Hastings International Chess Congress 2010-11

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Can any one name a single good game/result by any of our leading juniors? Me neither.

In the Masters, not much to talk about, but I did notice James Holland drawing with Stuart Conquest in the New Year Open (round 4, so not a last round draw).

I also just noticed that Sengupta scored 7/9 with 7 wins and 2 losses and no draws (i.e. +5).

And not many managed to go through the tournament undefeated. I think only Istratescu and Gormally (both 6.5, +4) were undefeated among the leaders. Further down the field, Knott (5.5, +2) and Salov (5, +1) were also undefeated.

In terms of rating performances, there were some good performances, but the results table seems to be broken at the moment, and the "FIDE table" on the website doesn't show TPRs.

[Richard Bates]

Can any one name a single good game/result by any of our leading juniors? Me neither.

In the Masters, not much to talk about, but I did notice James Holland drawing with Stuart Conquest in the New Year Open (round 4, so not a last round draw).

I also just noticed that Sengupta scored 7/9 with 7 wins and 2 losses and no draws (i.e. +5).

And not many managed to go through the tournament undefeated. I think only Istratescu and Gormally (both 6.5, +4) were undefeated among the leaders. Further down the field, Knott (5.5, +2) and Salov (5, +1) were also undefeated.

In terms of rating performances, there were some good performances, but the results table seems to be broken at the moment, and the "FIDE table" on the website doesn't show TPRs.

The link is broken - try this:

http://www.hastingschess.org.uk/2011/SMWSite/index.html

[Christopher Kreuzer]

The link is broken - try this:

http://www.hastingschess.org.uk/2011/SMWSite/index.html

Thanks.

It seems that Sengupta and Das played weaker fields than those that finished just behind them. Das in particular played a field rated at an average of 2298, compared to Istratescu's opposition averaging 2472 (and Howell's was 2465). It all came down to those last round games. Sengupta won his last four games and Das won his last three games. Howell won his first 5 games and then lost in round 6 and drew his last three.

Other players (including Sengupta) who finished with no draws include you, Richard, with 6 wins and 3 losses, and Jack Rudd with 5 wins and four losses, and Paal Royset with 4 wins and 5 losses.

The best W-We values (performance relative to rating) appear to be Chkartina (+2.73), Prasanna (+2.55), Sergienko (+2.05), Atako (+1.98), Malhotra (+1.88), Clayton (+1.57), Bates (+1.34) and Sreeves (+1.33).

[LozCooper]

http://www.hastingschess.org.uk/2011/SMWSite/index.html

Round 9 results:

Table White Score Fed. Rating Black Score Fed. Rating Result

1 GM SENGUPTA, Deep 6.0 IND 2558 GM EDOUARD, Romain 6.5 FRA 2636 1-0
2 GM ISTRATESCU, Andrei 6.0 ROU 2616 GM HOWELL, David W L 6.0 ENG 2611 ½-½
3 IM SHYAM, Sundar M 6.0 IND 2439 IM DAS Arghyadip 6.0 IND 2476 0-1
4 GM GORMALLY, Daniel W 6.0 ENG 2470 IM PRASANNA, Rao 6.0 IND 2400 ½-½
5 GM NEVEROV, Valeriy 5.5 UKR 2522 ANWESH, Upadhyaya 5.5 IND 2426 1-0
6 IM SWAPNIL, S Dhopade 5.5 IND 2409 GM HEBDEN, Mark L 5.0 ENG 2560 0-1
7 FM RADOVANOVIC, Jovica 5.0 SRB 2276 GM KOTRONIAS, Vasilios 5.0 GRE 2591 0-1
8 IM RAMNATH, Bhuvanesh R 5.0 IND 2427 FM ZHOU, Yang-Fan 5.0 ENG 2326 1-0
9 IM WOHL, Aleksandar H 5.0 AUS 2424 IM RUDD, Jack 5.0 ENG 2253 1-0
10 IM BATES, Richard A 5.0 ENG 2370 GRIFFITHS, Ryan Rhys 5.0 IRL 2267 1-0
11 IM KNOTT, Simon J B 5.0 ENG 2333 FM WHITE, Michael J R 5.0 ENG 2247 ½-½
12 FM ASHTON, Adam G 5.0 ENG 2330 FM FURMAN, Boris 4.5 RUS 2253 ½-½
13 IM RENDLE, Thomas E 4.5 ENG 2400 CM KWIATKOWSKI, Feliks J 4.5 ENG 2246 1-0
14 FM EGGLESTON, David J 4.5 ENG 2307 SERGIENKO, Vladislav 4.5 UKR 2133 ½-½
15 HANSSEN, Gunnar Berg 4.5 NOR 2218 FM DRUCKENTHANER, Andreas 4.5 AUT 2306 ½-½
16 IM SALOV, Sergej 4.5 GER 2294 IM MARUSENKO, Petr 4.5 UKR 2206 ½-½
17 FM EAMES, Robert S 4.5 ENG 2275 ROLVAG, Mikael 4.5 NOR 2179 1-0
18 ATAKO, Chino 4.5 ENG 2039 KULKARNI, Chinmay 4.5 IND 2275 ½-½
19 FM KAUFELD, Juergen 4.5 GER 2270 JACKSON, James P 4.5 ENG 2146 ½-½
20 FM LEDGER, Dave J 4.5 ENG 2261 BREMNER, Adam 4.5 SCO 1912 * ½-½
21 IM PROSVIRIAKOV, Vladimir 4.0 USA 2280 FM CAFFERTY, Bernard 4.0 ENG 2133 1-0
22 SPENCE, David J 4.0 ENG 2237 STENHOUSE, Thomas 0.0 ENG 1864 * 1-0
23 HELBIG, Paul D 4.0 ENG 2115 FM BRITTON, Richard L 4.0 ENG 2229 1-0
24 SNAPE, Ian L 4.0 ENG 2228 COATES, David H 4.0 ENG 2067 1-0
25 SREEVES, Clement 4.0 SCO 2104 GRANT, Alan G 4.0 SCO 2219 1-0
26 WFM HEGARTY, Sarah N 4.0 ENG 2080 FRANKLIN, Samuel G A 4.0 ENG 2185 ½-½
27 ROYSET, Paal 4.0 NOR 2171 CHKARTINA, Gerhana 4.0 INA 2014 0-1
28 KURKA, Dieter 3.5 GER 2040 WILLIAMS, Peter A 4.0 ENG 2179 ½-½
29 SPANTON, Tim R 3.5 ENG 2030 FM RAMONDINO, Renzo 3.5 ITA 2257 0-1
30 SUGDEN, John N 3.5 ENG 2193 WFM NORINKEVICIUTE, Rasa 3.5 LTU 2028 ½-½
31 LENIER, Jude 3.5 ENG 2006 MARZANO, Carlo 3.5 ITA 2160 0-1
32 ALMOND, Richard J 3.5 ENG 2145 ARMSTRONG, Malcolm J 3.5 ENG 1957 0-1
33 ZHU, Yao Yao 3.5 CHN 1994 * GREEN, Andrew D 3.5 SCO 2141 0-1
34 RAMSTAD, Havard 3.5 NOR 1793 * RAYNER, Francis 3.5 WLS 2141 ½-½
35 BARTON, R Alan 3.5 ENG 2103 SIMON, Thomas 3.5 GER 1971 1-0
36 DE COVERLY, Roger D 3.5 ENG 2091 MESSAM-SPARKS, Lateefah 3.5 ENG 1917 1-0
37 FLYNN, David 3.5 ENG 2061 MALHOTRA, Tarun 3.5 ENG 1913 0-1
38 KELLY, Paul J 3.0 WLS 1946 * JAUNOOBY, Ali R 3.0 ENG 2207 0-1
39 HARIA, Ravi 3.0 ENG 1952 PICKERSGILL, Adrian O 3.0 ENG 2026 ½-½
40 CLAYTON, Tristan 3.0 ENG 1791 GIBSON, Christopher A 3.0 ENG 1984 ½-½
41 CALVERT, D Ian 3.0 ENG 1981 ROLVAAG, Birk Anders 3.0 NOR 1917 ½-½
42 DALE, Hannah 3.0 ENG 1790 JELSEN, Yemi 3.0 INA 1967 ½-½
43 CM RICH, Mark C 2.5 ENG 2145 YOUNG, Mel J 2.5 ENG 1938 1-0
44 HOARE, Amy 2.5 ENG 1921 STEWART, Ashley 2.5 ENG 1980 0-1
45 MACRAE, James S 2.0 SCO 1763 CAMPBELL, Eoin 2.5 SCO 1950 ½-½
46 PLEININGER, Rudolf 2.0 SUI 1998 TORGERSEN, Markus 2.0 NOR 1741 ½-½
47 POOLEY, Mark 1.5 ENG 1778 * DUNLOP, Neil J 2.0 ENG 1923 ½-½

Loss by default LOCK, Gavin R

[LozCooper]

http://www.hastingschess.org.uk/2011/SMWSite/index.html

Rank Name Score Fed. M/F Rating TPR W-We 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 GM SENGUPTA, Deep 7.0 IND M 2558 2549 +0.07 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1
2 IM DAS Arghyadip 7.0 IND M 2476 2491 +0.18 1 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1
3 GM EDOUARD, Romain 6.5 FRA M 2636 2598 -0.20 1 ½ ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 0
4 GM ISTRATESCU, Andrei 6.5 ROU M 2616 2638 +0.37 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½
5 GM HOWELL, David W L 6.5 ENG M 2611 2631 +0.35 1 1 1 1 1 0 ½ ½ ½
6 GM NEVEROV, Valeriy 6.5 UKR M 2522 2516 +0.04 1 1 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 1
7 GM GORMALLY, Daniel W 6.5 ENG M 2470 2551 +1.01 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½
8 IM PRASANNA, Rao 6.5 IND M 2400 2611 +2.55 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 ½
9 GM KOTRONIAS, Vasilios 6.0 GRE M 2591 2461 -1.18 1 0 ½ 1 1 1 0 ½ 1
10 GM HEBDEN, Mark L 6.0 ENG M 2560 2426 -1.22 0 1 1 1 1 0 ½ ½ 1
11 IM SHYAM, Sundar M 6.0 IND M 2439 2533 +1.15 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 0
12 IM RAMNATH, Bhuvanesh R 6.0 IND M 2427 2402 -0.24 1 1 0 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1
13 IM WOHL, Aleksandar H 6.0 AUS M 2424 2463 +0.51 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 0 1 1
14 IM BATES, Richard A 6.0 ENG M 2370 2481 +1.34 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1
15 ANWESH, Upadhyaya 5.5 IND M 2426 2382 -0.34 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 ½ 0
16 IM SWAPNIL, S Dhopade 5.5 IND M 2409 2390 -0.04 1 0 1 1 0 ½ 1 1 0
17 IM RENDLE, Thomas E 5.5 ENG M 2400 2438 +0.61 1 ½ 1 1 0 1 0 0 1
18 IM KNOTT, Simon J B 5.5 ENG M 2333 2291 -0.41 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½
19 FM ASHTON, Adam G 5.5 ENG M 2330 2404 +0.93 1 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½
20 FM EAMES, Robert S 5.5 ENG M 2275 2217 -0.59 0 1 ½ 1 0 1 0 1 1
21 FM WHITE, Michael J R 5.5 ENG M 2247 2210 -0.29 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 ½
22 FM ZHOU, Yang-Fan 5.0 ENG M 2326 2313 -0.13 1 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 1 1 0
23 FM EGGLESTON, David J 5.0 ENG M 2307 2397 +1.05 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½
24 FM DRUCKENTHANER, Andreas 5.0 AUT M 2306 2345 +0.37 1 ½ 0 1 1 0 1 0 ½
25 IM SALOV, Sergej 5.0 GER M 2294 2170 -1.44 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½
26 IM PROSVIRIAKOV, Vladimir 5.0 USA M 2280 2194 -0.98 ½ 1 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 1
27 FM RADOVANOVIC, Jovica 5.0 SRB M 2276 2369 +0.94 = 1 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 0
28 KULKARNI, Chinmay 5.0 IND M 2275 2259 -0.29 0 1 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½
29 FM KAUFELD, Juergen 5.0 GER M 2270 2207 -0.70 0 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½
30 GRIFFITHS, Ryan Rhys 5.0 IRL M 2267 2365 +0.92 0 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 0 0
31 FM LEDGER, Dave J 5.0 ENG M 2261 2334 +0.67 1 0 1 0 1 0 ½ 1 ½
32 IM RUDD, Jack 5.0 ENG M 2253 2310 +0.59 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0
33 FM FURMAN, Boris 5.0 RUS M 2253 2319 +0.71 ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½
34 SPENCE, David J 5.0 ENG M 2237 2125 -1.09 0 1 0 1 ½ ½ 1 0 1
35 SNAPE, Ian L 5.0 ENG M 2228 2304 +0.86 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1
36 HANSSEN, Gunnar Berg 5.0 NOR M 2218 2326 +1.19 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 0 ½ ½
37 IM MARUSENKO, Petr 5.0 UKR M 2206 2242 +0.47 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 ½ ½
38 JACKSON, James P 5.0 ENG M 2146 2201 +0.46 0 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 0 ½
39 SERGIENKO, Vladislav 5.0 UKR M 2133 2311 +2.05 1 0 ½ ½ 1 1 0 ½ ½
40 HELBIG, Paul D 5.0 ENG M 2115 2192 +0.87 ½ 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1
41 SREEVES, Clement 5.0 SCO M 2104 2214 +1.33 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 0 1
42 ATAKO, Chino 5.0 ENG M 2039 2224 +1.98 ½ ½ 0 1 0 ½ 1 1 ½
43 CHKARTINA, Gerhana 5.0 INA F 2014 2265 +2.73 1 0 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 1
44 BREMNER, Adam 5.0 SCO M 1912 * 2216 +0.50 ½ 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 ½
45 FM RAMONDINO, Renzo 4.5 ITA M 2257 2225 -0.43 0 1 1 1 0 0 ½ 0 1
46 CM KWIATKOWSKI, Feliks J 4.5 ENG M 2246 2180 -0.72 0 ½ 1 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 0
47 ANDERSON, John 4.5 ENG M 2195 2215 +0.19 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 ½ -
48 FRANKLIN, Samuel G A 4.5 ENG M 2185 2152 -0.32 0 1 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 ½
49 ROLVAG, Mikael 4.5 NOR M 2179 2261 +0.82 ½ 1 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0
50 WILLIAMS, Peter A 4.5 ENG M 2179 2140 -0.38 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 1 = ½ ½
51 MARZANO, Carlo 4.5 ITA M 2160 2108 -0.54 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 ½ 1
52 GREEN, Andrew D 4.5 SCO M 2141 2097 -0.39 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 1 1 0 1
53 BARTON, R Alan 4.5 ENG M 2103 1985 -1.36 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1
54 DE COVERLY, Roger D 4.5 ENG M 2091 2112 +0.19 1 0 0 ½ 1 0 0 1 1
55 WFM HEGARTY, Sarah N 4.5 ENG F 2080 2148 +0.63 1 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 ½
56 ARMSTRONG, Malcolm J 4.5 ENG M 1957 2058 +1.14 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 1
57 MALHOTRA, Tarun 4.5 ENG M 1913 2078 +1.88 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 1
58 IM BELLIN, Robert 4.0 ENG M 2367 2341 -0.05 ½ 1 ½ 1 = ½ 0 - -
59 FM BRITTON, Richard L 4.0 ENG M 2229 2175 -0.63 0 1 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 0
60 GRANT, Alan G 4.0 SCO M 2219 2159 -0.70 0 1 0 1 1 ½ ½ 0 0
61 JAUNOOBY, Ali R 4.0 ENG M 2207 1908 -2.75 0 0 1 ½ 1 0 0 ½ 1
62 SUGDEN, John N 4.0 ENG M 2193 2050 -1.37 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 0 ½
63 LOCK, Gavin R 4.0 ENG M 2182 2283 +1.06 ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 0 ½ -
64 ROYSET, Paal 4.0 NOR M 2171 2109 -0.72 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0
65 RAYNER, Francis 4.0 WLS M 2141 2149 -0.05 1 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½
66 FM CAFFERTY, Bernard 4.0 ENG M 2133 2103 -0.42 ½ 0 1 0 = 1 ½ ½ 0
67 COATES, David H 4.0 ENG M 2067 2140 +0.73 1 ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 1 0
68 KURKA, Dieter 4.0 GER M 2040 2057 +0.17 1 0 0 ½ 0 1 1 0 ½
69 WFM NORINKEVICIUTE, Rasa 4.0 LTU F 2028 2049 +0.21 0 ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½
70 RAMSTAD, Havard 4.0 NOR M 1793 * 2086 2086 1 0 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 = ½
71 IM PERT, Richard G 3.5 ENG M 2464 2362 -0.75 1 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ - - -
72 GM SUMMERSCALE, Aaron P 3.5 ENG M 2434 2372 -0.33 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ - - - -
73 CM RICH, Mark C 3.5 ENG M 2145 1981 -1.93 0 1 0 1 0 0 ½ 0 1
74 ALMOND, Richard J 3.5 ENG M 2145 2000 -1.34 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 0
75 FLYNN, David 3.5 ENG M 2061 1985 -0.98 1 0 0 1 0 0 ½ 1 0
76 SPANTON, Tim R 3.5 ENG M 2030 1928 -1.12 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 ½ 0
77 PICKERSGILL, Adrian O 3.5 ENG M 2026 1883 -1.57 ½ 0 1 0 0 1 0 ½ ½
78 LENIER, Jude 3.5 ENG M 2006 2034 +0.09 1 0 1 0 = 0 0 1 0
79 ZHU, Yao Yao 3.5 CHN F 1994 * 2013 2013 1 0 ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 0
80 GIBSON, Christopher A 3.5 ENG M 1984 2111 +1.19 ½ 1 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 ½
81 CALVERT, D Ian 3.5 ENG M 1981 1949 -0.39 ½ 0 ½ 0 = ½ ½ ½ ½
82 STEWART, Ashley 3.5 ENG M 1980 1948 -0.45 0 1 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 1
83 SIMON, Thomas 3.5 GER M 1971 2040 +0.66 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 ½ 0
84 JELSEN, Yemi 3.5 INA F 1967 1965 -0.11 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 0 0 1 ½
85 HARIA, Ravi 3.5 ENG M 1952 2029 +0.82 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 0 ½
86 MESSAM-SPARKS, Lateefah 3.5 ENG F 1917 1945 +0.24 0 + 0 0 1 0 1 ½ 0
87 ROLVAAG, Birk Anders 3.5 NOR M 1917 2038 +1.06 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 = 0 ½
88 CLAYTON, Tristan 3.5 ENG M 1791 1942 +1.57 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 1 ½
89 DALE, Hannah 3.5 ENG F 1790 1893 +0.96 0 ½ 0 0 1 = ½ ½ ½
90 CAMPBELL, Eoin 3.0 SCO M 1950 1834 -1.21 0 1 0 0 1 0 ½ 0 ½
91 KELLY, Paul J 3.0 WLS M 1946 * 1912 1912 ½ 0 0 1 1 ½ 0 0 0
92 GM WILLIAMS, Simon K 2.5 ENG M 2493 2363 -0.57 ½ 1 1 0 - - - - -
93 PLEININGER, Rudolf 2.5 SUI M 1998 1687 -3.14 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 ½
94 WEBSTER, Richard J 2.5 ENG M 1986 1974 -0.32 1 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 0 ½ -
95 YOUNG, Mel J 2.5 ENG M 1938 1849 -0.92 0 ½ 0 1 0 0 ½ ½ 0
96 DUNLOP, Neil J 2.5 ENG M 1923 1679 -1.92 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 ½
97 HOARE, Amy 2.5 ENG F 1921 1785 -1.32 0 1 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 0
98 QUINN, Joseph R 2.5 ENG M 1815 1842 +0.07 0 0 ½ ½ 1 = 0 0 -
99 MACRAE, James S 2.5 SCO M 1763 1610 -0.66 0 0 + 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½
100 TORGERSEN, Markus 2.5 NOR M 1741 1665 -0.49 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 = 1 ½
101 POOLEY, Mark 2.0 ENG M 1778 * 1714 1714 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½
102 GIBBS, Dominic V 1.5 ENG M 1941 1881 -0.49 ½ 0 0 1 0 0 - - -
103 SARGENT, John 1.5 HKG M 1770 * 1722 1722 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ - -
104 BRYANT, Marc 1.0 ENG M 1704 * 2476 0 - - - - - 1 - - -
105 CM REUBEN, Stewart 0.5 ENG M 2129 0 +0.00 - - - ½ - - - - -
106 STENHOUSE, Thomas 0.0 ENG M 1864 * 1502 0 - - - - - - - - 0

[LozCooper]

Still, a relatively drab event, as last year, for the English spectator because again none of the Englsh players shone throughout (though Howell started well and Richard Bates and Tom Rendle had their moments). Can any one name a single good game/result by any of our leading juniors? Me neither.

12 year old Tarun Malhotra had a 2078 performance gaining 28 rating points

11 year old Ravia Haria had a 2029 performance gaining 12 rating points

[Leonard Barden]

Still, a relatively drab event, as last year, for the English spectator because again none of the Englsh players shone throughout (though Howell started well and Richard Bates and Tom Rendle had their moments). Can any one name a single good game/result by any of our leading juniors? Me neither.

12 year old Tarun Malhotra had a 2078 performance gaining 28 rating points

11 year old Ravia Haria had a 2029 performance gaining 12 rating points

That's fine as far as it goes, but to put it into context most of the players scoring 7/11 or better in the latest World U12 championship had established Fide ratings above 2100 and in several cases above 2200. Malhotra though improving fast is still around 100-150 poihts below the international best of his age group. Others are more like 200-250 behind.

I should like to recall the comment made in this Forum by David Sedgwick regretting that the ECF no longer sent a formal squad with a coach to Hastings. We had five top English juniors taking part. Zhou, Franklin, Williams, Malhotra and Haria would surely have benefited had they been a formal ECF group with an IM/GM helping them, this could and should be financed by the John Robinson Trust. By next year's Hastings a new junior director should be in place and I hope the present policy will change.

[LozCooper]

I prefer to encourage our juniors than dismiss their performances by saying they aren't the best in the world. A lot of juniors start off with low ratings and it takes time to get them up. I look at recent performances which show improvement and potential. I am especially pleased to see that both Tarun and Ravi have played in the World Youth, followed by the London Chess Classic and Hastings. These are exactly the sort of events that they should be playing in and will best aid their progress as players. Along with Isaac Sanders (and others) we have some very talented juniors and it is up to those with influence to help ensure that their potential is fulfilled.

[Jonathan Rogers]

Ok, but this is all entirely consistent with Leonard's suggestion that there should be a resident coach at Hastings. Indeed, if modest funding could be found, that would (in some small way) meet another of Loz's concerns - that none of our own GMs are not given enough incentive to play this event.

When Leonard points out how far behind our juniors are, in comparison to (really, very many) other countries, he means to provide a wake-up call to those who may be able to improve the situation, not to criticise our best players. Such voices are much needed.

I am surprised that Richard says that among the juniors present at Hastings, only Yang-Fan could realistically have been expected to take IM scalps - or did I misread the result on board one in the recent Middlesex v Surrey match?!

[LozCooper]

Ok, but this is all entirely consistent with Leonard's suggestion that there should be a resident coach at Hastings. Indeed, if modest funding could be found, that would (in some small way) meet another of Loz's concerns - that none of our own GMs are not given enough incentive to play this event.

When Leonard points out how far behind our juniors are, in comparison to (really, very many) other countries, he means to provide a wake-up call to those who may be able to improve the situation, not to criticise our best players. Such voices are much needed.

I am surprised that Richard says that among the juniors present at Hastings, only Yang-Fan could realistically have been expected to take IM scalps - or did I misread the result on board one in the recent Middlesex v Surrey match?!

I understand the point Leonard was trying to make but I prefer to praise good performances. I have yet to meet a junior or parent that doesn't respond favourably to encouragement. There are also a lot of parents and juniors who look at the forum and I would rather be positive whilst looking to provide further opportunities in the future. No one would be happier than me for our juniors to receive more coaching and play more tournaments but in the meantime I shall encourage those who are playing to keep going and to help in any way I can in terms of recommending tournaments, coaches etc

[Jonathan Rogers]

Fair enough; a balance must be struck. But it seems to me that international comparisons are important and those who wish to make them in a constructive sense should do so without fear of sounding negative. It seems that there are a number of parents who wish to improve our fortunes at junior levels and they do not ask to be shielded from this sort of information.

Sometimes, like Richard, I do look back on the old days (the 1990s for Richard, the 1980s for me). Of course promising players gave up for all sorts of reasons in both decades, but I feel that no one who genuinely loved chess got too discouraged by the realisation that he was not on course to make the world elite.

[Matthew Turner]

It will be very difficult to compete at the younger World Youth age groups because of the intensive nature of training in places like India, China and Vietnam. However, for the last few years our best younger players have been hoping for 50% at Major Championships. We now have a number of players like Tarun Malhotra, Ravi Haria and Isaac Sanders who could realistically get into the top 15. There is no reason why they cannot continue to develop and be in medal contention at the U18/U21 level. Perhaps not cause for champagne corks to be popping, but at least some things are heading in the right direction.

[Gavin Strachan]

Sam also beat Lawrence Trent in the Brentwood rapidplay 2yrs ago. Definitely one to watch!

[Richard Bates]

I am surprised that Richard says that among the juniors present at Hastings, only Yang-Fan could realistically have been expected to take IM scalps - or did I misread the result on board one in the recent Middlesex v Surrey match?!

Well i could of course construct an argument about the difference between County matches and International tournaments, and furthermore draw attention to my result in round one, but that is besides the point. I'm not of course saying that such results are an impossibility (Sam beat Simon Williams at Hastings last year, for example) but that they are exceptions rather than expectations. To have realistic expectations i think you've got to be looking at genuine 2300+ strength players or exceptionally 2200+ players who have are known to be rapidly improving and significantly underrated due to a time lag in the rating system.

On the point about the very young players i strongly agree with Loz and Matthew. I think that putting together "world comparisons" at such a young age is not particularly useful - there are too many variables (you will get players who have been playing for 6 years and others for 2, players who have played dozens of international tournaments and others with a handful, players who have been intensively coached (not always to their long run benefit) and others who are largely self-taught) and anyway 100pts at that age is a mere drop in the ocean when it is normal for ratings to go up by that amount in a few months. I recall playing in the World U14 when there was a Vietnamese player who had the same rating as me (2230), and didn't perform any better. Next year he was top seed in the U16 with a rating of 2560 and won it comfortably.

My view is that the most valuable indicator is improvement - if a young player is clearly improving (as best measured by rating) then there is no real barrier to how far they can progress given opportunities and commitment. And even then one must watch out for periods of apparent stagnation, usually when a period of adjustment is required to playing at a higher level (and of course the ubiquitous "school commitments").

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I am surprised that Richard says that among the juniors present at Hastings, only Yang-Fan could realistically have been expected to take IM scalps - or did I misread the result on board one in the recent Middlesex v Surrey match?!

Well i could of course construct an argument about the difference between County matches and International tournaments, and furthermore draw attention to my result in round one, but that is besides the point.

<snip>

I agree entirely with what you said about looking at how people are improving (the bit I snipped), but prompted by your comment above about your round 1 result (beating Sam Franklin) I looked at your results in the whole tournament and got to wondering how close the margins are in a tournament like this. You had a great result, which looks like it was close to being even better.

In round 2, you had White and beat GM Sungupta (one of the eventual winners). In round 8, you came up against IM Das, one of the other eventual joint winners, but with Black and lost. You also lost with Black to IM Prasanna, who achieved a GM norm. You got 1/3 against the Indian players you encountered (and also lost with Black to GM Neverov, and with White beat IM Pert). You scored 5/5 with White and 1/4 with Black. I wouldn't really know, from playing through your games, but how convincing were the wins and how close were the losses?