English Chess Forum

We seem to have somehow lost the domain registration for Yorkshire chess, so....

It seems like the Yorkshire grading system might well be coming to an end - Jon Griffith is certainly taking very well deserved retirement at the end of this season and hasn't obviously lined up a replacement yet.

In general I'd fully welcome it, but it will actually have some non trivial consequences if it does happen - stuff like the Yorkshire league is already ECF affiliated but a lot of the local leagues aren't and have very low membership levels to boot. I've no idea if the annoyance at the ECF has burned itself out yet but this is Yorkshire

There is a notice on the chessnuts website regarding the winding down of chessnuts and the Yorkshire grading system.

See: http://www.chessnuts.org.uk/ny5/

MartinCarpenter wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 26, 2018 11:24 pm

We seem to have somehow lost the domain registration for Yorkshire chess, so....

Yes, I'd noticed that. If the change is permanent, I wonder if it would be too much too ask for a Yorkshire section on this forum to discuss Yorkshire League matches etc. ? Steve Mann has a website which he updates regularly with Yorkshire news but as far as I can see there is no forum or other means for visitors to comment.

MartinCarpenter wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 26, 2018 11:24 pm

In general I'd fully welcome it, but it will actually have some non trivial consequences if it does happen - stuff like the Yorkshire league is already ECF affiliated but a lot of the local leagues aren't and have very low membership levels to boot. I've no idea if the annoyance at the ECF has burned itself out yet but this is Yorkshire

It seems to me that local evening leagues will have three choices:

i.) get their members to join the ECF at the appropriate membership level to get league games ECF graded;
ii.) accept that league games won't be graded or;
iii.) set up their own local grading system.

I don't currently play in any evening leagues but my local chess association (Hull and District) went for option i.), sensibly in my opinion.

Firstly, and writing strictly in a personal capacity, I think that Jon's retirement is the ideal moment for the separate Yorkshire grading list to cease. While Chessnuts was a ground breaking piece of software (and very user friendly to boot) it has become increasingly hard to defend having two grading lists, particularly as the inconsistency between the two increases year or year.

Eric has correctly set out the options for local leagues (although internal club competitions are also affected). If players within these events want their games ECF graded it is up to them to argue the case internally (I didn't have much luck with the Harrogate league).

Eric Gardiner wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 27, 2018 10:10 am

I wonder if it would be too much too ask for a Yorkshire section on this forum to discuss Yorkshire League matches etc. ? Steve Mann has a website which he updates regularly with Yorkshire news but as far as I can see there is no forum or other means for visitors to comment.

I don't have a problem with adding one to the same section as MCCU if there is support for it?

Steve Mann could link to it too?

As long we're not in the MCCU section itself - geography deserves a little respect

Steve Mann's website is actually excellent: http://mannchess.org.uk/YCA.htm

I'm not sure how well known it is since he only relatively recently branched out from his (excellent!) history website.

As for the grading system, I'm basically with Andrew Z I think.

Steve Mann's site is intended solely as an online yearbook/ bulletin. If it is splendidly detailed and comprehensive it's because nothing Steve does is anything but. Steve has specifically stated that he has no wish to do anything interactive or more ambitious. I'm not sure a YCA section on this forum would attract much interest; the pool of commentators on the Yorkshire Chess website were relatively limited and there's no guarantee that they would set up accounts here.

Carl, thank you for offering to create a section.

Andrew, the phrase "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" comes to mind I'd certainly post more often on this forum if there was a specific Yorkshire section. Is there somewhere else that is more appropriate to discuss Yorkshire chess matters, given that I don't want to use Facebook? Edit: I see you yourself have sent me an email this morning asking me to spread the word about the forthcoming Doncaster 4NCL congress ...

Eric Gardiner wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 28, 2018 11:00 am

Carl, thank you for offering to create a section.

Andrew, the phrase "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" comes to mind I'd certainly post more often on this forum if there was a specific Yorkshire section. Is there somewhere else that is more appropriate to discuss Yorkshire chess matters, given that I don't want to use Facebook? Edit: I see you yourself have sent me an email this morning asking me to spread the word about the forthcoming Doncaster 4NCL congress ...

I have added a section now.

Andrew Zigmond wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 27, 2018 11:26 am

While Chessnuts was a ground breaking piece of software (and very user friendly to boot) it has become increasingly hard to defend having two grading lists, particularly as the inconsistency between the two increases year or year.

You could use the exact same arguments discussing the ECF grading as compared to the FIDE rating...

Paolo Casaschi wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 30, 2018 11:25 am

Andrew Zigmond wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 27, 2018 11:26 am

While Chessnuts was a ground breaking piece of software (and very user friendly to boot) it has become increasingly hard to defend having two grading lists, particularly as the inconsistency between the two increases year or year.

You could use the exact same arguments discussing the ECF grading as compared to the FIDE rating...

The same arguments have been used.

Paolo Casaschi wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 30, 2018 11:25 am

You could use the exact same arguments discussing the ECF grading as compared to the FIDE rating...

You cannot because the requirements for having a game ECF graded differ from those of FIDE. The difference in condition between ECF and Yorkshire grading is that the local evening leagues have to sign up to be members directly or indirectly through the YCA of the ECF.

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 30, 2018 2:15 pm

Paolo Casaschi wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 30, 2018 11:25 am

You could use the exact same arguments discussing the ECF grading as compared to the FIDE rating...

You cannot because the requirements for having a game ECF graded differ from those of FIDE. The difference in condition between ECF and Yorkshire grading is that the local evening leagues have to sign up to be members directly or indirectly through the YCA of the ECF.

You can still use the same arguments, the different requirements for games being FIDE-rated are additional arguments.

Yorkshire people on here did use the argument, some years ago, that they understood why the county league was ECF-graded, but it didn't make sense for their internal city league games to be ECF-graded. Then someone pointed out the London League, Birmingham League, Bristol League... To me, that's the same argument as not FIDE-rating tournaments that already comply with the FIDE requirements for rating, but choose not to rate their event anyway. I guess this argument is best summarised as "Why, when we have our own system?"

Alex Holowczak wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 30, 2018 2:37 pm

To me, that's the same argument as not FIDE-rating tournaments that already comply with the FIDE requirements for rating, but choose not to rate their event anyway.

There aren't really that many, just those with 4 hour sessions that aren't already rated. Don't forget the arbiter requirements and the need to demand ECF Gold memberships or FINs for non-ENG players. The latest ECF proposals put a massive spike in membership cost for any Juniors wishing to play a FIDE rated event, as to a lesser extent so do the NCCU proposals for everyone.