English Chess Forum

Announcement

Each team will consist of six players, in a mixed format with a minimum of three female players and two junior players

Mick Norris wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 01, 2020 7:51 am

Announcement

Each team will consist of six players, in a mixed format with a minimum of three female players and two junior players

which is a bit confusing. The regulations are clearer:

Boards 1 & 2 - any players
Boards 3 & 4 - must be women
Board 5 - must be under 20
Board 6 - must be an under 20 girl

The hosting platform has yet to be announced. I would think a key issue should be whether the platform will leave disqualification of players to FIDE's arbiters or impose their own unknown rules and standards.

Ian Thompson wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 01, 2020 9:00 am

Mick Norris wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 01, 2020 7:51 am

Announcement

Each team will consist of six players, in a mixed format with a minimum of three female players and two junior players

which is a bit confusing. The regulations are clearer:

Boards 1 & 2 - any players
Boards 3 & 4 - must be women
Board 5 - must be under 20
Board 6 - must be an under 20 girl

I thought the board order would be determined from the composition of a team, which must have a minimum of 1 male, who must be U-20, up to a maximum of 3 males (one of whom must be U-20) and a maximum of 5 females or a minimum of 3 females - one of whom must be U-20.

Therefore a max female team would consist of 5 females - one U-20 - and a male U-20. And, a max male team 3 males - one U-20 - and 3 females - 1 U-20.

England were 28th in the Gaprindashvili cup

op Division is composed of 5 seeded registered teams placed on the top of Gaprindashvili Cup, 5 teams nominated by each of the four Continents (according to each Continent’s criteria, see Article 3.3) and 15 teams qualified from Division 2

Top 5 - Ukraine, USA, China, Russia & Poland

Next 5 Europe won't include England, so presumably we'll be in Division 2

John McKenna wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 01, 2020 11:52 am

which must have a minimum of 1 male, who must be U-20, up to a maximum of 3 males (one of whom must be U-20) and a maximum of 5 females or a minimum of 3 females - one of whom must be U-20.

It does say that there has to be 2 players U-20 in the intro. However, it does not say that one of the juniors has to be male. The only reference to male players is in saying it must be a mixed team.

I've had an email from FIDE calling me Mr President and asking me to submit a team. I knew I had put on weight under lockdown, but I did not think I had reached the dimensions of a small country!!!

John McKenna wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 01, 2020 11:52 am

I thought the board order would be determined from the composition of a team, which must have a minimum of 1 male, who must be U-20, up to a maximum of 3 males (one of whom must be U-20) and a maximum of 5 females or a minimum of 3 females - one of whom must be U-20.

The regulations on playing reserve players make it clear that the board order has to be as stated. For example, you have to have a girl under 20 player on board 6. You can have a reserve girl under 20 player if you like. They can only play on board 6. They can't play on boards 3 or 4 substituting for one of the two woman players or on board 5 substituting for the under 20 player.

Alex McFarlane wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:38 pm

The only reference to male players is in saying it must be a mixed team.

But not, as far as I can see, in the Regulations, which I assume take precedence over the website announcement.

From the regulations:

2. 4. All matches are played on six boards divided into four categories: A (open) - boards 1 and 2, B (women) - boards
3 and 4, C (open U-20) – board 5, D (girl U-20) – board 6.

2. 5. Each team consists of six main players, including:
- at least 2 women
- at least 1 player U-20 (born in 2000 or later),
- at least 1 girl U-20 (born in 2000 or later)
Each team has a team captain.
Each team may have up to six reserves: 2 players in each of categories A and B and 1 player in each of categories C
and D according to Article 2.4.

So, as Ian says, there is nothing to stop a team of 6 female players but a team can have a maximum of 3 males.

"So, as Ian says, there is nothing to stop a team of 6 female players but a team can have a maximum of 3 males."

And if you are lucky enough to have a really good female under 20 player, board 6 could be much better than board 5. I guess it's not an issue as the Olympiad doesn't seem to have board order rules based on rating.

"I've had an email from FIDE calling me Mr President"

I hope they're not confusing you with Trump or Putin!

I recall from my time on the ECF board that FIDE would only pay attention to communications from either the FIDE delegate or the President of each affiliated member, so perhaps this is an example of this policy in reverse.

Perhaps Alex M is being invited to preside over a team of arbiters.

OK, after reading what Alex M and Ian T posted above I accept the fixed menu board order and even have to accept that "mixed" refers to the event and not to the teams.

Presumably the quote below refers to the pairing of the teams, not the players -

"Since the Online Olympiad is a mixed event, for pairing purposes the ranking will be established in accordance with the final standings of the last “Gaprindashvili Cup”, which combines the results in the open and women’s sections at the Batumi Chess Olympiad 2018."

Alex McFarlane wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 01, 2020 12:38 pm

I've had an email from FIDE calling me Mr President and asking me to submit a team. I knew I had put on weight under lockdown, but I did not think I had reached the dimensions of a small country!!!

Possibly they think that the requisite three votes of the Scottish people have already taken place.

1. To vote "Yes" to the establishment of the Kingdom of Scotland.

2. To replace the Kingdom of Scotland with the Republic of Scotland.

3. To elect IA Alex McFarlane as the first President of the Republic.

The evidence suggests to me that FIDE have confused Alex McFarlane with Andy Howie. Indeed, if you substitute "Andy Howie" for "Alex McFarlane" in my scenario above, it might even be plausible.

To those who think that the Dvorkovich regime wouldn't make such an error, bear in mind that they appear to have confused Rupert Jones with Shaun Press.

I hope for big support by all the home nations and islands.

I see its being run in the style of the old Olympiads, with "preliminary" rounds followed by group stages.