British Championships

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Alan Walton
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Re: British Championships

Post by Alan Walton » Thu Jul 25, 2013 11:09 pm

I will be first to congratulate Sarah if she wins

But hopefully the organisers in the future look at many aspects of the current structure, including female participation and qualifying rules to make the championship a more challenging tournament

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David Grobler
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Re: British Championships

Post by David Grobler » Thu Jul 25, 2013 11:17 pm

Alan Walton wrote:I will be first to congratulate Sarah if she wins

But hopefully the organisers in the future look at many aspects of the current structure, including female participation and qualifying rules to make the championship a more challenging tournament
Yeah...I see what you mean...are there only 3 entries ?..if so...thats a problem that needs addressing .
I suppose a separate tournament completely apart of the main (male) Championship has been considered and rejected in the past ?

Alan Walton
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Re: British Championships

Post by Alan Walton » Thu Jul 25, 2013 11:24 pm

Remember the British is a money grabbing tournament, they don't really think of the players, just how much can we screw them for

Andrew Camp
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Re: British Championships

Post by Andrew Camp » Thu Jul 25, 2013 11:34 pm

Nobody should be ruling Megan out here.
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Alan Walton
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Re: British Championships

Post by Alan Walton » Thu Jul 25, 2013 11:37 pm

Andrew Camp wrote:Nobody should be ruling Megan out here.
Not ruling anybody out, especially Megan when she nearly beat me 8 years ago

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Rob Thompson
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Re: British Championships

Post by Rob Thompson » Thu Jul 25, 2013 11:47 pm

I don't think you can in some sense punish those competing for the Women's championship because some of their potential competitors decided not to enter. It's not Sarah's fault that Jovanka decided not to enter, so saying that it's somehow less worthy if she wins because of this seems a little unfair to me.
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Alan Walton
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Re: British Championships

Post by Alan Walton » Thu Jul 25, 2013 11:54 pm

Rob Thompson wrote:I don't think you can in some sense punish those competing for the Women's championship because some of their potential competitors decided not to enter. It's not Sarah's fault that Jovanka decided not to enter, so saying that it's somehow less worthy if she wins because of this seems a little unfair to me.
Rob, I am not saying that, but if you were the strongest male player to enter and won the championship would you say you are the best male player in the country

Personally, I would like the championships to have all the top players in it, but without high funding it ain't ever going to happen, unless CJ comes back :wink:

Roger de Coverly
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Re: British Championships

Post by Roger de Coverly » Thu Jul 25, 2013 11:56 pm

David Grobler wrote: I suppose a separate tournament completely apart of the main (male) Championship has been considered and rejected in the past ?
I suggested it was thirty years ago, but there's a post above which notes that the separate tournament was discontinued twenty five years ago. The problem with the separate tournament is that in the British itself, even a relatively modest score, say 5 to 6 from 11 can be enough for a WIM Norm given the likely opposition.

Are analogies are possible with the British Seniors? There's a bumper entry this year including several players who are eligible for the British Championship itself who could, at least on paper, get a decent score. Against that, there are those who regard the British Championship as a prestigious tournament to play in, and if qualified, will take their place.

Looking at the British Seniors, with 64 players and only 7 rounds, if there is to be an outright winner, a score of six from seven is likely to be needed. So to establish potential winners, you need to look for players still capable of achieving played 7 won 6 lost 1 or played 7 won 5 drawn 2.

It's not going to happen because Senior chess is viable enough as it stands, but how about SCM, SFM, SIM and SGM titles with the same qualification standards as the W equivalents?

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Rob Thompson
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Re: British Championships

Post by Rob Thompson » Fri Jul 26, 2013 2:37 am

I would say that I won the championship, yes. Because that is factually accurate. In that case, it wouldn't be my fault that basically no-one else turned up - as was said upthread, you can only beat the people put in front of you. There is a difference between saying that you won the championship and saying that you're the strongest player in the country - the gap may be considerably larger in the hypothetical where I win the thing, but it's there even with the current entrants. Likewise, Anand is world champion, but he hasn't been world number one for a long time (if ever?). It's hardly his fault that Carlsen declined to play in the last cycle.
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Richard Bates
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Re: British Championships

Post by Richard Bates » Fri Jul 26, 2013 5:29 am

I don't see why a score of 50% should have any relevance to the awarding of the title whatsoever. Surely this is just a completely arbitrary standard which is entirely dependent on the overall strength of the field? The title is for Best British Woman, not "Best British Woman, as long as they're no worse than x number of British Men".

Sean Hewitt
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Re: British Championships

Post by Sean Hewitt » Fri Jul 26, 2013 8:00 am

Alan Walton wrote:Remember the British is a money grabbing tournament, they don't really think of the players, just how much can we screw them for
What makes you say that Alan?

LawrenceCooper
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Re: British Championships

Post by LawrenceCooper » Fri Jul 26, 2013 8:50 am

Alan Walton wrote: Lets not kid ourselves, Sarah is the overwhelming favourite, and should win

Personally (and this maybe controversial), that the winner should get at least 50% score to win the title, otherwise it is classified as vacant
As opposed to most years when Jovanka is the overwhelming favourite and should win :)

I'd love to see more women and girls in the championship but two weeks, for a number of reasons, time off work and/or expense don't make it attractive to everyone. Two examples, Kanwal chose to use her holiday playing an all-play-all in Denmark whilst Sabrina has just returned from a WIM norm in Holland. I am looking forward to the year when Akshaya first plays the Championship though, I suspect rather more than her opponents :D

Andrew Camp
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Re: British Championships

Post by Andrew Camp » Fri Jul 26, 2013 8:59 am

Alan Walton wrote:
Andrew Camp wrote:Nobody should be ruling Megan out here.
Not ruling anybody out, especially Megan when she nearly beat me 8 years ago
Agreed - I was referring to the overall tone of the thread rather than any specific poster. This thread could have appeared before Ms Heggarty entered.

I hope more women enter but if not, best wishes to all three females and may the best win.
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Andrew Camp
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Re: British Championships

Post by Andrew Camp » Fri Jul 26, 2013 9:01 am

Rob Thompson wrote:I would say that I won the championship, yes. Because that is factually accurate. In that case, it wouldn't be my fault that basically no-one else turned up - as was said upthread, you can only beat the people put in front of you. There is a difference between saying that you won the championship and saying that you're the strongest player in the country - the gap may be considerably larger in the hypothetical where I win the thing, but it's there even with the current entrants. Likewise, Anand is world champion, but he hasn't been world number one for a long time (if ever?). It's hardly his fault that Carlsen declined to play in the last cycle.
Agree with every word.
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Leonard Barden
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Re: British Championships

Post by Leonard Barden » Fri Jul 26, 2013 10:57 am

LawrenceCooper wrote:I am looking forward to the year when Akshaya first plays the Championship though, I suspect rather more than her opponents :D
In the new grading list Akshaya is only four points behind Sarah, so would have already been a serious contender this year.

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