Player of the Year

[Sabrina Chevannes]

As the current Scottish Player of the Year and fully paid up member
of the ECF I feel I may have something worthwhile to contribute to this debate.

http://www.chessscotland.com/csinfo/poy.htm

It's not just all about results and how well you do in tournaments.
Other things have to be taken into consideration.

I have just cast my vote for Sarah Hegarty because she is pretty.

If Sarah wins then I think it will be good PR if the Scottish Player
of the Year has a date with the English Player of the Year.

This actually has NOTHING to do with being player of the year, so I think it is to do with results and how well you do in tournaments. Enter Sarah for a chess beauty contest and vote for her to win there if you like, that is fine. But this an awful reason for voting someone as player of the year.

[LozCooper]

Is there a list of who has been the ECF/BCF Player of the Year somewhere? I found this: http://www.englishchess.org.uk/?p=4358, which is interesting but not exactly what I was looking for.

It's in the ECF yearbook on page 17:

1984 Murray Chandler
1985 John Nunn
1986 Nigel Short
1987 Jon Speelman
1988 Nigel Short
1989 Jon Speelman
1990 Michael Adams
1991 Nigel Short
1992 Nigel Short
1993-96 Michael Adams
1997 Luke McShane
1998-2002 Michael Adams
2003-04 Luke McShane
2005 Michael Adams
2006 Jovanka Houska
2007-10 David Howell

[Sabrina Chevannes]

Well I have just tested this poll out with a couple of people, and everytime we try to vote more than once, the vote goes onto Sarah Hegarty's score no matter whose name we click. I have now given her an extra 6 votes

[Jon D'Souza-Eva]

Thanks for that list. My first impression is that it's a little bit boring and predictable, especially with the long runs of Adams (1998-2002) and Howell (2007-2010). I thought it was a fantastic move by the Scottish Chess Federation to award Scottish Player of the Year to Geoff Chandler, an ordinary club player who has is mad about chess and who has done loads of work to popularise it. I'd sooner the English Player of the Year was given to someone a bit different - perhaps a junior who has played over 300 competitive games in one season, someone who written a popular blog, an older player who has a sudden return to form. Maybe even an entire club!

[Carl Hibbard]

Ha! I was going to suggest him, but thought I might get harassed continually again! He would def get my vote

This adds to the conversion how exactly?

Can we "all" please try and avoid wandering off the subject onto points of little relevance to the thread

[Jonathan Rogers]

Is there a list of who has been the ECF/BCF Player of the Year somewhere? I found this: http://www.englishchess.org.uk/?p=4358, which is interesting but not exactly what I was looking for.

It's in the ECF yearbook on page 17:

1984 Murray Chandler
1985 John Nunn
1986 Nigel Short
1987 Jon Speelman
1988 Nigel Short
1989 Jon Speelman
1990 Michael Adams
1991 Nigel Short
1992 Nigel Short
1993-96 Michael Adams
1997 Luke McShane
1998-2002 Michael Adams
2003-04 Luke McShane
2005 Michael Adams
2006 Jovanka Houska
2007-10 David Howell

It is a depressing list, which gives the impression that instead of asking around the chess community for outstanding performances, "the voters" have just run through the top five players in their mind and given the award to the one whom they remember the most - McShane back in 1997 as the honourable exception. If our top players had excelled themselves as frequently as this list would suggest, wouldn't we have had a world champion or a top five finish in an Olympiad in recent times?

When I say "the voters" I don't actually know who I mean - perhaps it was just a select committee somewhere? If so, then their uninspired selections make a strong case for taking the decisions away from them. One senses politics too, in not giving Short the award in 1993. (Perhaps Short would have lost a poll vote among a wide cross-section of the chess community too, in 1993, but then his defeat would have that extra element of legitimacy).

[Alex Holowczak]

I've emailed John Wickham (as no doubt have others). No reply as yet though.

Ah it's a Wickham, that explains it...

Carl, considering you've just told Sabrina off for spurious commenting, might you review this post and see if it's helpful to the debate too?

[Carl Hibbard]

Carl, considering you've just told Sabrina off for spurious commenting, might you review this post and see if it's helpful to the debate too?

Perhaps, I will step back from this one and let Jack moderate me if he feels it's needed

[LozCooper]

Carl, considering you've just told Sabrina off for spurious commenting, might you review this post and see if it's helpful to the debate too?

Perhaps, I will step back from this one and let Jack moderate me if he feels it's needed

Sounds like the lunatics are taking over the asylum

[Roger de Coverly]

When I say "the voters" I don't actually know who I mean - perhaps it was just a select committee somewhere? If so, then their uninspired selections make a strong case for taking the decisions away from them. One senses politics too, in not giving Short the award in 1993. (Perhaps Short would have lost a poll vote among a wide cross-section of the chess community too, in 1993, but then his defeat would have that extra element of legitimacy).

The electorate used to be the Direct Members of the BCF/ECF and presumably anyone else (journalists?) that the BCF or ECF sent a voting form to. I think there was usually a list of candidates, whether there was in addition a write-in , I don't recall.

Voting figures don't usually seem to have been published.

I don't think that Nigel was greatly impressed by the 1993 outcome.

There was a thread about ECF mailings prompted by last year's voting paper.

http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1623

Online voting is nothing new, but for important votes, some form of security is necessary. This can involve being sent by post an identification code, or having to obtain such a code logging in via an https facility. Organisations have invited my vote using both methods.

[Jonathan Rogers]

ah yes, well that confirms what I suspected - the electorate used to be rather small. Direct membership of the ECF only boomed when the ECF recently blackmailed all English players who want to play events in England which count towards a FIDE rating into joining it.

[Mike Truran]

I understand that the poll is going to be withdrawn.

[John Upham]

I was teaching in an all girls school today and the whole group declared they would vote for Sarah as one of them is currently coached by Sarah.

[Richard James]

I also wonder if it is appropriate for the names of young children to appear on a poll like this, and whether permission was asked and received from their parents. Paul - were you consulted about Isaac's name being on the list?

[Rob Thompson]

I can't see why on earth it wouldn't be appropriate?