The September date ties in with the academic year and makes sense to me; children tend to be grouped by this rather than the year of birth. Also (albeit at a lower level so apologies if I'm going off topic) children will want to enter events with their friends who are probably most likely to be in the same academic year. Alex seems to imply that Scotland and Ireland do things differently which is interesting and if the September date is unique to England then this is certainly a discussion point. Obviously if FIDE go by year of birth then the ECF's flagship event must follow suit - which answers the initial question.Alex McFarlane wrote:
This has been the case for several years. It standardises all events with the FIDE cut off as stated meaning that, if they so wish, junior selectors will see players competing in the appropriate FIDE category. Additionally it means that we have an understandable date for all British children. The September date is a mystery to most Scottish juniors and I think Irish as well.
Sabrina - I think that raising this on the eve of the championship is a tad unfair. Lara can hardly do anything about it now and (along with the rest of the team) probably has her hands full making last minute preparations.