Rapidplays for 11 to 18s

[Peter Sowray]

Sabrina has previously done this at e2e4 events albeit without support from the ECF and JRT.

Lawrence,

I am full of admiration for the work that you, Phil Ehr and others are doing for our strong junior players.

I hope that the ECF is giving you the support you deserve. Jury's out.

Best,

Peter

[Alan Burke]

Peter D Williams asked ... "What evidence do you have for stating that "but that era was really the ex(e)cption rather than the rule" (?) !!!

In answer I will refer to a previous comment of Peter Sowray (to which Peter D Williams does not question and Carol Williams also replies with "Hit the nail on the head Peter.").....

"England had no chess culture until the early 70s. The fact that 10 years later we were the second strongest nation in the world was down to the efforts of half a dozen world class players plus two inspirational organisers, Leonard Barden and Bob Wade."

Therefore, if so, chess in this country was not generally popular prior to that date; then became so and has since seen its popularity wane - that seems to indicate that the era under discussion was different to those either side of it.

I am also not really surprised why Peter D Williams does not understand the reference to Shades of Grey (it's what is generally known as reading a book) whilst it also appears that not being able to continue a sensible discussion he returns to type ! Note that I did not challenge Carol Williams on her answer as at least she gave a reasonable reply !

[Sean Hewitt]

That said e2e4 are providing regular strong opens now, so maybe we will see some improvement. It is notable that many of the better juniors are active in those events. My feeling is a strong teenage player does develop faster by playing adults in opens than by winning junior only events. I wonder if there is a case for the ECF/ JRT using such events as a basis for coached groups.

Sabrina, Jovanka and Adam Hunt did this on a privateer basis but understandably couldn't make the economics stack up. There is limited time and so the ratio of players to coaches is small meaning the fees have to be relatively large just to cover costs.

If however (and it's a big if) the JRT or the ECF were able to cover the cost of such coaching for a group of players then it would make the world of difference. Results would not be overnight of course, but could be fruitful in the medium term.

[Roger de Coverly]

I wonder if there is a case for the ECF/ JRT using such events as a basis for coached groups.

If they did so, it would be nothing new. The monster Opens of the mid seventies would feature a Junior Squad of teenagers who would get together between rounds to plot the downfall of their opponents with the aid of a coach or two. In some cases they were given opening suggestions of Mike Basman to try out. One Congress featured the Bc5 Open Sicilian as I recall.