Chess Scotland headline

[Roger de Coverly]

The Chess Scotland website current headline is the unremarkable news that someone has declined to renew their membership. http://www.chessscotland.com/news/?p=2329

Noting that it also says that he's an ex-President and current director, by this they are also announcing that one of their directors is standing down. Ownership and moderation rights on their forum and the use of their Standards Commission is one of their issues, but they seem to have major problems with clashes between junior organisers and parents or organiser/parents with the question of selection for international and UK wide events being a sticking point.

[Angus McDonald]

Just a comment on Parental Involvement in Sport.

Both Wimbledon singles winners had parents who had drive and ability in the sport they have been successful at.
Andy Murray's mother and Marion Bartoli's father being the people without whom their children would not be champions.
The combination of a child with drive and ability and a parent with drive and ability can be compelling. Both were labelled pushy
parents but parents know their children and how they learn best. Any sporting association which harnesses that drive in the best way rather than intimidate and criticise will thrive also in my opinion. Getting those parents with drive involved early in an inclusive organisation will help other juniors also and bring success. imho
Often parental involvement is criticised by people who aren't parents. That's fair enough but! there is a narrowness to that criticism. I can e.g remember how I thought before I was a parent.
This is a serious point you can't look at the Wimbledon winners and think that the parental part of their success is a fluke ?
It does need though a strong association to cope with all these super keen parents floating around. Potentially though it is a good thing.

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Roger

On the whole I think the CS is a bit tame compared to this forum.

The parents/kids issue simmers away but often it's a misunderstanding.

On here you get all kinds of flame wars usually over nothing. I love it.

(Damn!...Look like I'm too late to get involved in that exciting 1½ pages on a spelling mistake.)

Hi Angus.

"...you can't look at the Wimbledon winners and think that the parental part of their success is a fluke."

It's not a fluke, but it's not the sole or main reason Andy won.
He is now 26, parents influence would cease round about 17/18, If he did not want to continue
with the game he would have jacked it in then.

Andy's mum is a professional tennis coach, she knows a fair bit about the game.
She encouraged her son like any mother would, but he comes across as someone who
would not do something he did not want to do.
He is quoted as saying there is special bond between him and his mum.
This is not unique, there is a special bond between every mother and her son.

You cannot be pushed to a Wimbledon title, that is dedication.
So you are not have Andy Murray as a 'without the parents he would have failed.' icon.

As for Marion Bartoli, I've no idea. I hate tennis.

[Angus McDonald]

Hi Geoff,

You mentioned,

It's not a fluke, but it's not the sole or main reason Andy won.
He is now 26, parents influence would cease round about 17/18, If he did not want to continue
with the game he would have jacked it in then.

I agree with you. That is why I said I thought it was a combination of the 2. In Murray's case he was a tournament winner when he was 12. His mother is an extremely talented coach. She coached a group in Aberdeen a few years back which included 2 of my children and she was highly skilled and had infectious enthusiasm which lit the whole place up. Andy and Jamie, having one to one and one to two exposure to this kind of skilled and joyful coaching must have been inspired from a young age. So it may be that it's the one to one time spent with a fantastic coach that is the important factor and significant one to one coaching is probably more possible in a family where one of the parents is a talented coach. ? In terms of Chess. It's the parents who take their children to tournaments. Numbers will grow if their contribution and drive (and driving ) is appreciate and harnessed for the betterment of the game. That includes letting them have input into what they want to see in terms of development for their children. This does happen to an extent but too many non parents calling them pushy parents doesn't help. Creating a role for all parents who desire it could be important rather than only having a few parents involved in organising. imho

There is info out there about Marion Bartoli if anyone wants to check it? Just to mention that she was supposedly measured with an IQ of 175 when she was young. which is 1 in a million if correct. Any good parent being told that about their child has suddenly been given a big responsibility to develop that talent. Some parents will try and others couldn't care less. Just different outlooks. Nobody can criticise. imho

I thought you'd love Tennis Geoff. No computers in tennis apart from Hawkeye! (You don't think we've been cheating..........?)

[David Gilbert]

From today's New York Times

"Xie Chengfeng had a fever. Otherwise, the Chinese golfer would have been driving his orange coupe to the practice range on this June morning rather than languishing in bed, cold towel on his forehead, in his four-story mansion. Five years ago, Xie (pronounced “shee-eh”) and his family uprooted themselves and moved to Mission Hills, a sprawling golf resort in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen for just one purpose: so he could become the next Tiger Woods.

Nearly every day of the year, when he’s not competing in a tournament, Xie works out in the morning, using the punching bag, medicine balls and bull whip (to strengthen his wrists) in the second-floor living room overlooking a quiet lagoon. Then he’s off to the members-only driving range for two hours of training, hitting balls with every club in his bag. After lunch, Xie works on chipping and putting before playing a round on one of Mission Hills’ 22 courses (it bills itself as the world’s largest golf club). Nearly every other activity is designed to benefit Xie’s golf game: piano lessons to strengthen his fingers; math tutorials to help him calculate distances, wind speeds and green breaks; and a daily English class to prepare him for his eventual arrival on the PGA Tour.

Xie is 8 years old."

[David Robertson]

Just another dull golfer then Poor kid - impoverished in the things that matter

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Angus.

There is cheating at tennis. It happens everytime a player does not get his first service across.
He is allowed another Go.

What kind of sport allows a players two chances?
It's akin to taking a move back at chess.

In athletics (another 'sport' I detest - how can running be a sport?)
If you jump the start you are out. Disqualified, no second chance. Gone.

Ban the first service law and then we would see more rallies which is what tennis is about.
Not having a free shot at blasting a ball as hard you can knowing it does not matter if you fail.
And their scoring system needs sorting as well, it's stupid.
What kind of sport scores it's points by jumps from 15 to 30 to 45?

And new balls....why? Are they broken?
Can you imagine in snooker (yet another game I'm not fond off) where they sweeep the table
of the old balls to replace them with new balls.

Good luck to that Xie Chengfeng lad.
Cannot wait to see him trying to come to terms with a Scottish golf course in typical Scottish weather.

(Oh. I nearly forgot to mention.....I totally hate golf as well.)

[Angus McDonald]

lol Geoff re your comments re sports in general.

If the young Chinese lad turns out like Tiger they're going to have their hands full. 1, Counting the money
2. Paying for the law suits and rehab.

I guess some would blame Tiger's Dad for his success.

[Roger de Coverly]

On the whole I think the CS is a bit tame compared to this forum.

They must have some hot stuff on there as it's now been hidden to the casual browser. Does this screen it from search engines as well?

I guess it means they can fight their internal wars without external mockery. It also means that any publicity or marketing that Chess Scotland might want to do via their forum is now out of bounds. Aren't they supposedly running the Commonwealth championships next year?

In order to both view and post on the forum, you need to register to become a member of the forum.

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Roger

I think it's an experiment that was mentioned at the recent Scottish AGM.

It's a recent thing (today infact) I thought it was aimed at me to stop me posting there
as I'm giving them a hard time for not posting the PGN's of the Scottish Championship.

Could be the first barrier that is going up preparing for Independance.

There is something ticking over on the junior chess scene but I know nothing aout it.

All I know is the Scottish kids tend to ignore their parents and just get on with the game.

[Roger de Coverly]

I think it's an experiment that was mentioned at the recent Scottish AGM.

If you were paranoid, it's quite sinister. If registration is required to read any content whatsoever, they will have lists of who is reading the site. In practice it's probably going to be nobody, so they might as well have closed down.

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Roger,

All chess players are paranoid.

It's the years of suspecting every move we see is a trap.

Put 100 normal people in a row and among them place one seasoned chess player.
I could pick out the chess player.

That haunted shifty-eyed look is a dead give away.

[Alistair Campbell]

Leaving aside the remarkable similarity between my own daily egime and that of Master Chengfeng, I'll make a couple of comments on the main points, if I may.

Mike Hanley has been a major figure in Scottish Chess for decades - arguably it is news that he has quit.

There has been a long running dispute between what appear to be 2 main factions over the running of junior chess, and Mike’s resignation appears to be the latest shot in this battle. (No doubt the situation is more subtle than the black and white manner in which I’ve painted it). However, it is interesting that the debate appeared to have shifted onto whether it was right to accept his resignation so quickly and if so, whether this should be publicised.

Neither is any big deal, IMO, compared to the reasons for the resignation, which are shrouded in mystery, although apparently anyone who is anyone in Scottish Chess has received some sort of email which may give some further details. I'm speculating a little, as no-one has emailed me (fortunately) although I've received multiple invitations to play something called Bejeweled Blitz. I've no idea what that is, but it doesn’t sound my bag.

However, there does appear to be a desire to drag other parties into the dispute. This seems unfortunate, and may be why the powers that be have decided to reduce access to the Noticeboard (which seems to be the other favourite talking point) as some sort of experiment. (I note en passant, that the AGM hasn’t happened yet – it is due to be held in a place called Glasgow in August). I do find this action slightly bizarre, though (the additional secrecy that is, rather than going to Glasgow...). Given Scotland’s national championships are being held, one might have thought they should be celebrated, rather than hushed up further?

Anyhoo - better go and hit some balls. But not until I've finished my lunch...

[John Townsend]

Happily, the History Archive, maintained by Alan McGowan, continues to be accessible without any need to register, as it is not part of the forum.

[Alex Holowczak]

I'm speculating a little, as no-one has emailed me (fortunately) although I've received multiple invitations to play something called Bejeweled Blitz. I've no idea what that is, but it doesn’t sound my bag.

Wait until the Candy Crush Saga invitations start arriving...