Discuss revised England teams for 2010 Olympiad

[Nick Thomas]

Posted there...

[Stewart Reuben]

If Alex is saying he is now trying to give first names for all British Champions then I wish him luck. I know some years ago I considered the whol matter, but shirked the workload. The girls championships have always intended to list all first names. Sometimes only the initial has been given because so many people have tied for first place. 1991 R Bates, M Ferguson, A Hunt, H Hunt tied for first place in the British Under 14. Many of us know those first names, that Adam and Harriet are brother and sister and that all 4 became IMs. But what of people who come later? That little gem of information may well be of interest to future social historians. Will it be readily accessible if the Year Book moves to being solely online?

What does Alex M mean by 'posting in Chess History'. Is that a website?

Stewart Reuben

[Alex Holowczak]

What does Alex M mean by 'posting in Chess History'. Is that a website?

He means the 'Chess History' subforum on here.

[Richard Bates]

If Alex is saying he is now trying to give first names for all British Champions then I wish him luck. I know some years ago I considered the whol matter, but shirked the workload. The girls championships have always intended to list all first names. Sometimes only the initial has been given because so many people have tied for first place. 1991 R Bates, M Ferguson, A Hunt, H Hunt tied for first place in the British Under 14. Many of us know those first names, that Adam and Harriet are brother and sister and that all 4 became IMs. But what of people who come later? That little gem of information may well be of interest to future social historians. Will it be readily accessible if the Year Book moves to being solely online?

I suppose under the logic of current regulations, Mark should be considered the U14 champion, Harriet the U13 champion, me the U12 champion and Adam the U10 champion! As it was the only British Championship i ever won, I think i need my full name published in case people think it was my sister, who won several ...

BTW I'm a bit confused by the list of 1991 champions - apparently Rowan Brown was both U11 and U12 champion. Which seems a bit strange since he was in the same age group as me and was born in 1978.

[Stewart Reuben]

Richard Bates >BTW I'm a bit confused by the list of 1991 champions - apparently Rowan Brown was both U11 and U12 champion. Which seems a bit strange since he was in the same age group as me and was born in 1978.<

You seem to be working from a list different from that in the 2010 ECF Year book. R (presumably Rowan) Brown is shown as U12 Champion in 1991. Dipanyan Das won the U11 Championship in 1991 and I can distinctly remember him making the speech on behalf of the competitors.

Stewart Reuben

[harrylamb]

Harry Lamb.
You effectively said to the Daily Telegraph that I had wilfully left you in the lurch, content because I was staying in a 4 star hotel and thus unconcerned about your welfare. ... My accommodation to put it mildy was not four star, two star would have flattered it. My role, by the way, in Elista, was as a member of the Pairing Committee. I had no role there regarding accommodation, nor responsibility for the well-being of the English representatives. That said I was at the time Chairman of the BCF and thus was concerned with the welfare for all our participants.
Of course the newspaper may have misinterpreted what you had said to them. But you never made any effort to correct what seemed to me a deliberate, incorrect and painful slur on me.

Stewart

The second word you use "effectively" is a wonderful word. It allows you to put words into my mouth that I did not use. I may have said that you stayed in the best hotel in Elista with some irony. But I never said it was a four star hotel!!

If as you say you had

no role there regarding accommodation, nor responsibility for the well-being of the English representatives".

Why should I have turned to you, especially the way you treated me on the Saturday night. You mention "you (HL) never made any effort to correct what seemed to me a deliberate, incorrect and painful slur on me (SR)". What was this slur and when and where did I make it? Yes I gave an interview to the Daily Telegraph. You were not mentioned in the Daily Telegraph. I also gave interviews to the Scotsman and Leonard Barden wrote a report in the Guardian. Again you were not mentioned. I will give the full Telegraph article to demonstrate that you were not mentioned. I will also give it because it gives a flavour of the chaotic conditions in Elista. Conditions that you said were

There was nothing terribly wrong about Elista 1998.
The venue was ready - albeit only 5 minutes before the event started.

As the organisers of the 33rd Chess Olympiad in Elista already two days behind schedule, were desperately trying to get the playing hall built, one of the BCF arbiters seconded to the event has returned home in protest of what he describes as “disgusting conditions”

Harry Lamb flew out with the British teams and arrived in the early hours of Saturday morning. The next day he returned home, taking the first plane from Elista to Moscow, then taking the first plane he could find back to Manchester

The trip has cost him more than £1000 and he did not supervise a single game because of the postponement of the first round. Speaking from his home in Manchester, Mr Lamb described on arrival the teams were taken to their cottages while he was taken to a sanatorium on the outskirts of the city that had apparently been vacated by its inhabitants.

Quality accommodation is at a premium in Elista because Kalmyk and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov have been unable to build enough of the “luxury cottages” in the controversial “Chess City”.

“There were people in white coats everywhere” said Mr Lamb “And armed guards everywhere, I have never seen anything like it. It was like being in prison”

BCF officials had decided to send Mr Lamb and another of Britain’s top arbiters, Richard Furness to Elista in order to gain “international experience”. However the whole affair has become a fiasco, Mr Furness’s plane from Manchester to London was delayed and he was “bumped off” his plane to Paris and missed the charter that took the party to Elista.

According to Mr Lamb conditions were basic with arbiters placed in double rooms with no curtains and inadequate toilet and washing facilities. Lamb is seeking to recover his expenses from the BCF. “I thought I went there with my eyes open, but I was not prepared for what I saw” he added.

Elsewhere in Elista the organisers are desperately trying to get the tournament hall ready. Ian Upton of the Scottish team said that the organisers were starting to move tables and chairs into the “Chess Palace, but it is still surrounded by Cranes and bulldozers. Play is likely to take place today in the kitchens of the players villas.

The England team are reportedly unhappy with their accommodation but the team captain GM David Norwood chess correspondent of the Weekend Telegraph is taking it all in his stride. “There is at least a weeks work to be done on the Chess Palace, but we have more than a week’s supply of vodka” he said.

Meanwhile the England’s women’s team has struck it lucky. According to WGM Susan Lalic they are accommodated in a luxurious villa and have President Ilyuzhinov’s niece as an interpreter. “I suppose that is why we are getting the best of everything” she said.

Incidentally as David Sedgwick amusingly posted “Those with long memories will recall Harry Lamb's famous escape back to civilisation” What they may not remember was that I was not the only one to flee. A French arbiter Jean-Paul Touzé also fled Elista.

[Richard Bates]

Richard Bates >BTW I'm a bit confused by the list of 1991 champions - apparently Rowan Brown was both U11 and U12 champion. Which seems a bit strange since he was in the same age group as me and was born in 1978.<

You seem to be working from a list different from that in the 2010 ECF Year book. R (presumably Rowan) Brown is shown as U12 Champion in 1991. Dipanyan Das won the U11 Championship in 1991 and I can distinctly remember him making the speech on behalf of the competitors.

Stewart Reuben

You are right, i was looking at the 2010 British Championship programme (with first names). Obviously a typo.

[LozCooper]

On a slightly less controversial note I am pleased to report that all the England players now have visas for the Olympiad

[Roger de Coverly]

chessvibes is reporting that the flight times have changed yet again

http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/olymp ... ged-again/

and a "you couldn't make it up if you tried" report about Kirsan

http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/ilyum ... ound-zero/

[David Brock]

All I can say on the subject is I just hope that the England team actually manage to get their before the Olympiad starts as the way it looks there may not be enough planes to get everyone there in time. Then when they get there lets hope that they actually have somewhere to stay rather than having to pitch up a tent in the middle of nowhere.

Then of course there is the food, sleeping conditions, jet lag and utter chaos that is bound to ensue so good luck lads and lets hope you can overcome all of this to perform to the best of your abilities.

[Mark Howitt]

Yes I hope they get there in plenty of time and prepare well too. I think the England Open team is the best there's been for a long time- all of the players seem to be close to their peak, certainly grading wise and they're in good form too. Chance of a top ten finish.

Hopefully there will be daily reports from Loz too, that'd be nice!

[Andy McCulloch]

And the lassies to, of course.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

The dates for the Olympiad seem to be 19 September to 4 October, so presumably most players (including the England teams) are either en route or leaving very soon to travel there.

I think this is the official website:

http://www.ugra-chess.com/

Does anyone know which websites or other services will be covering the games live and are there some that people here would recommend? I've used Chessdom in the past, but that's about all I'm aware of apart from the dedicated internet chess servers that also tend to provide running commentary (where possible). And I presume websites like TWIC and Chessbase will do reports as well. Any other good chess news sites out there?

[Roger de Coverly]

. Any other good chess news sites out there?

www.chessvibes.com is very up to date at the moment.

Probably this forum will get busy as well

[Christopher Kreuzer]

. Any other good chess news sites out there?

http://www.chessvibes.com is very up to date at the moment.

Probably this forum will get busy as well

Some might even start a new thread and put this one out of its misery...