Congresses not passing on game fee discount to entrants?

[Angus French]

Sorry, we seem to have hijacked this thread as so often happens, but as I believe the initial query has been satisfactorily answered I will proceed with my hypothetical question.

Lets say I emigrate to Canada and decide I'd like to continue playing chess. I want it graded by the Canadian Chess Association and may enter the odd FIDE rated tournament. Would the ECF be able to block my FIDE rated games because I am an ENG player?

Yes. You should register through the CFC (Canadian Chess Federation) as CAN, which is a relatively simple process.

Wouldn't that cost at least 250 Euro? (See http://ratings.fide.com/fedchange.phtml.)

[IM Jack Rudd]

Sorry, we seem to have hijacked this thread as so often happens, but as I believe the initial query has been satisfactorily answered I will proceed with my hypothetical question.

Lets say I emigrate to Canada and decide I'd like to continue playing chess. I want it graded by the Canadian Chess Association and may enter the odd FIDE rated tournament. Would the ECF be able to block my FIDE rated games because I am an ENG player?

Yes. You should register through the CFC (Canadian Chess Federation) as CAN, which is a relatively simple process.

Wouldn't that cost at least 250 Euro? (See http://ratings.fide.com/fedchange.phtml.)

And besides, he might want to carry on playing as an Englishman - a Canadian norm tournament might jump at the chance to get a Canada-resident foreigner.

[Roger de Coverly]

Wouldn't that cost at least 250 Euro? (See http://ratings.fide.com/fedchange.phtml.)

It's FIDE's fee that makes the ECF's policy of blackmail unacceptable.

[Sean Hewitt]

It's FIDE's fee that makes the ECF's policy of blackmail unacceptable.

You're saying that requiring a player to be a member of their national federation is blackmail? That's nonsense. I would say it is simply normal practice. It is common in chess, and in many other sports.

It's a bit like describing the threat of imprisonment for a criminal offence as 'blackmail'. Ridiculous.

[Mike Truran]

The 4NCL would permit you to play one weekend a season without being an ECF Gold member, but on past precedent, the ECF will use the resulting reactivation of your rating as an excuse to suspend it.

My understanding from the ECF is that it is not ECF policy to deactivate the rating of a player who has played solely as a wildcard, and that if anyone has been incorrectly deactivated this will be corrected upon application to the IRO.

[Roger de Coverly]

It's FIDE's fee that makes the ECF's policy of blackmail unacceptable.

You're saying that requiring a player to be a member of their national federation is blackmail? I would say it is simply normal practice. It is common in chess, and in many other sports.

The specific blackmail is where the player has moved to another country.

You can always decline to participate if your local organisations impose unacceptable conditions. When it's an organisation that you don't wish to have any further contact with together with a world body that demands an exit fee, why is that anything other than a lifetime of blackmail?

So what is membership about? Is it fund raising or is it control by those running the organisation to give themselves powers to exclude participants hostile to them?

Personally I believe that having an open structure of participation rather than a closed member only structure is beneficial to the development of any sport, game or pastime.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Jack, Roger,

Thanks for the comprehensive replies! Obviously these were pretty generic questions. My club/league will indeed insist on membership, as I imagine lots will, but it seems that my FIDE rating will just not wither on the vine! I am just not clear whether Gold membership will be required to retain the FIDE rating (ie not hide it), or whether Bronze will do.

Gold membership or above is required to maintain a FIDE rating.

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/?page_id=18867

Really? What if someone just stops playing chess for a few years. Do they really have to pay the ECF Gold membership to maintain an active FIDE rating? Surely the common sense approach would be to just let the FIDE rating go inactive (without any proactive effort by the ECF - that takes time and money, remember). If someone who is inactive wants their FIDE rating to remain active (for whatever reason), surely they can pay the "annual FIDE rating registration fee" some other way? This is not entirely hypothetical. I do play FIDE-rated tournaments abroad (registered as ENG), and I may one year do this without having played any chess in this country. What happens then?

[Roger de Coverly]

My understanding from the ECF is that it is not ECF policy to deactivate the rating of a player who has played solely as a wildcard, and that if anyone has been incorrectly deactivated this will be corrected upon application to the IRO.

When the ECF first introduced the deactivation policy, it was applied to 4NCL wildcards. So when did the policy change and where does it say this in published ECF policy?

Provided that Congress organisers had been checking ENG events for ENG members, the only way to retain an active rating without being an ECF member at the time of play was to play in a non-ENG tournament or league, or as a 4NCL wild card.

[Roger de Coverly]

I do play FIDE-rated tournaments abroad (registered as ENG), and I may one year do this without having played any chess in this country. What happens then?

If you aren't a Gold member, you will be treated as a cheat and have your rating suspended.This was Matthew's point, about the lifetime commitment to pay the ECF.

[Sean Hewitt]

If you aren't a Gold member, you will be treated as a cheat .

No you won't. You will be treated as a non ECF member.

[Sean Hewitt]

Jack, Roger,

Thanks for the comprehensive replies! Obviously these were pretty generic questions. My club/league will indeed insist on membership, as I imagine lots will, but it seems that my FIDE rating will just not wither on the vine! I am just not clear whether Gold membership will be required to retain the FIDE rating (ie not hide it), or whether Bronze will do.

If you have an active FIDE rating (except playing as a 4NCL wildcard) then you will need to be a Gold ECF member. If you have an inactive FIDE rating (or have only played as a 4NCL wildcard) then you do not need any ECF membership at all.

[Adam Raoof]

My understanding from the ECF is that it is not ECF policy to deactivate the rating of a player who has played solely as a wildcard, and that if anyone has been incorrectly deactivated this will be corrected upon application to the IRO.

When the ECF first introduced the deactivation policy, it was applied to 4NCL wildcards. So when did the policy change and where does it say this in published ECF policy?

Provided that Congress organisers had been checking ENG events for ENG members, the only way to retain an active rating without being an ECF member at the time of play was to play in a non-ENG tournament or league, or as a 4NCL wild card.

That is incorrect, the policy was clearly set out to deregister players for not being members, starting with the most active players and ignoring inactive players and players who have less than 5 games.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

If you aren't a Gold member, you will be treated as a cheat .

No you won't. You will be treated as a non ECF member.

Is it possible to be ENG-registered without being an ECF member? I'm asking because what I want is the assurance that if at some point I stop playing chess for a few years, that my FIDE rating would just inactivate normally (and reactivate normally), as opposed to the ECF proactively deactivately it. I would be quite happy to pay the "annual FIDE rating registration fee" separately, but I think the key point in all this is that FIDE only accept the registration fee through national federations and not from individuals, is that correct?

[Adam Raoof]

If you aren't a Gold member, you will be treated as a cheat .

No you won't. You will be treated as a non ECF member.

Is it possible to be ENG-registered without being an ECF member? I'm asking because what I want is the assurance that if at some point I stop playing chess for a few years, that my FIDE rating would just inactivate normally (and reactivate normally), as opposed to the ECF proactively deactivately it. I would be quite happy to pay the "annual FIDE rating registration fee" separately, but I think the key point in all this is that FIDE only accept the registration fee through national federations and not from individuals, is that correct?

If you are active, playing more than just a few games as a filler, you need to join. Otherwise, relax.

[IM Jack Rudd]

If you aren't a Gold member, you will be treated as a cheat .

No you won't. You will be treated as a non ECF member.

Is it possible to be ENG-registered without being an ECF member? I'm asking because what I want is the assurance that if at some point I stop playing chess for a few years, that my FIDE rating would just inactivate normally (and reactivate normally), as opposed to the ECF proactively deactivately it. I would be quite happy to pay the "annual FIDE rating registration fee" separately, but I think the key point in all this is that FIDE only accept the registration fee through national federations and not from individuals, is that correct?

If you're ENG-registered, you will remain ENG-registered unless you specifically change federation. Whether the ECF deactivates your rating is a separate point from this.