English Chess Forum

Starting a new thread about English Seniors, though other local federations can join in.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMPETITIVE PLAY FOR PLAYERS 50+

2014 FIDE are introducing new opportunities for players who are 50 years or older. Opportunities will exist for players 50+ and 65+. The age qualification is 50+, for players born by 31 December 1964. The age qualification is 65+, for players born by 31 December 1949. Players 65+ may also play in events for 50+ if they prefer. Some events below are still for players 60+.

8-20 March 2014. 8th is arrival and 20th departure.
European Senior Individual Championship 50+, 65+. Oporto, Portugal. The 9 round standard play event concludes 17 March. There follows rapidplay and blitz championships. http://escc2014.fpx.pt/. People have always made their own arrangements for this in the past.

1-10 April, with departure on the 10th. European Senior Team 50+, 65+. Sibenik, Croatia. 9 rounds. We have been sending teams to this since 2002. It is teams of 4 + 1 optional. Thus anybody who has wished to play has always been fitted in. There would only be a problem if we had 6, 7 or 11 players. I recommend a minimum of 1750 or 145 playing strength for the 65+. But I am trying to get them to change the system the system from one event for players 50+, one of whom must be 65+.
People confer, but make their own travel arrangements as they fly from different airports. http://www.ecuonline.net/com/news/single/550.html

Easter, 5 days. English Senior Championship. Details to be finalised.

12-22 July World Senior Team 50+, 65+. 12th is arrival and departure 22nd. Vilnius, Lithuania. 9 rounds. Of course we have no idea of the take-up. I doubt many non-European teams will participate. Only Australia and South Africa sent teams to the first event in the Isle of Man in 2002. They were my personal contacts.

21-25 July British Senior Championship U150/1850 60+.
26 July-1 Aug. British Senior Championship 60+.
28 July-1 Aug. British Senior Championship U/130/1690 60+.
All three are in Aberystwyth. http://englishchess.org.uk/BCC2014/

25 October-6 November World Senior Individual Championship 50+, 65+.
Greece. 11 rounds plus a rest day.

3-7 Nov 15th Royal Beacon Seniors Chess Congress, 50+, 65+. Royal Beacon Hotel, Exmouth. Bob Jones Email: [email protected]

In the case of the British Championship events we have decided this year to stay with the traditional 60+ limit. Then we will be able to see how the new events go and also consult with players.

By 2015 the ECF should have a good chance of winning all four international championships, provided our best active players compete.

To play in these events you must be a member of the ECF at Gold or higher level. When representing England, your travel insurance is covered.

Please contact:
Stewart Reuben [email protected] 020 8892 6660 and also
Ken Norman [email protected] to express your interest.
I have an established incomplete database of players 61+, but not of players 50-60+, although the ECF Office has such a list, albeit incomplete.

I see that Seniors are exempt from zero time default, which is welcome.

"Default time at the start of all rounds will be 30 minutes." This appears to apply even to the blitz.

Herewith details regarding Vilnius for the World Senior Chess Team Championship. Also see the website.
http://vilnius2014.com/about-the-championship. There have been several changes in the information, many at my suggestion.
Venue: Town Hall
Arrival date: Saturday 12 July
Playing dates Sunday 13 to Monday 21 July. I strongly recommend players not to arrive 13th with the intention of playing that day when play starts at 2pm
Departure Tuesday 22 July. It is also possible to leave 21st, missing the Closing Banquet
Eligible to play: ECF Gold or higher card members.
50+ Born 31 December 1964 or earlier
65+ Born 31 December 1949 or earlier. Those 65+ are entitled to play in the 50+ section. If less than 10 teams enter the 65+ Championship, the event will be merged into one tournament with separate prizes.
Minimum recommended playing strength FIDE 1800, ECF 150. But since this is new, we have little to go on.
Schedule: Round 1 2pm. All other rounds 10am
Rate of play: 40 moves in 90 minutes, all the moves in 30 minutes, add on 30 seconds cumulatively from the first
Default: 30 minutes after the start of play
Teams: Of 4 or 5. Which will apply to you cannot be guaranteed, but you can express preference. 4 has the advantage that you play all 9 games. 5 have the advantages that there will be rest days; people can take a whole day trip, especially with their partner; if somebody is ill or off-form they don't have to play; the opponents can only prepare for their game against one player when they know the team composition.
Entry fee: €50 per player
Hotel: I have selected the: Europa Royale Hotel. 4*. 9 Ausros Vartu, 6 01303 Vilnius, Lithuania. Telephone 00370 5266 0770. Free wi fi. 3 minutes walk from the Town Hall. Single €80. Double €45 per person. Hitherto players have rarely wanted to share. Thus single player €850. Double player €500. Double accompanying partner €450. Lunch €12 Dinner €12. There are many other places to eat in Vilnius in walking distance. It isn't essential that all the players stay in the same hotel, but it does add to the ambience of the event. If you add dinner that increases the cost by €120. Lunch and dinner €240.
Flights:
http://www.travelsupermarket.com/flight ... 0000144303
Wizz Air -Opodo £125.38 per person.
Luton 14.05 arriving 18.45 12 July.
Vilnius 19,15 arriving Luton 20.05 22 July.
I am certain there will be extra charges such as baggage. Otherwise I found Wizz air OK. I only researched flights from 'London' airports. This is the only direct flight I found. Since writing that I have been told there is a Ryanair direct flight from Stansted. There is insufficient benefit in doing group booking to go to all that hassle. The flight costs more as time goes on.
Entry: The charges start going up after 13 May. If all the hotel fees are paid in advance, then there is a 5% reduction. After 13 May the entry fee per player becomes €100. It is €150 from 1 July.
Advance payment: The €50 Euro entry fee + 20% of the hotel bill
Payment: The easiest way to pay is for the ECF to do so by banker's draft. Andrew Walker 01424 775222 can deal with transfer of funds from debit or credit cards (not Amex). Or ECF Bank Account 8 75 72044. Sort code 601015. Hastings Branch, NatWest. You can also send it direct yourself. The conversion from Euro to sterling has not been worked out.
Selection: 15 players have expressed interest. Provided at least 12 player there should be no problem fitting everybody in.
Insurance: You must have your European Health Insurance Card. Lithuania is, of course, in the EU. You are insured through the ECF System as somebody representing the ECF. Even so, personal private travel insurance is probably also best.
Response: As soon as possible, in any case by 5 May. It is possible to do everything after 13 May, but would cause more work and incur a higher cost for you. You can see from the spreadsheet who has expressed interest.
Copy in not only [email protected], but also [email protected].
ECF Grade: If you want your games ECF Graded please indicated this when replying.
Tourism: It is a pleasant town with the Old Town sights in walking distance. I was there last year and may have eaten at the Europa Royale. There are also a few tours further afield.
Strong players: I have secured some funding and since writing that it is now even more. it is possible we will field a strong team. But this was only confirmed very recently so that the GMs and IMs have yet to respond except for John Cox who has expressed interest.
Problem: The British Championship starts 19 July. The WSTCC finishes 21 July. Last year there was also an overlap with the European Senior TCC. But 3 players competed by playing in 5 member teams. This is only a problem with the Championship itself. The rest start 21 July. It may require a half point bye in Round 1. The British Senior Championship is unaffected.

Stewart Reuben
Manager ECF Senior Chess
Chairman Senior Selectors, the others being David Anderton, Paul Littlewood, Ken Norman, Peter Wilson.

Stewart Reuben wrote: 21-25 July British Senior Championship U150/1850 60+.
26 July-1 Aug. British Senior Championship 60+.
28 July-1 Aug. British Senior Championship U/130/1690 60+.
All three are in Aberystwyth. http://englishchess.org.uk/BCC2014/

60+ is not quite accurate, as the entry form says they are for players born in or before 1954. That means there may be some young whippersnappers taking part who are still only 59!

And U18 refers to players who were U18 on 31 December of the previous year. It is the same thing in reverse.
I took the 11+ before I was 11. Some children became 11 on 1 September.

Interesting that there's no zero tolerance in the Senior Teams, even though it's a FIDE World event. The same is true of this year's individual World Seniors. It looks as though organisers are testing what they can get away with now that Leong has lost his power, since this is in direct contravention of his Events Commission regulations.

There never was zero tolerance in any senior event. The administrators obviously thought it too dangerous for such players.
Leong ceased to be chairman of the Events Commission after he was appointed to Qualification.
He claimed he was only following orders in 2008 when he was Chief Arbiter, when zero tolerance was introduced to the Olympiad ahead of it becoming part of the Laws. It is true that zero default time was allowed in the Laws from 1997, but never contemplated.
But he tried to introduce it earlier than Dresden 2008 in a junior tournament where some players were a long way from the venue. The Appeal Committee stopped it.
I suppose it was one sign of his failing intellectual powers. After all, on his instructions, every clock was set incorrectly in every game in the 2008 Olympiad. (Why the arbiters put up with that is beyond me.)

WORLD SENIOR TEAM CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP
Vilnius, Lithuania
13-21 July 2014

The players who are eligible are those born by 31 December 1964. It is divided into two sections; those 50+ and those 65+ - born by 31 December 1949.

Below is the list of players in order of FIDE Rating who are intending to play.
50-64
Last name First name Rating in May Title
Plaskett James 2495 GM
Arkell Keith 2460 GM
Cox John 2396 IM
Pein Malcolm 2363 IM
Chapman Terry 2296 FM
Thurstan Tim 2159, grade 161
Quinn John 2150
Fegan Chris 2061
Fraser-Mitchell Jeremy 2060
Majer Chris 1982
Cross Ian 1657, grade 146
Bullock Charles U, grade 177

65 and over
Jackson Oliver 2126 FM
Wheeler John 2121 CM
Richardson Keith 2064
Reuben Stewart 2051 CM
Farrand Julian 2026
Scowen Roger 1930
Stokes Mick U, grade 174

The order of the players above does not necessarily indicated to which of four teams they will be assigned or the team order. A 65+ player is, of course, also 50+.

No, the World Seniors have been zero tolerance, at least according to their regulations. They are the only Senior events over which FIDE has direct control.

I know that Leong "parked" his EC chair when he took QC, but he was still "Head of Commissions", and was not slow to use that. The EC regulations are still mostly his and, if his QC career is any guide, the rest of the Commission were lucky if they even saw them.

Ah. I never played in the World Senior individual and thus obviously failed to notice.
Bermuda still haven't entered the World Senior Team. Pity.

Couldn't do it this year, but we're definitely planning to get the band back together. Our best Senior team would be almost indistinguishable from our best Open team.