Post
by David Pardoe » Sat Jun 11, 2016 10:22 pm
Firstly, there are a whole host of issues to contend with, not least travel and transport in the Finals stages. These should not be over stated, as there is a wealth of good chessing awaiting those prepared to commit to the cause..
As has been said, a vital point is finding volunteers to captain our county teams.
I honestly think that a big problem is the apathy factor.. i.e., players who just want it all sorting ...and they will then just turn up and play.
Volunteers wanted... much help available.
The main problems seem to be at the top end, which is not surprising, since the number of available players tends to diminish in the upper reaches..
And we need to do more to encourage a fresh generation of players, not least from our junior community. But, come May & June they have exams to contend with..
Yes, look at the suggested ways of restructuring the upper tiers. i.e., Open, Minor and U180 events.
But the most vital task I think is to engender a greater sense of inclusivity into these events.. i.e., we have large swathes of the country where little or no county chess is played...this really is not good. We must reawaken enthusiasm for these county events, and extol there virtues.
Clashes with other events, like 4NCL and Congress/Rapidplay events is an on-going problem.
Some suggest we should just play friendly matches against neighbouring counties of choice.
Here`s another option...
Rebrand our Counties Finals competitions to Regional Finals events.
Lets take the NCCU for example..
Huge areas play almost no county chess..Durham, Northumberland and Teesside, Humberside., Merseyside, Cheshire & North Wales, and Cumbria.
Maybe the NCCU should organise Regional competitions.. i.e., by combining Northumberland Durham & Teesside into say one NE Regional team group, and combining say Cheshire, Merseyside & N Wales into another, and Cumbria with Lancs, you could create 4 good quality playing regional team groups. These should then have sufficient numbers to enable teams to be fielded at several levels BY EACH REGION. Maybe these might operate at just the higher levels, i.e. Open, Minor and U180... or maybe go further down the order to U160, and U140. etc.
The point being that with these 4 regional groups you could probably run an `all play all` at the various grade bands, creating a 3 match Qualifier event. By selecting suitable venues the travel for each team could be eased.
Of course a key requirement is for the respective Union bodies to set up and run good county/regional competitions, and for respective counties to do there bit to support these initiatives.
Then, at the National stages, with a revised National Regions Competition, maybe the Eastern counties & Western counties could send a `Combined counties teams for the Open, Minor or U180 competitions. By doing this, it might just be possible to restore some real `inclusivity` back into these events, and see regions that have not got involved for years might return to the table. Reverting back to the previous grading bands might also help..
As I`ve said, the counties chess scene really does provide some of our best chess playing opportunities, for those who can spare a few Saturday afternoons to play these 16 board matches.
It might even provide an opportunity for the NCCU to ditch its historical legacies and rebrand to say the NRCA . With a new proactive Executive at the helm... who knows what might be achieved. But its for others to decide those matters..
Talk of scrapping the Qualifier stages is a definite no no.. Why, because it provides teams with a reasonable group of matches that probably does not involve too many major travel issues.
As I`ve said, the Counties format provides the opportunity to gain quality team match experience...on all levels. This should help to produce our top grade players for future years, as they rise through the ranks.
BRING BACK THE BCF
