Chess Congresses home and abroad.

[Dewi Jones]

I'd be interested in entering some congresses abroad, and coupling it with a holiday. I've played in the isle of man, and will probably go to Bunratty but I'd be particularly interested in playing in Romania or France both of where I can speak the language. The problem is that I'm a mere 1500 player (about 110 in imperial money) and all the congresses I see advertised internationally are far too strong for me. Does anyboday here have any idea how I can find tournaments in the 1400 - 1900 sort of range internationally. Britanny would be particularly cool if anybody knows of a particular tourney.

I have a FIDE number.

[Roger de Coverly]

The problem is that I'm a mere 1500 player (about 110 in imperial money) and all the congresses I see advertised internationally are far too strong for me. Does anyboday here have any idea how I can find tournaments in the 1400 - 1900 sort of range internationally. Britanny would be particularly cool if anybody knows of a particular tourney.

I have a FIDE number.

Check with the organisers, but unlike the UK, it's their usual set up to have just the one section. So players would range all the way from IMs or GM down to the aspiring local juniors. If you see a tournament that looks attractive, last year's complete results can often be found on the web, either on the tournament's own site, at the FIDE rating site or the FFE (if French). This gives a snapshot of the range of ratings likely to be in the tournament.

If you already have a FIDE rating, they will know how to seed you. Otherwise you may need to explain how to convert an ECF grade into an Elo equivalent.

The Dutch are keener than most on having A and B sections. Cut-off is usually in the 1800 to 1900 range.

Just sampling, there's a tournament in Rennes in July. This has two sections namely with eligibility over 1500 and under 1700.

Last year's crosstables
http://www.echecs.asso.fr/ResultatNew.a ... &Action=Ga
http://www.echecs.asso.fr/ResultatNew.a ... &Action=Ga

[Dewi Jones]

Thanks Roger. My grade is a Welsh one, so pretty much equivalent to FIDE.

My question was more where do I find the organisers to ask? Is there a website with a calender similar to the WCU and ECF ones for international tournaments or for French ones say. The ICU website seems particularly difficult to find tournaments for this year on.

And that post was written in a rush before the new episode of Big Bang Theory. That's why the title says "home and abroad" and the post contains nothing about UK congresses. I shall have to start another thread now D

Hopefully the Scots will vote for independence and then I can play abroad in Scotland, and if we ever stir ourselves enough to do the same then the Blackpool congress will be abroad too

[Dewi Jones]

I just found this, after your suggestion pointed me the right way to google Roger

http://www.echecs.asso.fr/ListeTournois ... &Level=152

That should keep me busy for a while.

Merci.

[abi&timadams]

Hi

My husband and I often go to Crete to play. We are going to a competition starting 21 st April - 27th April, http://www.soi.gr if you fancy some Greek Easter sunshine and good food. There are also competitions in July in Rethymno (rethymnochess.gr) and Paleochora, (http://www.chaniachess.gr) Crete. all of these places are good for both the chess player and family.

[Roger de Coverly]

I just found this, after your suggestion pointed me the right way to google Roger

"Echecs Bretange" seemed the obvious Google.

[PeterFarr]

Dewi,

There's a website here spcifically for chess in Brittany.

http://www.echecs-bretagne.fr/[/url If ... pot.co.uk/
http://open.echecs35.fr/

There also seem to be a few one-dayers scattered around.

Hope you find something to your liking.

[Dewi Jones]

Thanks everybody. Very helpful and tempting. Now I'll have to go and get my permission slip signed by the boss

[Roger de Coverly]

In Opens anyway, there's a hidden reason for organisers to welcome foreign players, even if lowly rated enough to be tourists rather than norm seekers. IM/GM Norms can be dependent both absolutely and in terms of relative quality on the number of different Federations represented and the number of players from each.

You might then find flexible organisers prepared to accept entry fees as cash on arrival, whatever it may say on the entry form about transferring money. This has its points as after bank charges, the cost of making a direct transfer can be more in sterling than the entry fee was in Euros.

[Adam Raoof]

Dewi, is it true that Romanian and Welsh share the same linguistic roots? If so, how easy / hard was it for you to learn?

I am running a tournament in Malta in May - http://xychess.net/tournaments - and there is always room for one more!

[Dewi Jones]

Dewi, is it true that Romanian and Welsh share the same linguistic roots? If so, how easy / hard was it for you to learn?

I am running a tournament in Malta in May - http://xychess.net/tournaments - and there is always room for one more!

No, not any more than that Romanian is basically modern Latin and there are many Latin words in Welsh as in most european languages.

Welsh and Breton are very similar, both coming from Brythonic, which I guess would be refered to as British in English but obviously that term now means quite the opposite. It's one half of the celtic languages and it's where Avon in place names and anything that sounds like Dwr or Dwfr such as Dover in England come from. Manx, Gaelic and Irish are different celtic languages, though some words are similar when spoken.

And I found it fairly easy to learn, though I don't really subscribe to the notion that some languages are more difficult than others. I think that's more a function of the status put on languages. Welsh and Romanian are always considered hard to learn, English easy. To be honest, If I had no English at all I can't imagine any language which would be more difficult to learn than English. there is very little consistency to spelling, plurals, tenses or indeed anything.

Romanian is consistent, has old fashioned verb endings, and sentance structures, at least the way I speak it it does

[Mike Truran]

Dewi, is it true that Romanian and Welsh share the same linguistic roots?

Both Welsh and Romanian have Indo-European roots. There are, however, nine different Indo-European language groups, and Welsh and Romanian aren't in the same group.

Which makes it easier to learn Romanian if you have studied Latin/Spanish/French/Portuguese/Italian etc - but having Romance language knowledge will be of little help to you in your efforts to learn Welsh.

[Niall Doran]

I just found this, after your suggestion pointed me the right way to google Roger

http://www.echecs.asso.fr/ListeTournois ... &Level=152

That should keep me busy for a while.

Merci.

Hi Dewi

The link you've posted appears to be all the tournaments that have already taken place. For upcoming Fide-rated tournaments, click here:

http://www.echecs.asso.fr/ListeTournois ... CE&Level=1

There are a good few weekenders (2/3 days) which are limited to players below 2200 scattered around the country. The one in Die (postcode 26150) in June is a good one, 8 rounds played over 3 days and in a beautiful setting. Lyon (6 rounds over 3 days) at the end of June is ok, but the city is beautiful if that's what you're into.

Give me a shout if you need any more info.

[David Shepherd]

http://www.czechtour.net/ is a good site if you ever want to consider the Czech republic.

[David Gilbert]

There’s a brilliant tournament at Delft in the Netherlands at Easter. Delft is about 15 minutes by taxi from Rotterdam, or about 40 minutes by (2) train(s) from Amsterdam. There’s an excellent (and cheap) Tram service from the Centre of Delft to the venue.

http://www.delftseschaaksite.nl/toernoo ... le&id=2123

Some photographs from Brendan O’Gorman’s Picture Library taken last year are here:

https://plus.google.com/photos/10505964 ... banner=pwa

Note the colour coding of the tables for each section.

There are four sections, an Open, B-Group (2100 & below), C-Group (1750 & below) and D Group (1500 & below). These are Dutch grades, but your FIDE grade should be okay. It’s six rounds, one Friday, three Saturday, two on Sunday. The top board in each of the B, C, D groups usually get a chance to play on the live boards in the last round (look away now Colin Crouch) with the top Open players.

The Open group is strong - there are seven GM entries so far including Stuart Haslinger.

Delft is a beautiful City with plenty of good bars and restaurants, as well as canals and a host of interesting Cathedrals! The flight from London (City Airport) takes just 45 minutes, but Delft is of little use for improving your language skills, everyone speaks perfect English!