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Re: London chess classic

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 1:40 pm
by Roger de Coverly
Alex Holowczak wrote:
Sun Aug 26, 2018 2:34 pm

When has the British Knockout Championship been announced in the past, relative to the announcement of the Festival?
The September 2018 edition of "Chess" has a full page advert for the 4NCL Telford Congress from 31st October to 4th November. One of the sections is described as "GM Norm FIDE Rated Open with one qualifying place for the 2018 British KO Championship"

That at least confirm the KO Championship is taking place, even if it doesn't confirm when and where.

Re: London chess classic

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 2:40 pm
by Roger de Coverly
I've just noticed something about the entry details.

https://tickets.londonchessclassic.com/ ... s.php#fide
Who Can Enter?: Anyone can enter the FIDE Open.
Rating Prizes
2250-2349 £300, £200, £100
2150-2249 £300, £200, £100
2050-2149 £300, £200, £100
Why? Last year there was no lower limit on the rating prize. If they want to discourage lower rated players, why not do it the honest way? Exclude players of 2049 and below from the Open and run a parallel B section to the same timetable.

Re: London chess classic

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 2:48 pm
by NickFaulks
Roger de Coverly wrote:
Fri Aug 31, 2018 2:40 pm
I've just noticed something about the entry details.
It was the very first thing I noticed. It's so pathetic I decided that it wasn't even worthy of mention, but of course it is.

Re: London chess classic

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 3:19 pm
by Nigel White
Roger de Coverly wrote:
Fri Aug 31, 2018 2:40 pm
I've just noticed something about the entry details.

https://tickets.londonchessclassic.com/ ... s.php#fide
Who Can Enter?: Anyone can enter the FIDE Open.
Rating Prizes
2250-2349 £300, £200, £100
2150-2249 £300, £200, £100
2050-2149 £300, £200, £100
Why? Last year there was no lower limit on the rating prize. If they want to discourage lower rated players, why not do it the honest way? Exclude players of 2049 and below from the Open and run a parallel B section to the same timetable.
But in the pdf of the tournament rules there are rating prizes for under 2050: https://www.londonchessclassic.com/down ... s_2018.pdf

Re: London chess classic

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 3:21 pm
by Nick Burrows
Roger de Coverly wrote:
Fri Aug 31, 2018 2:40 pm
I've just noticed something about the entry details.

https://tickets.londonchessclassic.com/ ... s.php#fide
Who Can Enter?: Anyone can enter the FIDE Open.
Rating Prizes
2250-2349 £300, £200, £100
2150-2249 £300, £200, £100
2050-2149 £300, £200, £100
Why? Last year there was no lower limit on the rating prize. If they want to discourage lower rated players, why not do it the honest way? Exclude players of 2049 and below from the Open and run a parallel B section to the same timetable.
Your logic seems impeccable Roger!

Re: London chess classic

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 4:09 pm
by Roger de Coverly
Nigel White wrote:
Fri Aug 31, 2018 3:19 pm
But in the pdf of the tournament rules there are rating prizes for under 2050
Most likely then a mistake in the online form and the pdf of the rules applies. It can always be a danger when you copy a template from previous years.

A final piece of the jigsaw will be whether they are selling tickets for the Sunday to Friday before the final of the Grand Chess Tour moves in. There's also the where and when of the British Knockout although in previous years that's been in the big main hall alongside the Open rather than on stage in the Lecture Theatre.

Re: London chess classic

Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2018 4:17 pm
by Nigel White
Nigel White wrote:
Fri Aug 31, 2018 3:19 pm
Roger de Coverly wrote:
Fri Aug 31, 2018 2:40 pm
I've just noticed something about the entry details.

https://tickets.londonchessclassic.com/ ... s.php#fide
Who Can Enter?: Anyone can enter the FIDE Open.
Rating Prizes
2250-2349 £300, £200, £100
2150-2249 £300, £200, £100
2050-2149 £300, £200, £100
Why? Last year there was no lower limit on the rating prize. If they want to discourage lower rated players, why not do it the honest way? Exclude players of 2049 and below from the Open and run a parallel B section to the same timetable.
But in the pdf of the tournament rules there are rating prizes for under 2050: https://www.londonchessclassic.com/down ... s_2018.pdf
There is now a pdf of the London Chess Classic entry form on their website. This also makes no mention of under 2050 rating prizes for the FIDE open. Another anomaly is that it has the starting time of the weekender as being 1630 on Friday 14 December, whereas the T&Cs has it as 1830 (which it has been in previous years). I think I will email seeking clarification.

Re: London chess classic

Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2018 4:32 pm
by Nigel White
Nigel White wrote:
Sun Sep 02, 2018 4:17 pm
Nigel White wrote:
Fri Aug 31, 2018 3:19 pm
Roger de Coverly wrote:
Fri Aug 31, 2018 2:40 pm
I've just noticed something about the entry details.

https://tickets.londonchessclassic.com/ ... s.php#fide





Why? Last year there was no lower limit on the rating prize. If they want to discourage lower rated players, why not do it the honest way? Exclude players of 2049 and below from the Open and run a parallel B section to the same timetable.
But in the pdf of the tournament rules there are rating prizes for under 2050: https://www.londonchessclassic.com/down ... s_2018.pdf
There is now a pdf of the London Chess Classic entry form on their website. This also makes no mention of under 2050 rating prizes for the FIDE open. Another anomaly is that it has the starting time of the weekender as being 1630 on Friday 14 December, whereas the T&Cs has it as 1830 (which it has been in previous years). I think I will email seeking clarification.
I've also spotted quite a few further discrepancies on the detail of the prizes between the two documents in addition to the FIDE Open rating prizes and starting times for the weekender:
(i) FIDE Open place prizes go down to 12th on the entry form, but only 10th in the T&Cs.
(ii) FIDE Open rating prizes are are of higher value on the entry form.
(iii) 2nd & 3rd prizes for the 5 day tournaments are of higher value on the entry form.
(iv) For the weekend tournaments the entry form has higher values for the place prizes and there is an additional 3rd place rating prize in each section.

Re: London chess classic

Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2018 4:54 pm
by Nigel White
Also there is now information directly on the LCC website, to be found when clicking on the Festival Events tab. The information found here is a hybrid mix of that shown on the entry form and the T&Cs, but not consistently one or the other. Anyway I've now emailed them asking for clarification.

Re: London chess classic

Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2018 5:41 pm
by Roger de Coverly
Nigel White wrote:
Sun Sep 02, 2018 4:54 pm
Also there is now information directly on the LCC website, to be found when clicking on the Festival Events tab.
On the entry form, they really have it in for players rated under 2050. Not only are they not eligible for rating prizes in the FIDE Open, they aren't allowed to enter the U2050 sections if their ECF grade is 180 or above.

Re: London chess classic

Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2018 5:58 pm
by Nigel White
Roger de Coverly wrote:
Sun Sep 02, 2018 5:41 pm
Nigel White wrote:
Sun Sep 02, 2018 4:54 pm
Also there is now information directly on the LCC website, to be found when clicking on the Festival Events tab.
On the entry form, they really have it in for players rated under 2050. Not only are they not eligible for rating prizes in the FIDE Open, they aren't allowed to enter the U2050 sections if their ECF grade is 180 or above.
The way I read it, that restriction only applies if the individual doesn't have a FIDE rating (or equivalent national Elo).

Re: London chess classic

Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2018 6:30 pm
by Roger de Coverly
Nigel White wrote:
Sun Sep 02, 2018 5:58 pm
The way I read it, that restriction only applies if the individual doesn't have a FIDE rating (or equivalent national Elo).
I think I agree with you. It's the 4NCL Congress at Telford that applies the U2050 AND under 180 restriction.

Re: London chess classic

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 4:48 pm
by Jonathan Bryant
Roger de Coverly wrote:
Sun Sep 02, 2018 5:41 pm
On the entry form, they really have it in for players rated under 2050. Not only are they not eligible for rating prizes in the FIDE Open, they aren't allowed to enter the U2050 sections if their ECF grade is 180 or above.
Personally, the absence of rating prizes doesn’t bother me. I’ve always found them a bit silly and arbitrary. I felt quite the fraud when I won a rather substantial one in Spain a few years back, collecting 10 times what some GMs got as their prize*

The ECF grade/rating limit *is* a signifcant issue though. In London, It’s perfectly possible to have a grade over 180 and an Elo well below 2000, let alone 2050


* I still took the money, obvs.

Re: London chess classic

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 5:01 pm
by Paul Cooksey
I drew with someone with an ECF of 199 and a FIDE of 1870 last season. I'm still bitter...

Re: London chess classic

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 6:36 pm
by PeterFarr
Paul Cooksey wrote:
Mon Sep 03, 2018 5:01 pm
I drew with someone with an ECF of 199 and a FIDE of 1870 last season. I'm still bitter...
Probably not as bitter as the someone with that rating.