So who's going to the British Chess Championships?

[Alex Holowczak]

The Ulster Chess Union can't really be the Northern Irish representative at FIDE, because Monaghan, Donegal and somewhere else that I forget is part of the Republic, rather than Northern Ireland. So you'd have counties from Eire being Northern Irish, which has far more potential to cause problems and confusion than a unified Ireland.

You mean the county of Cavan.

The status of Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal is clear: they have been administered by the Leinster Chess Union for several years, since the Ulster Chess Union's breakaway attempt.

I think people should say the Republic of Ireland ("Poblacht na hÉireann" if you prefer) when making clear boundaries between administration there and in Northern Ireland, otherwise it should simply be known as Ireland. It should not be called Eire, unless you wish to converse in Irish, rather than English. Eire was the constitutional name from 1937 to 1949 in the native language. However, for political reasons concerned with the then Article 4 of the Irish constitution, British administrations insisted on calling Ireland Eire in English as well as Irish. This practise has been discontinued officially for more than half a century, but, as with Stewart for instance, some British people of the older generation retain this name in their lexicon. It should be discouraged, particularly in this era of reconciliation.

I am originally from Northern Ireland, grew up there and played chess there (and often south of the border too) as a junior. I never knew any chess event to be interrupted by The Troubles.

I regard the suggestion that the British Championships should not be held these days in Northern Ireland because of some minor terrorist inconveniences as very uninformed as to the true levels of crime there (much lower than in London, I can reassure you). I would recommend beautiful Newcastle, County Down (where the mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea) or Portrush, near the Giants Causeway on the north coast.

Stewart, I would ask you to reconsider. Please contact me or the Ulster or Irish Chess Unions. I'm sure you would change your mind if you were provided with better information and had the opportunity to visit the place yourself.

Best Regards,
Paul McKeown.

I didn't realise Leinster Chess governed those three counties. Sorry if you were offended by my confusion of Eire/Ireland etc. It's quite tough to know which name to use.

Royal County Down and Royal Portrush have golf courses with beautiful scenery, so I'd imagine the regions make great holiday destinations scenery-wise.

[Paul McKeown]

Yep. And as a Rugby fan, I always think that the Ireland team showed how sport breaks all sorts of barriers.

Agreed.

[Ben Purton]

Talking of going to the British championships, I am catching the 4.33 from Reading to Torquay. This is of course pending to my boss turning up as relief manager.

Ben

[Paul McKeown]

Sorry if you were offended by my confusion of Eire/Ireland etc. It's quite tough to know which name to use.

I'm not offended; it's just that saying, "Eire" is anachronistic. You might as well say, "The Free State" in that case.

In fact one should really say, "Ireland" for the state and refer to the "Island of Ireland" when dealing with issues pertaining to all 32 counties. That's what the Irish law says. The 1998 Belfast Agreement accepts this position on behalf of the British government, although I'm not aware that British statute has caught up with this yet. In any case, the British media, with the exception of the BBC, use the name, "Republic of Ireland" for the state and "Ireland" for the island. The BBC uses "Ireland" and "Island of Ireland".

I think it clearest to use "Republic of Ireland" and "Ireland" at this time and later, "Ireland" and the "Island of Ireland", when British usage has caught up. Certainly not "Eire", in any case, nor the "Free State", "Southern Ireland", "The South", the "26 Counties", or any other politically laden term.

[Paul McKeown]

Players from all the British Isles, including Eire, have been permitted to play since 1988. Prior to that the Southern Irish were not allowed to play, they, of course, were not then and are not now in the Commonwealth, whose playersd have not been allowed to play since 2004.

Stewart, how can you tell? There are probably players from the Republic of Ireland living in Northern Ireland and vice versa. British (and Irish) law accepts that people from Northern Ireland may have British, Irish or dual nationality. Do you, by way of argument, propose to reject players from Northern Ireland with Irish citizenship? Or is it a matter of membership of the Ulster Chess Union, which is not recognised by FIDE, and whose players have to be members of the Irish Chess Union to compete internationally? Or is it a matter of residence on British soil? Many Irish chess players from the Republic live in the British mainland, never mind in Northern Ireland and I wouldn't bet against Northern Irish players living outside the United Kingdom. And what about players born in 1949 or earlier, when Ireland had not yet declared itself a Republic and whose citizenship is recognised (by British law in any case), I understand, as British. [Hence Terry Wogan is a knight of the realm.] Surely they would have a legal right to participate in the British Seniors, if they so wished, assuming that their playing strength precluded their participation in the championship itself.

In fact that last point would apply to seniors throughout the former British Dominions, wouldn't it? Perhaps some expert on the finer legal points of British citizenship could correct me?

P.

[Stewart Reuben]

It is most unlikely I will be responsible for the British Championships from 2010 on.
2010 Canterbury.
2011 Sheffield provided the players agree.
2012 Llandudno provided they offer the venue free.
2013 the 100th should be in England in a fine venue at a fine resort. Torquay or Plymouth would be ideal.
The event was last in Scotland in 2003. The rotation is getting badly out of synch for them.

The low entry for the Isle of Man leads me to believe the ECF Board will not look favourably on any part of Ireland, Guernsey or Jersey as a possible venue sometime in the near future. Unbelievably two people did suggest Brittany.

When an application was made to FIDE for separate status to Ireland (it never had a chance in my opinion), their advocate used the term Ulster Chess Union. This was because he felt Northern Ireland would seem pejorative to some delegates.

Stewart Reuben

[Alex Holowczak]

The event was last in Scotland in 2003. The rotation is getting badly out of synch for them.
Stewart Reuben

Not great for the Midlands either!

[Paul McKeown]

It is most unlikely I will be responsible for the British Championships from 2010 on.

That's a great pity - you will be missed.
P.

[Paul McKeown]

The event was last in Scotland in 2003. The rotation is getting badly out of synch for them.
Stewart Reuben

Not great for the Midlands either!

Not great for London for that matter, either. And I agree that Birmingham would make an excellent venue.

P.

[Paul McKeown]

The low entry for the Isle of Man leads me to believe the ECF Board will not look favourably on any part of Ireland, Guernsey or Jersey as a possible venue sometime in the near future.

To be fair, and without wanting to offend any reading Manx, the Isle of Man is hardly a tourist idyll. I would greatly approve of Guernsey or Jersey or either part of Ireland, they have all the facilities and scenery that a tourist could want. And Guernsey and Jersey have great weather too.

[Ben Purton]

Why not Dublin, that would be cool!

End of the day it would cost me more in 2 hours to get to Torquay than somewhere like Dublin

Ben

[Paul McKeown]

Why not Dublin, that would be cool!

End of the day it would cost me more in 2 hours to get to Torquay than somewhere like Dublin

Ben

I would recommend Cork rather than Dublin.

[Stewart Reuben]

Paul,
I think you are confused. Players from anywhere in Ireland ARE permitted to play in the British Championships and have been for over 20 years - at my instigation. The rule for 2009 states:
Open only to British Isles subjects or players resident therein for the past year, or those with British Overseas Dependent Territories Citizenship.
The decision to permit their participation was made because it was thought it would help Irish chess (it certainly had the backing of the ICU) and could do no harm to the British Championships. The issue of, policing the entry to make certain people did not compete who were not entitled to play, was a very minor one. I had been told people had entered from the South, using a Northern address, but I was never told who.

Stewart Reuben

[Ben Purton]

I know I say it alot but I went to around 8 British's the best thus far was Brighton probaly. Edinburgh was ok also.

I know some crap regarding the floor! but still!

[Ben Purton]

Pubs, clubs, The streets, More single women than most towns....its got the lot