Reuben]

I did not previously see Ben's question. What is it doing in this thread?
Sean is basically correct.
A FIDE Rated tournament does not need an FA or IA to be in charge. This is also true of title norm tournaments until 30 June, they just have to be supervised. For those title events starting 1 July or later an FA or IA will be needed.

Ben, are you sure the players will want your fun tournament to be FIDE Rated? Players are often very protective of their rating and may be less likely to take part. For an event to be FIDE Rated, each player must have at least 120 minutes thinking time for each game, assuming at least one player is rated 2200 or higher. No more than 3 games a day.

Stewart Reuben

[Matthew Turner]

Stewart,
Peter didn't realise the E-mail was for me. He was delighted that the International Director had shown so much faith in him, so was just setting about going for the GM title.
I don't think there is any particular reason why the ECF should pay conditions for Scottish players. I am grateful for you clarifying the situation.
Finally, I hadn't thought about the entry fees that the Indians had paid to enter the British, but yes it could certainly have a considerable impact on the Congress' finances.

My E-mail is [email protected]

[David Gilbert]

Well I for one – as a spectator – would be delighted to see Matthew playing at Torquay. Probably our most exciting and farthest out tacticial players of the era. And back in 2002 I remember watching Matthew in a impromptu coaching session with spellbound Millfield kids in the outside area at the Riveria Centre. That was fantastic.

[Adam Raoof]

It is most unlikely that a sponsor would be in favour of a random Indian winning the British Championship. It might be different if Anand entered of course! People are muddling what they think would be an attractive event and what would give sponsors publicity.

By the way, you probably have not thought of the financial implications of barring the paying Indian players from the British Championships. It reduced the entry fee income by about 10%.

I can only ask readers to look at the obvious contradictions in the above statement, and reiterate that the decision to bar Indian players was ill-judged. Anand may have entered. He can't now. What 'attractive event' would not give sponsors publicity? We are losing money on the Championships and not gaining extra publicity by excluding players. Make it an Open and give the title of British Champion to the highest eligible player. By moving in smaller and smaller circles and treating Scottish ex-Champions so shabbily we only weaken what should be the very best tournament in the UK, if not Europe.

[Stewart Reuben]

The current British Chmpionship is not open to all even from the British Isles. People have to qualify and that helps maintain a network of events round the country.
We could make the event open to all from anywhere. Then we would be in competition with the many events in Europe that take place at that time.
Adam can, or could, make the proposal for a sweeping change to the British Open Championship, but he has never hitherto done so, at last as far as I know. What on earth makes him think having a few random Russian-speaking GMs in the event would increase publicity? His proposal is full of contradictions, which could be ironed out.
To get Anand to play in an open Swiss might cost something like £100,000.
He might prefer us to have had the two Scottish ex-champions and perhaps just 6 English GMs, rather than 10. But would that really be a better way to spend ENGLISH Chess Federation money? When it was the British Chess Federation the object was to develop chess in the Commonwealth which includes of course the rest of the UK. That is no longer so. Some might argue that it is an improper use of ECF money to spend it on Scot, Irish, Welsh, French, Swiss, Croatian registered players.
stewart Reuben

[Mick Norris]

But would that really be a better way to spend ENGLISH Chess Federation money? When it was the British Chess Federation the object was to develop chess in the Commonwealth which includes of course the rest of the UK. That is no longer so. Some might argue that it is an improper use of ECF money to spend it on Scot, Irish, Welsh, French, Swiss, Croatian registered players.
stewart Reuben

yes, I think we should spend English money on English registered players - let's face it we don't have enough money as it is

[Adam Raoof]

Sorry Stewart, I didn't express myself well.

Adam can, or could, make the proposal for a sweeping change to the British Open Championship, but he has never hitherto done so, at last as far as I know. What on earth makes him think having a few random Russian-speaking GMs in the event would increase publicity? His proposal is full of contradictions, which could be ironed out.

I meant that I believe strongly that we should return to a situation where British and Commonwealth players are welcome in the Championships, under the original conditions. Nobody has given me an argument in favour of the changes to the Championships that convinces me that they were for the better, and I would happily hear that argument. Until then, I believe our Championships are weakened by our attitude to Commonwealth and non-English players. Let us welcome them back! Anand may charge £100k to enter an Open Swiss, but as I said, he once had the opportunity to enter the British Championships if he wished. He does not have that option any longer.

[David Gilbert]

I agree from a neutral point of view that the british championships is a poorer event without the internationals. But you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows and the Indians are not about to be welcomed back into the fold. On the otherhand great to see that Gwain Jones, Stephen Gordon, Simon Williams, Peter Wells, Danny Gormally and Jovanka Houska have joined Mark Hebden and Dietmar Kolbus on the entry list. Hope Stuart Conquest is going to defend his title. It could yet be interesting.