British Chess Championships 2011

[Roger de Coverly]

So is Ray really opening the Championships then?

The website says it's CJ

19.07.11 - English Chess Federation President CJ De Mooi, of Eggheads fame, will preside over the Opening Ceremony for the Darwin Strategic 98th British Chess Championships.

There's usually a handful of other dignitaries, the local Mayor, representatives of the sponsors, the hosting organisation etc. There's going to be an announcement about the UK Chess Challenge, so Mike Basman might be there.

In his address CJ will emphasise that it has been agreed the ECF and the British Land UK Chess Challenge will work in very close cooperation in the future.

[Stewart Reuben]

The protocol is that, if the local Mayor is present, s/he takes precedence. That is national etiquette, not a chess rule. CJ will preside over the proceedings. A natural role for a President. At chess events often several photos are taken of different people making first moves on different boards. Thus the Mayor, Sponsor, MP, President.
I sometimes ask the final speaker to switch off his mobile phone ostentatiously to remind people of their need to do this.
Ray Keene has been invited by CJ. His advance publicity for the British in his columns has been exemplary and may be a contributory reason the level of entries is so good. One can expect another 50 entries, over the 834 already announced, by Monday 1 August afternoon. CJ may do things differently. That is one reason there was enthusiasm for his candidature.
Stewart Reuben

[Alex McFarlane]

Championship and Major Open Draws now on British Championship Website

[Paul Cooksey]

I note Richard Bates dodged the Adams bullet by one board in the end.

[Nicky Chorley]

Apologies in advance for what's (probably) a stupid question, but in the pairings list, what does 'i' mean by a player's name?

[Sean Hewitt]

Apologies in advance for what's (probably) a stupid question, but in the pairings list, what does 'i' mean by a player's name?

Inactive. It means they haven't played a FIDE rated game for a year.

[Roger de Coverly]

I note Richard Bates dodged the Adams bullet by one board in the end.

A strange way of dividing the field in half. 46 in one half (down to board 23) and 40 in the other. Is it a secret arbiters' rule to make predicting even the first round pairings impossible?

Apologies in advance for what's (probably) a stupid question, but in the pairings list, what does 'i' mean by a player's name?

It means the rating is inactive, in other words it's been more than a year since the player last played in an internationally rated event.

[IM Jack Rudd]

Apologies in advance for what's (probably) a stupid question, but in the pairings list, what does 'i' mean by a player's name?

Inactive player.

[Nicky Chorley]

Thank you .

[Alex McFarlane]

The top 'half' is the larger when required. For tournaments where bottom half players are also accelerated withing 1/2 point of the lead it makes sense to have a slightly larger top half.

[David Gilbert]

Interesting - the draw for the Under-180 and Under-140 competitions uses yesterday's grades. In the past the new grades have been used. A break from tradition, or were the new grades just not available to the Arbiters until too late?

[Andrew Camp]

Interesting - the draw for the Under-180 and Under-140 competitions uses yesterday's grades. In the past the new grades have been used. A break from tradition, or were the new grades just not available to the Arbiters until too late?

I hope this is a break - it was ridiculous last year seeing a 145 in the weekend under 125 comp. I know it's a fact that the player was a 145 but for outsiders looking in, it must seem very odd and unfair. The grades being shown should be the grades that are used during the entry process.

[David Shepherd]

Interesting - the draw for the Under-180 and Under-140 competitions uses yesterday's grades. In the past the new grades have been used. A break from tradition, or were the new grades just not available to the Arbiters until too late?

I hope this is a break - it was ridiculous last year seeing a 145 in the weekend under 125 comp. I know it's a fact that the player was a 145 but for outsiders looking in, it must seem very odd and unfair. The grades being shown should be the grades that are used during the entry process.

I'm not so convinced to me it seems more logical to pair based on the most recent grades as they more accurately reflect current playing strength than a grade over 1 year old.

[David Shepherd]

So for example by using old grades a player on board 81 in the U140 - a top half player is paired against another player with a grade of 141 (new grade) - is that sensible?

[Stewart Reuben]

It is a real problem unique to the Britih Chess Championships as there is only one grading list a year that comes out at the same time as the event starts. It will only be slightly ameliorated by having two. But it will be a step in the right direction of having frequent lists. Obviously if you are going to pair by grade you should have the most uptodate information available. Eligibility for grading restricted events has to be known well in advance, since the maximum information should be given to the contetants, oddities will have to appear.
Would entrants prefer the players to have to enter in advance without knowing to which graded section they will be assigned? I would have thought that would lead to a lower entry and thus higher entry fees.

Stewart Reuben