World U16 Olympiad Çorum, Turkey

[Brian Towers]

First round today. No England team. Only money for the pros?

No, teams also from Germany or Switzerland due to safety concerns. Iran has already withdrawn due to concerns about playing Israel. Speaking of which, they have had a remarkably swift 4-0 victory over Iraq. No moves actually played. Will Iraq be taking any further part? Over to FIDE.

[Alex Holowczak]

First round today. No England team. Only money for the pros?

Yes, in short. England are sending a hefty delegation to the European Youth Rapid & Blitz in Tallinn though at the end of November.

[Alex Holowczak]

Will Iraq be taking any further part? Over to FIDE.

They have been paired in Round 2.

[David Sedgwick]

England are sending a hefty delegation to the World Youth Rapid & Blitz in Tallinn though at the end of this month.

Do you mean the European Youth Rapid & Blitz in Tallinn at the end of next month?

http://www.europechess.org/european-ope ... ship-2019/

[Alex Holowczak]

England are sending a hefty delegation to the World Youth Rapid & Blitz in Tallinn though at the end of this month.

Do you mean the European Youth Rapid & Blitz in Tallinn at the end of next month?

http://www.europechess.org/european-ope ... ship-2019/

Whoops, yes. I was mentally already in November, and I'm afraid I get very confused between the World/European Cadets/Youth/Schools/Junior events. I can usually remember Rapid & Blitz v Standard because the length of the event is so much different.

[Roger Lancaster]

It says something when England can't send a team but Somalia can

[IM Jack Rudd]

It says something when England can't send a team but Somalia can

It probably says quite a few things, some of which reflect well on English chess and some badly.

[Leonard Barden]

It says something when England can't send a team but Somalia can

It probably says quite a few things, some of which reflect well on English chess and some badly.

That's a touch cryptic. What are the things which reflect well?

[IM Jack Rudd]

It says something when England can't send a team but Somalia can

It probably says quite a few things, some of which reflect well on English chess and some badly.

That's a touch cryptic. What are the things which reflect well?

England has quite a lot of chess events within its borders, and so consequently an English player can get regular games against strong opponents without having to go to events like the World U-16 Olympiad. The same is probably less true of Somalian players.

[Roger Lancaster]

England has quite a lot of chess events within its borders, and so consequently an English player can get regular games against strong opponents without having to go to events like the World U-16 Olympiad. The same is probably less true of Somalian players.

Jack, couldn't one apply the same logic to adults - citing, for example, the recent IoM [we'll take the Isle of Man as being part of the British Isles, if not within the uK border) tournament as reason why our leading grandmasters shouldn't be where they actually are right now? [To be clear, I'm questioning the logic and not the presence of the team].

[IM Jack Rudd]

England has quite a lot of chess events within its borders, and so consequently an English player can get regular games against strong opponents without having to go to events like the World U-16 Olympiad. The same is probably less true of Somalian players.

Jack, couldn't one apply the same logic to adults - citing, for example, the recent IoM [we'll take the Isle of Man as being part of the British Isles, if not within the uK border) tournament as reason why our leading grandmasters shouldn't be where they actually are right now? [To be clear, I'm questioning the logic and not the presence of the team].

You could, certainly. I think it depends on how much intrinsic value you put on the adult international team events and their junior counterparts.

[Alex Holowczak]

There are only 38 - if I've counted correctly - unique Federations in attendance. Quite a few notable western European Federations aren't there, such as France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands... Many countries that have entered teams are not sending their superstars either.

[NickFaulks]

Some of them are claiming safety concerns, which seems a bit wet.