English Chess Forum

European Individual Chess Championship March 21st - 3rd April 2011

Location: Aix-les-Bains, France

List of players: http://www.aixlesbains2011.fr/Players.aspx

Regulations: http://www.aixlesbains2011.fr/EuroActus ... hentic.pdf

Registration: http://www.aixlesbains2011.fr/Players.aspx

Please note the registration deadline of 25th February. If any wishes to play please contact me as soon as possible. Entry has to be through the federation (me) and the relevant fees are as follows:

Entry fee: €65 for GM/IM/WGM/WIM/FM/WFM or €130 for everyone else.

Organisation fee: €70 for all players which includes transfers from Geneva & Lyon and free tea, coffee etc at the venue.

Players are free to choose any accommodation they wish, there are no restrictions forcing you to stay in official hotels.

Confirmed English entries so far:

GM Luke McShane 2664
GM Gawain Jones 2593
GM Glenn Flear 2495
GM Peter Wells 2487
IM Jovanka Houska 2419

Schedule:

Monday, March 21st Arrival day
Tuesday, March 22nd 3:00 pm Round 1
Wednesday, March 23rd 3:00 pm Round 2
Thursday, March 24th 3:00 pm Round 3
Friday, March 25th 3:00 pm Round 4
Saturday, March 26th 3:00 pm Round 5
Sunday, March 27th 3:00 pm Round 6
Monday, March 28th 3:00 pm Round 7
Tuesday, March 29th Rest day
Wednesday, March 30th 3:00 pm Round 8
Thursday, March 31st 3:00 pm Round 9
Friday, April 1st 3:00 pm Round 10
Saturday, April 2nd 3:00 pm Round 11
Sunday, April 3rd Departures

Lawrence Cooper
Director of International Chess
English Chess Federation

Sean Hewitt has been invited to be an arbiter at this event.

I quote the following from the Regulations (link given by Lawrence above):

"Arbiters & Appeals Committee

Chief Arbiter will be IA Laurent Freyd (FRA).
Pairing Officer will be IA Stephen Boyd (FRA).

Arbiters team will also include :
IA Dominique DERVIEUX (FRA)
IA Stéphane ESCAFRE (FRA)
IA Mauro FIORI (ITA)
IA Sean HEWITT (ENG)
IA Thierry PARIS (FRA)
FA Gérard HERNANDEZ (FRA)
NA Rainer NIERMANN (GER)

Chairman of the Appeals Committee is GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili (GEO)
Other members of the Appeals Committee are : Willy Iclicki (MNC) and Vladimir Sakotic (MNE)"

It's a considerable honour for an English arbiter to be invited to officiate at a major event such as this on the Continent of Europe. Moreover, it's a distinguished team of arbiters.

Congratulations, Sean.

(The composition of the Appeals Committee is a matter over which the French Chess Federation has no control.)

Freyd and Boyd worked together at Gibraltar too, and seemed to do a good job from what I saw.

Thanks David. I'll probably arbit a world championship match before I'm even asked to do the British Championships though

Sean Hewitt wrote:Thanks David. I'll probably arbit a world championship match before I'm even asked to do the British Championships though

Did you volunteer, or were you invited?

Alex,
Other English arbiters have put their names forward for major events and been surplus to requirements. The fact that Sean has been employed is a signal that he is regarded as an extremely good arbiter. They are selecting 7 arbiters from Europe and Sean is one of the chosen few, that is quite an honour.

Alex Holowczak wrote:

Sean Hewitt wrote:Thanks David. I'll probably arbit a world championship match before I'm even asked to do the British Championships though

Did you volunteer, or were you invited?

I was approached and invited some time ago. I didn't even know when and where the event was until that happened!

I'm looking forward to it. I might even meet a few people and learn a few things that make bringing an event such as this to the UK possible in the future.

In addition to the five players already listed on the thread I can confirm that Stuart Conquest and Matthew Webb have both now entered. The updated list of players can be found here: http://www.aixlesbains2011.fr/Players.aspx

Confirmed list of English entries to the European Individual:

Id Family Name First name Elo Federation

00404853 MCSHANE Luke J 2664 ENG
00409561 JONES Gawain C B 2593 ENG
00400181 CONQUEST Stuart C 2529 ENG
00400165 FLEAR Glenn C 2495 ENG
00400327 WELLS Peter K 2487 ENG
00405094 HOUSKA Jovanka 2419 ENG
00413399 CHAPMAN Terry P D 2250 ENG
00418250 WEBB Matthew D 2062 ENG

Lawrence Cooper
Director of International Chess
ECF

This is presumably a qualifier for the next Chess World Cup; a qualifier for the next World Championship. Do we know how many qualify from this for the World Cup?

Alex Holowczak wrote:This is presumably a qualifier for the next Chess World Cup; a qualifier for the next World Championship. Do we know how many qualify from this for the World Cup?

Twenty-three. Please see http://www.aixlesbains2011.fr/Default.aspx?lg=UK, about halfway down the page.

are all Euro Championships qualifiers? Certainly the number of qualifying places has dropped.

James Pratt wrote:are all Euro Championships qualifiers?

I think so, but I'm not entirely sure. As we know, FIDE are constantly changing the Regulations and this has caused problems for the European Chess Union in the past.

Sean Hewitt has been invited to be an arbiter at this event.

Sean, I hope you have negotiated appropriate conditions!

Updated list of players here: http://www.aixlesbains2011.fr/Players.aspx and regulations here: http://www.aixlesbains2011.fr/EuroActus ... hentic.pdf

There are 407 players, 9 2700+ headed by Peter Svidler. Judit Polgar is 16th seed, Luke is 18th, Gawain 104th! Stuart Conquest is 146th seed, Glenn 166, Peter 172, Jovanka 213th. There are 23 qualifying places available for the next world cup.

The eight English players travel on Monday, albeit on eight different flights/trains with Luke and Peter travelling from the Bundesliga.

A reminder of the schedule:

Monday, March 21st Arrival day
Tuesday, March 22nd 3:00 pm Round 1
Wednesday, March 23rd 3:00 pm Round 2
Thursday, March 24th 3:00 pm Round 3
Friday, March 25th 3:00 pm Round 4
Saturday, March 26th 3:00 pm Round 5
Sunday, March 27th 3:00 pm Round 6
Monday, March 28th 3:00 pm Round 7
Tuesday, March 29th Rest day
Wednesday, March 30th 3:00 pm Round 8
Thursday, March 31st 3:00 pm Round 9
Friday, April 1st 3:00 pm Round 10
Saturday, April 2nd 3:00 pm Round 11
Sunday, April 3rd Departures