British Chess Championships 2011

[Carl Hibbard]

No one is, specifically.

Part of the problem to be honest...

I assume they speak to Dave Welch, and they get everything sorted that they either need or can acquire within the budget.

Ok that one is funny, the arbiters are interested in the running of the event nothing more - the web site is at best a "nice to have" and at worse a hindrance to the playing of the game of chess

All this is even more important at a venue like Sheffield where numbers will clearly be lower...

[Alex Holowczak]

I assume they speak to Dave Welch, and they get everything sorted that they either need or can acquire within the budget.

Ok that one is funny, the arbiters are interested in the running of the event nothing more - the web site is at best a "nice to have" and at worse a hindrance to the playing of the game of chess

Dave isn't there as an arbiter. He's there as Co-Manager, along with Alex McFarlane. So it'd actually be his (their) job to check this sort of thing.

Needs free on-site wireless to be honest but is it available, as before nobody knows

Dave or Alex might well do. So it could be worth asking them. It's in Sheffield, so Internet speeds should be good.

[Carl Hibbard]

Dave isn't there as an arbiter. He's there as Co-Manager, along with Alex McFarlane. So it'd actually be his (their) job to check this sort of thing.

Budget is Zero and On-Site visit is Zero

[Roger de Coverly]

Online commentary came for the first time last year.

Actually that's not the case. Great Yarmouth in 2007 was in a Further Education college and the college IT people welcomed a chance to see what their toys could do. So they added a video and audio feed of Andrew Martin's commentary room and broadcast it to the world. I think there was also a video feed of the top boards plus the "usual" DGT live relay.

[Alex McFarlane]

Budget is Zero and On-Site visit is Zero

Carl,

Wrong on both accounts. Whilst the budget is nowhere like large enough it does exist. Several site visits have been carried out and there is WiFi.

Whilst the sponsorship of Darwin is very much appreciated and, combined with the efforts of CJ, has allowed for a stronger championship, to put on the type of event that we would all like to see would require an investment of approx three times that amount.

Having lost its grant, the ECF is not in a position to subsidise the event, therefore currently the only way to improve the service to non-participants is to make those attending pay even more. I do not believe that is an acceptable option.

If everyone who will watch the service provided were to donate a couple of pounds then a much better show could be produced in future years.

[Carl Hibbard]

If everyone who will watch the service provided were to donate a couple of pounds then a much better show could be produced in future years.

I see no problem with adding some sort of online donation method to the live games web site but I don't agree that everyone should pay and the service be chargeable

[Alex McFarlane]

I think we are in agreement there. Certainly charging for the service should not be an option when you have a sponsor. Also recent experiments show that it doesn't work!!!

One problem with a system of donations though could be the costs involved. I think that there is a fixed fee + percentage on something like Paypal so if someone donated 25p every time they used the service it could end up costing money. There would need to be a minimum amount specified and then, I feel, it is not a true donation.

Mixing threads, it would be good if people think of the live games as a benefit of their ECF or other national association membership. Currently that's what it really is (though not restricted only to members).

[Alex Holowczak]

Online commentary came for the first time last year.

Actually that's not the case. Great Yarmouth in 2007 was in a Further Education college and the college IT people welcomed a chance to see what their toys could do. So they added a video and audio feed of Andrew Martin's commentary room and broadcast it to the world. I think there was also a video feed of the top boards plus the "usual" DGT live relay.

Oh, fair enough. Before my time.

[andrew martin]

Let us hope that at least the sound output can be improved this year as last time I believe it was atrocious. Really, an event of this quality should have the live commentary covered on one of the main chess sites ( ICC,Play Chess , Chess Cube). This has to be a top priority for future years.

[Carl Hibbard]

Let us hope that at least the sound output can be improved this year as last time I believe it was atrocious. Really, an event of this quality should have the live commentary covered on one of the main chess sites ( ICC,Play Chess , Chess Cube). This has to be a top priority for future years.

Again requires a minimum of free WiFi for the IT team who have NOT YET been on site - if there is a cost for this then live commentary is not possible!

[Kevin Thurlow]

"You could have an overhead camera like they do in golf, whereby a commentator focuses on one position for a bit and then moves to another one say in Major Open- ideally the camera would focus in when a person is about to move."

Assuming you can guess when they will move... The IPL (Indian blitz cricket event) is using a thing called spidercam, where the camera swoops in on players, sometimes somewhat obtrusively - I'm surprised it hasn't been hit yet (by ball or player). That would be interesting for chess if you kept it high enough not to distract the players - probably horribly expensive though.

Live coverage would be nice of course, but funding is obviously an issue.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Let us hope that at least the sound output can be improved this year as last time I believe it was atrocious. Really, an event of this quality should have the live commentary covered on one of the main chess sites ( ICC,Play Chess , Chess Cube). This has to be a top priority for future years.

How do these "main chess sites" cover their costs for covering such events (would a whole technical team turn up with lots of demands)? If you answer that, you may have the answer for how they could cover this year's British. Or not.

[Roger de Coverly]

How do these "main chess sites" cover their costs for covering such events (would a whole technical team turn up with lots of demands)? If you answer that, you may have the answer for how they could cover this year's British. Or not.

It would be my impression that they would intercept the live (or delayed) feed from the event and relay it on their server. They would then have a commentator (paid by them presumably) leading a debate. Access to the commentary might be limited to those who had paid for such services, probably through an annual fee.

Some organisers, Bulgarians in particular, have issues with sites like ChessBase rebroadcasting moves from their events.
http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/bulga ... sbase-0-1/

Hastings employed (presumably) someone to do both a daily report and games input.
http://www.hastingschess.org.uk/2011/Co ... entary.htm
The reports made it to chessbase a day or two later
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6926


The British also has done this or similar in the past. I'd give a link from the 2009 Championship but the site http://www.britishchess2009.com/ no longer seems available. There was no such reporting on the 2010 Championship although the lengthy thread on this forum may have partly filled the gap.
http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1726

[andrew martin]

Following discussions with our Chessbase friends in Hamburg, it looks like the British Championship commentary is going to be broadcast live on the Play Chess server. It is hoped that the commentary will also be live as last year on the tournament website, but with much improved audio.

We'll be testing the system in the coming weeks.

[Adam Raoof]

Entrants - http://www.britishchess2011.com/entrants.htm

119 @ 23rd May. Ratings from FIDE 1st May 2011.

BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP (20 players)

ADAMS, Michael, 2726gm; SHORT, Nigel, 2682gm; HOWELL, David WL, 2618gm; JONES, Gawain, 2596gm; PERT, Nicholas, 2570gm; HEBDEN, Mark, 2539gm; GORDON, Stephen, 2534gm; CONQUEST, Stuart, 2532gm; WILLIAMS, Simon K, 2520gm; WELLS, Peter, 2501gm; LEDGER, Andrew, 2429im; SUMMERSCALE, Aaron, 2419gm; KOLBUS, Dietmar, 2335im; EGGLESTON, David, 2319fm; WEBB, Laurence, 2296fm; MASON, Don, 2250; HARVEY, Marcus R, 2204; HOLLAND, James P, 2133; COATES, David H, 2080; LENIER, Jude, 2065;

gm - Grandmaster; im - International Master; fm - FIDE Master

British Senior Championship (15 players)

ANDERTON, David W, 2208; PRIZANT, Michael, 2127; VICKERY, James E, 2108; TIMSON, Paul F, 2105; MYALL, Ivan J, 2088; RUSSELL, Harry, 2080; COLLINS, Peter, 2061; LEMOIR, David A, 2036; PRICE, Andrew, 1996; CAMPBELL, Ian, 1991; DONAGHAY, Richard H, 1983; NICOLSON, James R, 1936; MOORE, Gillian, 1821; BRENT, Derek, 1472; TANNER, Frank, 1296;

British U180 Championship (2 players)

BUSH, Martin L, 159A; PRITCHARD, Abigail, 151A;

British U160 Championship (10 players)

BUSH, Martin L, 159A; TOLL, Alec J, 157B; BRYAN, David K, 155A; CLANCHY, Nicholas, 155A; WINTER, Kevin, 152A; SIDDALL, Dave, 152A; SHERLOCK, Peter G, 145C; NICKALS, Peter A, 138A; FOWLER, David, 136A; FRASER, Susan, 127B;

British U140 Championship (5 players)

FOWLER, David, 136A; HOPE, Iain D, 133A; HEWITT, Garry, 132A; WHATLEY, Stephen AJ, 115A; EVERITT, David, 111A;

British U120 Championship (6 players)

JACKSON, Paul R, 118A; MAGEE, Edward, 118A; EVERITT, David, 111A; BRENT, Derek, 109A; WADSWORTH, James MF, 106B; ANDERTON, Doreen, 103B;

British Under 16 Championship (1 player)

HARVEY, Marcus R, 2204;

British Under 14 Championship

British Under 13 Championship

British Under 12 Championship (2 players)

WADSWORTH, Matthew J, 158A; WHATLEY, Stephen AJ, 115A;

British Under 11 Championship

British Under 10 Championship (5 players)

AVERBUKH, Adam, 107X; REMUS ELLIOT, Luke, 93E; REMUS ELLIOT, Tai, 46E; ROBBA, James, ; THOPPIL, Ana, ;

British Under 9 Championship (6 players)

REMUS ELLIOT, Tai, 73E; ARCHER-LOCK, Helen, 55Bf; GWYNNE, Pacey, 47E; GWYNNE, Tyler, 27E; TEANBY, Samuel, ; WILLOW, Jonah B, ;

British Under 8 Championship (3 players)

REMUS ELLIOT, Tai, 73E; ROBERTS, Harrison, M; MILLER, Max C, M;

MAJOR OPEN (3 players)

COMBIE, Alexander, 2038; WADSWORTH, Matthew J, 1921; JOHNSON, Paul A, 1904;

5 Day Open AM Week 1 (2 players)

BLOWERS, Graham K, 157A; TOLL, Alec J, 157B;

5 Day Open PM Week 1 (2 players)

SENIOR, Thomas, 166A; SENIOR, Gary, 194A;

5 Day Open AM Week 2 (3 players)

CALVERT, David I, 168A; LIVESEY, R Nigel, 158A; COWARD, Neil, 152A;

5 Day Open PM Week 2 (6 players)

CALVERT, David I, 168A; CLANCHY, Nicholas, 155A; SIDDALL, Dave, 152A; COWARD, Neil, 152A; JACKSON, Paul R, 118A; EVERITT, David, 111A;

Weekender Atkins - Open (4 players)

CARLETON, John J, 201D; ARCHER-LOCK, Christopher, 177B; ARCHER-LOCK, Adrian, 170A; MOORE, Steve, 160A;

Weekender Soanes - U150 (8 players)

GRAFF, Ben, 148*; HARSKIN, Robin PS, 147*; SHARP, David R, 140C; TEBBLE, Greg H, 137A; OSBORNE, Keith, 134A; HOPE, Iain D, 133A; HARDWICK, Alexander M, 131A; WOOLLARD, John, 115*;

Weekender Yates - U125 (4 players)

EGAN, William J, 122A; HARRINGTON, Peter, 112D; ARCHER-LOCK, Philip, 112B; EVERITT, David, 111A;

1st Rapidplay Sunday 25th July (7 players)

HOLLAND, James P, 202A; COMBIE, Alexander, 194B; SENIOR, Gary, 191C; SENIOR, Thomas, 163C; PRITCHARD, Abigail, 153C; WINTER, Kevin, 141A; EVERITT, David, 101A;

2nd Rapidplay Sunday 1st August (5 players)

HOLLAND, James P, 202A; COWARD, Neil, 157B; GREEN, Conrad, 154C; ROBBA, James, ; THOPPIL, Ana, ;