English Chess Forum

Hi All,

We will be running In-Tournament Training at this year's British Chess Championships at Sheffield. We want to run this as professionally and structured as possible so we would like people to register their interest as soon as possible.

Please can you send me the details given on the form attached as soon as possible. Please just email/phone as that is the quickest way to get hold of me. We would like a schedule to be put together by next week so I need to know who will be wanting the coaching.

We have three levels of coaching to cater for different people. Please also remember that we have a sponsorship fund that we use for those who may want some financial help and you can apply in confidence for that.

Please contact me if you want any further details.

Thank you,
Sabrina
Email: [email protected]

I presume that this is completely unrelated to the coaching advertised in the Congress programme.

Yes, this coaching is properly scheduled and each student will be allocated times for coaching slots each day. This coaching will only be open to those that apply beforehand

Sabrina,

This the first I have heard of the new venture and I wish you well with it.

Two questions: Are all the coaches you are using ECF Accredited Coaches and have they all got CRB Enhanced Clearance?

Andrew

I would assume that any coaching provided at an ECF event is promoted in conjunction with the ECF Manager of Coaching and the event organisers.

Is this not the case here?

I think it is important to say clearly that this is private coaching, not sanctioned by the ECF.

Private coaching arrangements are out of the control of the ECF, and if we were to officially sanction such an arrangement in the future we would expect all the coaches to be ECF Accredited and a financial contribution to the running costs of the British Championships.

Adam,
Sabrina and Jovanka are the ECF managers of Women's Chess and it does say (in bold) in the advert posted by Lawrence Cooper, the ECF's Director of International Chess

"This coaching has been approved by the organisers as it is encouraging juniors to play and develop their chess."

I imagine some parents might think it was officially sanctioned.

Adam Raoof wrote:I think it is important to say clearly that this is private coaching, not sanctioned by the ECF.

Private coaching arrangements are out of the control of the ECF, and if we were to officially sanction such an arrangement in the future we would expect all the coaches to be ECF Accredited and a financial contribution to the running costs of the British Championships.

Will the private coaching take place using facilities included in the venue hire by the ECF for the British Championships?

It might be that coaching taking place at the British Championships would give the impression that it was permitted by the ECF and the event organisers?

John Upham wrote:Will the private coaching take place using facilities included in the venue hire by the ECF for the British Championships?

No.

John Upham wrote:It might be that coaching taking place at the British Championships would give the impression that it was permitted by the ECF and the event organisers?

I have asked the organisers to edit their publicity accordingly to ensure it does not.

LozCooper wrote:Hi All,

We will be running In-Tournament Training at this year's British Chess Championships at Sheffield. We want to run this as professionally and structured as possible so we would like people to register their interest as soon as possible.

Please can you send me the details given on the form attached as soon as possible. Please just email/phone as that is the quickest way to get hold of me. We would like a schedule to be put together by next week so I need to know who will be wanting the coaching.

We have three levels of coaching to cater for different people. Please also remember that we have a sponsorship fund that we use for those who may want some financial help and you can apply in confidence for that.

Please contact me if you want any further details.

Thank you,
Sabrina
Email: [email protected]

Hi Loz and Sabrina,

SUPERB!!!

Officially sanctioned or not, this is excellent!! Finally, training and coaching being taken seriously. It is unbelievable that some, seem to be upset with the fact that this has been organised and have already begun to nit-pick. Does it really matter who has sanctioned it? As long as it is quality and available - it has to be right.

If it succeeds (which I have no doubt it will), it just goes to show once again that junior chess is more than capable of funding itself.

I am sure the nay-sayers and doomsday merchants will have plenty to complain about, but this has got to be the way forward.

Good luck to you and all the best!

Krishna

Jovanka and Sabrina are joint Manager of Women's Chess for the ECF and David Welch is one of the co-organisers who Sabrina has liaised with. This seems to me to be a welcome initiative that will give a lot more people the opportunity to be coached. It is particularly timely given that there is doubt over if a training weekend will be held prior to the European Youth so I am delighted that many of the juniors involved will have an opportunity to receive coaching prior to this event.

I would like to think that we are all involved in chess for positive reasons to help people and would therefore ask that new initiatives are supported and encouraged.

David has asked me to clarify that although he gave permission for Sabrina to arrange coaching at the British Championships this should not be viewed as him endorsing the coaching.

As a (very part-time) chess coach myself I think it is amazing that somebody has come along with the sheer drive and positivity of Sabrina Chevannes who is offering coaching in many forms to different groups in varied settings. This seems to be growing and I wish her luck.

I will be very interested to see how her enterprises develop over time. Meanwhile I will be advising my juniors to keep tabs on what she is offering. None of them are going to the British but perhaps to the London Chess Classic if I can get something arranged.

As to this specific issue, I see she had consulted with a co-organiser so this is all above board and to be commended. Sabrina is by all accounts an exceptionally talented coach and motivator, so is well-equipped to take the lead on this. Good luck to her!

On a wider note, perhaps this raises the issue of formally offering such work out to tender for other coaches to bid for a coaching space at future ECF events? (I am not speaking for myself - I only work very small-scale in chess.) The best bids and the finest coaching would be the aim. Within such a process I think there is a logical argument that all coaches so bidding for work under the ECF umbrella should go through the relatively simple process of becoming ECF accredited coach and, of course, will therefore have Enhanced CRB clearance.

Good luck with your coaching enterprises Sabrina! My pupils will meet you in London, December.

Kevin Hurst (ECF accredited chess coach) www.kevinhurst.co.uk

Hi there

This coaching seems to have caused a lot of fuss, much of which is very unnecessary in my opinion. I thought that those people who work for their national federation all have the same thing in common - their country's best interest at heart. Those who don't, shouldn't be working for them, paid or unpaid. I feel that our juniors are the future of our country's success so I will do as much (or in my case) as little as possible.

I have already been approched in the last few months to coach in 3 different countries abroad and it seems that I may just take this up as this country clearly is not supportive.

Last year at Canterbury - and as far as I was aware for the coming Sheffield congress - quite excellent free coaching for the juniors was provided by Nick Nixon. Even I, as a jaundiced 75-year old and a teacher with more than 50 years experience of teaching chess, found his talks inspiring. Certainly the kids enjoyed them immensely.

Whilst I have nothing against this new venture, I do hope that Nick will be there, doing his stuff, again this year. I have encouraged a number of my proteges to take part at Sheffield and had used Nick Nixon's coaching as an advertising point urging them to come.

Sabrina Chevannes wrote:Hi there

This coaching seems to have caused a lot of fuss, much of which is very unnecessary in my opinion. I thought that those people who work for their national federation all have the same thing in common - their country's best interest at heart. Those who don't, shouldn't be working for them, paid or unpaid. I feel that our juniors are the future of our country's success so I will do as much (or in my case) as little as possible.

I have already been approched in the last few months to coach in 3 different countries abroad and it seems that I may just take this up as this country clearly is not supportive.

It's a great idea and we hope to take advantage of it with our girl. Ignore the doom and gloom brigade.