Questions about the 2013 British Blitz Championship

[Neill Cooper]

A few questions about the British Blitz:

Was it an ECF event? No. Entry fees were payable to “Alex Holowczak” and he told me “It's an independent event. I can pocket the profit if I like.”

Since Alex is the ECF Director of Home Chess who is so insistent that all my graded ECF secondary schools events required ECF membership, why did he not insist on it for this event? The entry form stated “There is no requirement to be an ECF direct member to play in this event.”

Why was there a free advert for British Blitz on the ECF home page, and hosting of the webpages and on line entry form on the ECF website if it was not an ECF event?

[LawrenceCooper]

A few questions about the British Blitz:

Was it an ECF event? No. Entry fees were payable to “Alex Holowczak” and he told me “It's an independent event. I can pocket the profit if I like.”

Since Alex is the ECF Director of Home Chess who is so insistent that all my graded ECF secondary schools events required ECF membership, why did he not insist on it for this event? The entry form stated “There is no requirement to be an ECF direct member to play in this event.”

Why was there a free advert for British Blitz on the ECF home page, and hosting of the webpages and on line entry form on the ECF website if it was not an ECF event?

Have you asked him?

[Roger de Coverly]

Since Alex is the ECF Director of Home Chess who is so insistent that all my graded ECF secondary schools events required ECF membership, why did he not insist on it for this event? The entry form stated “There is no requirement to be an ECF direct member to play in this event.”

There's the excuse that no fees are currently payable to FIDE for rating Blitz and it's not ECF graded. But if membership is good and promotes attendance at events, then it should have been demanded to increase participation. Like the insistence of Gold membership for FIDE standard play, it's a rule devised by the ECF and the ECF could demand membership for FIDE rated Blitz.

There are examples of organisers imposing membership requirements more stringent than required by the ECF. Some London rapidplay events demand Silver membership without offering the alternative of paying £ 6 more on the entry fee instead.

[Angus French]

19.ii Applications for membership
Three applications for membership had been received, and were approved: Birmingham FIDE Rated, Birmingham Blitz, and British Blitz

The ECF’s Articles of Association seem to allow it but it seems odd to me that the British Blitz event which took place on 20 April, should have had a vote at the ECF Council Meeting which took place a week earlier on 13 April.

Can anyone set up an event and call it the ‘British’ <whatever> - and confer titles such as 'British' <whatever> Champion?

[LawrenceCooper]

19.ii Applications for membership
Three applications for membership had been received, and were approved: Birmingham FIDE Rated, Birmingham Blitz, and British Blitz

The ECF’s Articles of Association seem to allow it but it seems odd to me that the British Blitz event which took place on 20 April, should have had a vote at the ECF Council Meeting which took place a week earlier on 13 April.

Can anyone set up an event and call it the ‘British’ <whatever> - and confer titles such as 'British' <whatever> Champion?

I don't see why not, provided the name isn't already being used or has been copyrighted etc I co-organised the event (from 2003-2006 I think) after the previous organiser, Adam Raoof, had stopped running it so I was very pleased when it started up in its latest form.

[Angus French]

19.ii Applications for membership
Three applications for membership had been received, and were approved: Birmingham FIDE Rated, Birmingham Blitz, and British Blitz

The ECF’s Articles of Association seem to allow it but it seems odd to me that the British Blitz event which took place on 20 April, should have had a vote at the ECF Council Meeting which took place a week earlier on 13 April.

Can anyone set up an event and call it the ‘British’ <whatever> - and confer titles such as 'British' <whatever> Champion?

I don't see why not, provided the name isn't already being used or has been copyrighted etc I co-organised the event (from 2003-2006 I think) after the previous organiser, Adam Raoof, had stopped running it so I was very pleased when it started up in its latest form.

But people might think it is run under the aegis of a national organisation when it isn't.

[LawrenceCooper]

I guess it's a legal rather than a moral question. If someone started up a British 5 minute tournament I don't see what the ECF or anyone else could do about it. Confusion over names is nothing new, National Junior Squad being one example.

[Angus French]

I guess it's a legal rather than a moral question. If someone started up a British 5 minute tournament I don't see what the ECF or anyone else could do about it. Confusion over names is nothing new, National Junior Squad being one example.

Maybe the ECF could do something about it if it was run by one of their Directors.

[David Sedgwick]

I guess it's a legal rather than a moral question. If someone started up a British 5 minute tournament I don't see what the ECF or anyone else could do about it. Confusion over names is nothing new, National Junior Squad being one example.

I'm not sure that is a good example. The Squad used to be called the BCF Junior Squad and the name change, in the late 1990s, resulted from their insistence on operating independently of the then BCF.

This is the first I've heard of the British Blitz Championship not being an official ECF event and in my view the ECF Board should ensure that that situation does not continue. It leads me to wonder whether the British Rapidplay Championship is similarly no longer official.

That is quite separate from issues about who receives any profits or whether ECF membership should be required for participants.

[John Philpott]

The Home Chess section of the budget report presented to the 2013 Finance Council meeting stated:

The Directorate will investigate the possibility of bringing in house events with “British” in their title which are currently run independently of the ECF.

[Roger de Coverly]

That is quite separate from issues about who receives any profits or whether ECF membership should be required for participants.

There's a simple enough test. Are payments made to the ECF or a third party? On the face of it, that's purely financial and VAT related. If however the ECF are insisting on membership for all participants as a condition of using the ECF's bank account, there will be some wider issues. The status of a Scottish or Welsh player taking part in the British Rapidplay being a case in point.

[Carl Hibbard]

Why was there a free advert for British Blitz on the ECF home page, and hosting of the webpages and on line entry form on the ECF website if it was not an ECF event?

This was raised in the ECF meeting notes (point 9) here:

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-conte ... -Final.pdf

[Neill Cooper]

A few questions about the British Blitz:

Was it an ECF event? No. Entry fees were payable to “Alex Holowczak” and he told me “It's an independent event. I can pocket the profit if I like.”

Since Alex is the ECF Director of Home Chess who is so insistent that all my graded ECF secondary schools events required ECF membership, why did he not insist on it for this event? The entry form stated “There is no requirement to be an ECF direct member to play in this event.”

Why was there a free advert for British Blitz on the ECF home page, and hosting of the webpages and on line entry form on the ECF website if it was not an ECF event?

Have you asked him?

Yes, I did ask him. I quote the first answer.
The second answer was formulaic, based on a decision made by the board that had the loophole that he exploited. The subsequent decision about school chess shows double standards.
I have not had an answer to the third question and it appears there was nepotism. Particularly irksome since in the Autumn the board voted to remove from the ECF calendar all ungraded events, with an exception that allowed his event through.

[Sean Hewitt]

This is the first I've heard of the British Blitz Championship not being an official ECF event and in my view the ECF Board should ensure that that situation does not continue. It leads me to wonder whether the British Rapidplay Championship is similarly no longer official.

The British Blitz was an official ECF event. The right to run it was awarded to Alex Holowczak by the then ECF Home Chess Director, Adam Raoof.

The second answer was formulaic, based on a decision made by the board that had the loophole that he exploited. The subsequent decision about school chess shows double standards.

That statement is wrong, as I suspect you know. The membership requirement applies to graded events organised by the ECF. With respect to schools chess events run by the ECF, there's a decision to be made to either be graded and require membership or not be graded and have no membership requirement. The British Blitz did not have that choice, as the ECF does not offer the option of grading blitz games.

[David Sedgwick]

The British Blitz was an official ECF event. The right to run it was awarded to Alex Holowczak by the then ECF Home Chess Director, Adam Raoof.

Now I'm even more confused. If that's the case, why was its status an issue at the March ECF Board Meeting?

Item 9 thereat, mentioned by Carl above, quotes a Director as saying that the event "had all the appearance of an ECF event". That's hardly surprising if it was.