British Chess Championships 2011

[Stewart Reuben]

Adam Raoof >The control teams are not strictly volunteers; they do receive expenses and a per diem amount. However it's not a great deal but it adds up<
I had never before seen this comment and did so now because Ben's triggered an alert.
Adam is completely incorrect on this point. ALL the staff (bar one or two) running the British are volunteers as they receive no FEES. This even includes Alex McFarlane and David Welch who do an enormous amount throughout the year. I estimated that this took about 8 weeks work when I was in charge. Their expenses are, of course, high, but they are 'strictly volunteers'.
Stewart Reuben

[benedgell]

I know of someone who is going to the British this year to take the arbiter's course/ test. Could the ECF advertise locally to each year's Championship for people to take the arbiter's course, with the practical experience consisting of controlling one of the weekend/ 5 day tournaments, and then taking the test at the end?

I brought up this idea for last year's Championship, and thought I'd mention it again ahead of this years one. Given that a large expense each year for the British Championship is the cost of arbiting, are there any plans to encourage local chess players to volunteer as arbiters?

I think the Championship itself and the rapidplay events are probably unsuitable, but I don't see any reason why some of the other events couldn't be run by local chess players providing there's a senior arbiter at the venue at all times to provide assistance/ advice if necessary.

If we assume that each arbiter at the British Championships this year arrives on Sunday July 24th, and leaves after the prizegiving on Saturday August 6th, then they would be receiving 13 nights accomodation plus meal allowances.

I won't mention specific figures here, but needless to say it's obvious that arbiting is a big expense.

If an appeal was made for local volunteers to arbit some of the tournaments, then the Championships could save quite a bit of money.

At every weekend congress I've played in there has been a mix of qualified arbiters and experienced local chess players running the various sections. I see no reason why the same couldn't be done on a larger scale for the British Championships.

[Alex Holowczak]

If we assume that each arbiter at the British Championships this year arrives on Sunday July 24th, and leaves after the prizegiving on Saturday August 6th, then they would be receiving 13 nights accommodation plus meal allowances.

For the three weekend events, there were two local arbiters in charge in 2010, plus me who was there to do some game-inputting at other times anyway. One of the local arbiters remained to play in one of the second-week events. I guess they only arrived on the Friday.

[Alex McFarlane]

Most of the control team arrive on the Saturday as setting up and the 1st Rapidplay take place on the Sunday. Checking players details, ensuring that the sensory boards function, etc, etc all take a considerable time.

There are opportunities for local arbiters. As stated the weekend events always try to use locals and when there was a sponsor there was also a local invited onto the team (that's how I got involved!). If there is a local volunteer then more evening events could be organised e.g. a blitz every evening a la London Classic. The British is also an excellent event in which a trainee, or enthusiastic arbiter with limited experience can increase their knowledge. Their have been people trained up at the recent Championships.

I'm not in a position to confirm positions at the moment but if you are interested in any of the above please get in touch with me.

[benedgell]

My main point was to do with the costs involved with arbiting at the British. Encouraging local volunteers to organise evening events doesn't really address this issue.

I think if there was a more active attempt to encourage local people to volunteer as arbiters, possibly mentioning that they could take the arbiter's test at the end of the event and be well on the way to becoming qualified arbiters, then this cost could be greatly reduced.

[Alex McFarlane]

Ben,

There are a lot of things done at the British which aren't done at your normal weekend congress. Also the players, in general, expect a higher standard of service. It would be unfair to put a trainee arbiter under the additional pressures involved without adequate supervision. Nor would it be fair to force a member of the control team to take on the extra burden of a trainee arbiter when many of them already average 12-14 hour days.

Doing the weekend or evening events would give such trainees an idea of what goes on and make it easier for them to integrate into the team in future years.

I have worked with a number of trainee arbiters. Some have greatly decreased my workload but others have significantly added to my task. At one event two of us had for a number of years run several sections without any problem. A trainee was assigned to us, who required constant supervision. The end result was that the other arbiter spent their entire time rectifying or stopping mistakes and I had to run all the sections effectively on my own. At the British we could not afford to gamble on the quality of the trainee to be able to work on their own in all cases. Therefore they must be additional rather than replacement staff.

[benedgell]

I'm not convinced by some parts of this argument. Wouldn't running a junior section at the British, with one round a day for all- bar- one of the days and somewhere between 20 and 35 entrants per section, be easier then running one of the weekend events, with a more compressed schedule, and generally higher number of entrants per section, or a blitz tournament each evening, with pairings needed to be done very quickly and the inevitable 10.2 claims?

There would have to be some vetting of potential volunteers, to make sure that they have a reasonable knowledge of the laws of chess, chess organisation etc, but that doesn't mean that making an appeal for potential volunteers shouldn't be tried.

I don't think the British should have a set team of arbiters for each year's championships, travelling from various parts of the country each time, with large inherent costs. I think there should be a small number of senior arbiters running the championships, and then a number of arbiters local to each year's championships running some of the junior/ graded tournaments.

[Alex Holowczak]

...or a blitz tournament each evening, with pairings needed to be done very quickly and the inevitable 10.2 claims?

No, because you can't claim a 10.2 in blitz.

[Rob Thompson]

...or a blitz tournament each evening, with pairings needed to be done very quickly and the inevitable 10.2 claims?

No, because you can't claim a 10.2 in blitz.

that won't stop people claiming anyway

[E Michael White]

No, because you can't claim a 10.2 in blitz.

Blitz events could be played under the adequate supervision rules. Although I dont know much about Blitz rules I believe this means 10.2s can be claimed and if arbiters are aware of this a draw could be given.

If Ben manages to sell his very good idea he could ensure sufficient assistant arbiters make this work.

Perhaps as part of a test of sutability one of the recruitment questions could be how can a 10.2 be claimed in Blitz ?

[Alex Holowczak]

No, because you can't claim a 10.2 in blitz.

Blitz events could be played under the adequate supervision rules. Although I dont know much about Blitz rules I believe this means 10.2s can be claimed and if arbiters are aware of this a draw could be given.

If you have - for sake of argument - 20 people in your blitz tournament, and you can find adequate supervision by qualified or trainee arbiters, then I will personally guarantee you a trophy of some kind. You would need one per match (so 10), plus enough other arbiters to do administrative tasks in between rounds, and potentially keep a crowd silent. You'd need more arbiters for the blitz than you would the rest of the Championship!

[E Michael White]

You should stop digging. The most likely scenario of sufficient Blitz arbiters occurs when your 20 players play an event, which ends in a two way tie, so they decide to have a play off between the two players. The arbiter would be well advised to clarify whether adequate supervision rules apply for the playoff or not.

Many of the arbiter mistakes I have seen, seem to arise from arbiters remembering their own rules of thumb instead of the rules or the principles of the rules themselves. For example;- "10.2s can’t apply in blitz" or "a move isn’t completed until the clock is pressed" can lead to poor or incorrect decisions and disputes. Much of what you say on this forum similarly paraphrases the rules.

[Alex Holowczak]

You should stop digging. The most likely scenario of sufficient Blitz arbiters occurs when your 20 players play an event, which ends in a two way tie, so they decide to have a play off between the two players. The arbiter would be well advised to clarify whether adequate supervision rules apply for the playoff or not.

Many of the arbiter mistakes I have seen, seem to arise from arbiters remembering their own rules of thumb instead of the rules or the principles of the rules themselves. For example;- "10.2s can’t apply in blitz" or "a move isn’t completed until the clock is pressed" can lead to poor or incorrect decisions and disputes. Much of what you say on this forum similarly paraphrases the rules.

I think what I said was sufficient for my light-hearted remark...

[Alex McFarlane]

I'm not convinced by some parts of this argument. Wouldn't running a junior section at the British, with one round a day for all- bar- one of the days and somewhere between 20 and 35 entrants per section, be easier then running one of the weekend events, with a more compressed schedule, and generally higher number of entrants per section, or a blitz tournament each evening, with pairings needed to be done very quickly and the inevitable 10.2 claims?

There would have to be some vetting of potential volunteers, to make sure that they have a reasonable knowledge of the laws of chess, chess organisation etc, but that doesn't mean that making an appeal for potential volunteers shouldn't be tried.

I don't think the British should have a set team of arbiters for each year's championships, travelling from various parts of the country each time, with large inherent costs. I think there should be a small number of senior arbiters running the championships, and then a number of arbiters local to each year's championships running some of the junior/ graded tournaments.

If the arbiter was running only one event you would be right. Unfortunately that is not the case or you would need two to three times the number of arbiters involved.

Who does the vetting? Who vets the vetters? It can get very complicated. Local arbiters are not always available. Indeed it is considered a bonus when there are locals to involve.

The evening events are intended to be social events so it is much less important if small mistakes are made by an arbiter over, for example, pairings than it would be in a championship event. It can be especially stressful for some arbiters when parents get involved in 'debating' a situation regarding their son/daughter. Dealing with children involves skills which an arbiter of an adult event need not posess. Unless a teacher or someone else experienced in dealing with children, I would not recommend running a junior section on your own to any inexperienced trainee arbiter.

[Adam Raoof]

As I know from experience at Hendon Chess Club and at the London Classic, running a six round ten-minute Blitz tournament of up to 20 players (and with a computer up to 50) is possible in an evening, and is very popular. One person can run a single section event with ten minutes between rounds. You can choose whether or not to allow draw claims, and employ your common sense if you do. At the Classic we used the following rules; the final rule covers draw claims and other disputes. If you do get involved in a dispute you need to make your mind up quickly (it's a blitz, remember) and you have to be firm but fair with players, and not get distracted by arguments. We need more events like this at the British, and other chess tournaments where a lot of players stay overnight such as the British and (perhaps) 4NCL and e2e4.

LCC 2010 Blitz Rules

* Ten minutes per player per game.

* It is always touch move

* If you let go of a piece, it should stay there

* Completed illegal moves lose

* You haven’t completed an illegal move until you stop your clock

* You must use the same hand to move the pieces and press the clock

* You don’t have to announce check

* The player with black decides which side the clock is placed

* If you knock pieces over whilst making your move, your opponent is entitled to restart your clock

* Do not adjust pieces on your opponent’s time!

* The arbiter’s decision about all games is final.