English Chess Forum

I'm sure being a team captain can't be good for your grade. I can think of two sorts of reason why it can have a adverse effect:
(i) Distractions during your own game. For example, chasing up missing team members or trying to arrange substitutes once the match has started. Or interruptions at crucial moments, ranging from a request from an opposing player for another cup of tea, through to queries about clock settings or disputes on other boards.
(ii) Feeling obliged to turn out when you wouldn't have done so for a competition you were playing in as an individual. For example, becoming unwell on the day of of an away match, but you've already agreed to provide a lift for half your team, or being involved in a traffic accident on the way to the venue, but you still have to go there as you are the key holder that night.

All of the above have happened to me over the past year and I think I've lost games that I wouldn't normally have done as a result. I reckon that team captaincy probably knocks two or three points off your ECF grade.

I’m sure some people would say that being a team captain can be very good for your grade! With the proviso that you are non-playing...

Richard Bates wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:52 pm

I’m sure some people would say that being a team captain can be very good for your grade! With the proviso that you are non-playing...

LawrenceCooper wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 30, 2019 6:05 pm

Richard Bates wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 30, 2019 5:52 pm

I’m sure some people would say that being a team captain can be very good for your grade! With the proviso that you are non-playing...

Naming no names.

I'm definitely more motivated in team competition than individual. Does captaining a side add extra pressure to performance, personally yes, but it also provides extra purpose and focus. Fortunately my players are generally reliable, and the match night distractions are those common to any keen team members - the unpredictable chaos of other boards.

Yes. I hated being a captain, though I was not too bothered with the grade more in my result for the team.
Never really minded losing in an individual event, it goes with the style, but losing a league game made me feel I had let others down.

I often captained a team of perpetual late arrivers. You cannot concentrate fully till they all arrive.
(they would saunter in with a dopey grin on their face, a pint in the hand and ask for a pen...)

I also disliked the pre match chit chat with the captain whilst we filled out team sheets.
I had a pre-game routine involving me going away to a quiet area for 10 minutes to zone in.
Instead I was giving a speech about time controls and board orders...
...and somewhere amongst that crowd was some hapless lad who I was going to swindle.

Once took a team for an away game when in fact it was a home game. (OOPS! 0-6 default and a fine.)

The good news is I once dropped Dave Archibald from the Sandy Bells first team because he insisted on playing the English Opening. (true!)

But there is no doubt it affects your play (well it did with me) I won a lot of league games as a none captain. Results mixed when a captain.
('cept one season where I captained Bells for their first season. I won 11, drew 1 and lost none - but we started off in Division II.)

"I often captained a team of perpetual late arrivers. You cannot concentrate fully till they all arrive."

Yes, me too. We also had a guy who would forget unless you reminded him on the day!

Hi Kevin,

My lot you had to keep reminding. They would meet up in Bells and and say they would see me there!

I phoned Bells one night to tell the barman to kick them out and get a taxi.

After the match the serious drinking would start. I always had a days holiday the next day which
is just as well because we sometimes had 'lock ins', the bar would close but we were allowed to stay...till 4 or 5 am.

I play for my club in three different leagues, but am captain for just one of these teams, so I have checked my grading performance in each league for the last 5 years, and found only a 2% improvement in those games where I was not captain. This is based on a total of between 25 & 30 games per year across the three leagues, so may not be statistically significant.

I think there is a pretty massive grade restriction for being a captain - when I was a country Captain I spent many weeks organising each match and generally had to settle for quick draws with guys 30-40 points lower then me on bottom board just so I had chance to catch the rest of my team and collect match fees.

Grading difference between that era and going back to being just a player is about 50 points