ECF Regulation Of FIDE Academies

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Michael Flatt
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ECF Regulation Of FIDE Academies

Post by Michael Flatt » Tue Mar 28, 2017 11:57 am

I just discovered that ECF Regulations relating to FIDE Academies have recently been published on the Junior Directorate web pages.

ECF Regulations for FIDE Academies: http://englishchess.org.uk/Juniors/appl ... e-academy/

The regulations refer to 'guidelines' yet also specify that compliance with them is mandatory. Can that be correct?

Does the ECF suffer a conflict of interest in that it seeks to regulate independently run FIDE Academies that compete with its own?

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David Shepherd
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Re: ECF Regulation Of FIDE Academies

Post by David Shepherd » Tue Mar 28, 2017 1:25 pm

Sorry - not really a reply to your post, but something I noticed in the regulations which I think could be reconsidered

"A student cannot study with or play for more than one English FIDE Academy."

Whilst I understand the logic behind the not play for, I am less convinced about the cannot study part. I could maybe understand more if it said registered to study. So for example if an academy had some spare places on a training day that it was putting on - would this clause prevent a student at another academy taking one of these places, and if so is that a sensible default position?

To be honest though I am not totally convinced that this regulation needs to be there at all.

I could understand that an individual academy may whish to have the rule (which would be down to them), but I am not sure why it would be a default position. As a whole I am not keen on the rule, although I could for example understand why an academy having trained a player would want that player to represent that academy rather than another one. However my view would be that the player should want to represent their academy and if they don't the academy is probably not the best.

I suspect there has been some thought put in to the rules and it is probably designed to reduce tension between organisations, however I think as it stands the rule is not ideal for players.

With the training organised by county junior organisations for example, it is generally possible to attend some courses in one county and some in another. This is very useful for players as they may for example live midway between the two training venues, or closer to one in a neighbouring county. As a whole the training should be about improving standards whilst being affordable and convenient. I am therefore concerned that the rule as it stands seems to be unnecessarily restrictive as the default position.

Michael Flatt
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Re: ECF Regulation Of FIDE Academies

Post by Michael Flatt » Tue Mar 28, 2017 2:32 pm

David Shepherd wrote:Sorry - not really a reply to your post, but something I noticed in the regulations which I think could be reconsidered

"A student cannot study with or play for more than one English FIDE Academy."
Exactly. A student studying with ECF Academy would, it seems, be prevented from taking advantage of training opportunities at an Independent Academy. Similarly, a student signed up to an Academy other than the ECF's would apparently be denied the opportunity to represent England.

It would be far simpler to insist only that the Principal or owner of an independent Academy should be a FIDE registered trainer.

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David Shepherd
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Re: ECF Regulation Of FIDE Academies

Post by David Shepherd » Tue Mar 28, 2017 3:13 pm

Michael Flatt wrote: Similarly, a student signed up to an Academy other than the ECF's would apparently be denied the opportunity to represent England.
This is not my understanding of the page that the link was too. My understanding currently is that the England team is selected based on the selection criteria as detailed on the ECF website http://englishchess.org.uk/Juniors/juni ... ion-policy/ . In addition extra players not selected as part of the England team could attend the events if selected by their academy (providing a robust selection policy was in place in their Academy).

I believe the point the ECF are trying to make is that such players should not regard themselves as playing for England, but instead just regard themselves as being selected to represent their Academy at the championships.

However the academy system is fairly new and its not 100% clear how it will develop.

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David Shepherd
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Re: ECF Regulation Of FIDE Academies

Post by David Shepherd » Tue Mar 28, 2017 3:27 pm

The only point in the system that I think is not uniform is in relation to this clause from the selection process:

"ECF Academy – players who are currently on the International Programme and the Academy Plus Programme will be considered for events that they express interest in if they meet 80% of the target rating and/or grade, have attended all study weekends and are making good progress."

In a way this seems like the ECF Academy equivalent of the wildcard selection from the other external Academies and yet these players get full England status. However the ECF can be excused this anomaly as it encourages players to train and join the ECF academy which is probably a good thing and it would be hard to explain to the children that they are in the ECF academy, selected to play in a championship and yet not playing for England. The main thing really is just that the suitable players get selected to go to the events, and that suitable training and support is made available before, during and after the championships.

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John Upham
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Re: ECF Regulation Of FIDE Academies

Post by John Upham » Tue Mar 28, 2017 4:09 pm

As far as I am aware FIDE recognises two academies that draw their student body from within the UK or England:

The UK Chess Academy : http://ukchessacademy.com/

and the ECF Academy : web site unknown but http://englishchess.org.uk/Juniors/ includes references to it.

Sainbayar Tserendorj is named as the operator of The UK Chess Academy and pre-dates the ECF one.

There is http://www.chessacademy.uk/ which is not FIDE recognised AFAIK and there other commericial organisations which have the word "Academy" in their title.
Last edited by John Upham on Tue Mar 28, 2017 5:33 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Brian Towers
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Re: ECF Regulation Of FIDE Academies

Post by Brian Towers » Tue Mar 28, 2017 5:28 pm

Fixed
Last edited by Brian Towers on Tue Mar 28, 2017 10:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ah, but I was so much older then. I'm younger than that now.

Michael Flatt
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Re: ECF Regulation Of FIDE Academies

Post by Michael Flatt » Tue Mar 28, 2017 5:57 pm

I recall that the ECF opposed the application of the UK Chess Academy who were forced to apply directly to FIDE to gain FIDE Academy status.

So, in fact, there is only one FIDE Academy based in England that meets the ECF Regulations - that is, of course, the ECF Chess Academy.

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Re: ECF Regulation Of FIDE Academies

Post by John Upham » Tue Mar 28, 2017 6:04 pm

Michael Flatt wrote:I recall that the ECF opposed the application of the UK Chess Academy who were forced to apply directly to FIDE to gain FIDE Academy status.

So, in fact, there is only one FIDE Academy based in England that meets the ECF Regulations - that is, of course, the ECF Chess Academy.

Does FIDE require that all of its academies meet the local NGBs regulations in order for them to be recognized by FIDE ?

Would FIDE care one jot that the NGBs regulations are not met ?
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Michael Flatt
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Re: ECF Regulation Of FIDE Academies

Post by Michael Flatt » Tue Mar 28, 2017 6:13 pm

I understand that it is a requirement that prospective FIDE Academies apply for registration through their National Federation. If that endorsement is unreasonably withheld then application can be made directly to FIDE who will take into consideration the objections of the National Federation.

In the case of UK Chess Academy the objections of the ECF were dismissed and FIDE Academy status was granted.

Whether the ECF's new Regulations can be enforced, albeit retrospectively, is still to be tested.

Roger Lancaster
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Re: ECF Regulation Of FIDE Academies

Post by Roger Lancaster » Wed Mar 29, 2017 7:30 pm

Fortunately I'm not one to harbour suspicious thoughts, otherwise the words "loss of monopoly" might cross my mind.

Roger de Coverly
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Re: ECF Regulation Of FIDE Academies

Post by Roger de Coverly » Wed Mar 29, 2017 9:40 pm

Roger Lancaster wrote: otherwise the words "loss of monopoly" might cross my mind.
For the tournaments they notionally run, FIDE and ECU insist that entries are made thorough the ECF and other national federations. For Junior tournaments, but not Senior ones, the ECF doesn't allow or tries not to allow entries that are not "selected" by itself.

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