County Championship Controller's Report 2015

Discussion about all aspects of the ECF County Championships.
Andrew Zigmond
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County Championship Controller's Report 2015

Post by Andrew Zigmond » Mon Aug 17, 2015 8:53 pm

This has been posted on the official forum for a few weeks now but I thought I'd highlight it here. It was also circulated to all County Union controllers. My reason for doing so is that I have struggled to do the role justice this year and am looking to pass the job on as a result; although I intend to work closely with my successor to ensure a smooth transition.

Obviously a controversial dispute and a wider consultation have overshadowed other operational matters that do need to be considered.

Without wanting to fuel the forum wars can I stress that anything I say on this forum is in a private capacity and `questions to the controller` really belong on the ECF's forum. That said I have always been receptive to comments made on here and will attempt to clarify matters of fact where they arise. The other disclaimer is that the final word lies with the Director of Home Chess elected in October and (again in a strictly private capacity) I am happy to say I hope this is Alex Holowczak.
Controller - Yorkshire League
Chairman - Harrogate Chess Club
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Andrew Zigmond
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Re: County Championship Controller's Report 2015

Post by Andrew Zigmond » Mon Aug 17, 2015 11:49 pm

It would of course help to give the link http://www.englishchess.org.uk/Forum/vi ... f=26&t=374

In too much of a hurry to get down to the pub for some blitz games!
Controller - Yorkshire League
Chairman - Harrogate Chess Club
All views expressed entirely my own

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IM Jack Rudd
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Re: County Championship Controller's Report 2015

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Mon Aug 17, 2015 11:51 pm

I'd be willing to take on half the job, if someone else were willing to take on the other half.

Mick Norris
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Re: County Championship Controller's Report 2015

Post by Mick Norris » Tue Aug 18, 2015 8:43 am

Andrew Zigmond wrote:This has been posted on the official forum for a few weeks now but I thought I'd highlight it here. It was also circulated to all County Union controllers. My reason for doing so is that I have struggled to do the role justice this year and am looking to pass the job on as a result; although I intend to work closely with my successor to ensure a smooth transition.

Obviously a controversial dispute and a wider consultation have overshadowed other operational matters that do need to be considered.
Andrew

Firstly, thanks for doing the job, even those of us not participating in the Final stages appreciate your hard work

Secondly, I hope the Yorks dispute didn't influence your decision to step down, and again thanks for being impartial during it

Finally, is there merit in having the job split between 2 individuals (from different counties) as Jack is volunteering?
Any postings on here represent my personal views

David Pardoe
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Re: County Championship Controller's Report 2015

Post by David Pardoe » Sun Aug 23, 2015 11:28 am

Hi Andrew,
You say you have struggled to do the job justice this year..
That is pretty standard for many chess posts I think... its always difficult being a volunteer...
From the outside, it would appear to me that you have not done badly, by any stretch.
Anyway, I see that Jack is offering a job share.. so would you consider that option...
I hope something can be sorted because its good to see some Yorkshire representation in the higher places of UK chess organisation, and you do at least seem to communicate with the membership/...
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Mike Truran
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Re: County Championship Controller's Report 2015

Post by Mike Truran » Sun Aug 23, 2015 8:22 pm

David

You seem to have plenty of time on your hands to post on this forum. Maybe time for you to step up to the plate yourself?

Mike

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: County Championship Controller's Report 2015

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Sun Aug 23, 2015 10:01 pm

He hasn't posted so much recently tbf, so maybe he *is* doing something?
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Mike Truran
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Re: County Championship Controller's Report 2015

Post by Mike Truran » Thu Aug 27, 2015 11:42 pm

Or maybe not (tbf).

Neil Graham
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Re: County Championship Controller's Report 2015

Post by Neil Graham » Thu Aug 27, 2015 11:55 pm

This isn't a criticism of Andrew's report - just a comment. I note that "Lancs were the only county to qualify for all six sections". My dictionary states that qualify means "reach the later stages of a competition as by being successful in earlier rounds". As I recall Lancashire qualified in one section and the remainder were either walkovers as no other teams could be bothered to enter or a twelve board match with Yorkshire. The Notts Under 120 team played as many boards as the whole of the NCCU county programme combined.

MartinCarpenter
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Re: County Championship Controller's Report 2015

Post by MartinCarpenter » Fri Aug 28, 2015 9:44 am

Well Yorkshire would (I believe) have qualified in every section too, had we organised teams for them :)

They're simply aren't all that many viable county teams left nowadays.

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Re: County Championship Controller's Report 2015

Post by David Pardoe » Fri Aug 28, 2015 10:40 am

Martin,
With respect, I think there is lots of potential for more teams to enter the Counties competitions.. AT ALL LEVELS.
These events are excellent Saturday chess fayre, and the time controls do allow for a more relaxed chess than the usual league chess blitz stuff.
Its all about enjoying the chess offering...and county chess, with its 16 board format allows for some big match occasions, with good camaraderie, and a chance to socialise with players as these matches head for the final stages, as players gather round remaining boards.

The key requirements are for county bodies to be more pro active in organising these events..
It might be that events are split across `east and west` regions to reduce transport issues, which can be a challenge..
In the MCCU we are very lucky to have an active board and officials who have endeavoured to provide good competitions over a number of years.
Next, and most important is finding volunteer captains who can organise teams and arrange the matches. I strongly believe that ALL teams should also have a vice captain to assist this process..
The key factor in county chess is the enjoyment of playing...there are no star prizes.
Captains need not be too obsessive about fielding the strongest possible team (by grade).
The key thing is to get out a full squad of players on the day. Too many captains are put off by the prospect of not having a very strong team, and maybe getting battered... in practice this doesn't tend to happen, but having tunnel vision about the range of players to select from could unduly deter potential captains.
I can remember many a match where teams are outgraded, but put in a stirring effort to upset the odds. Such is the challenge of these events.
And from fairly modest beginnings, with some perseverance, great progress can be made..
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MartinCarpenter
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Re: County Championship Controller's Report 2015

Post by MartinCarpenter » Fri Aug 28, 2015 12:19 pm

David Pardoe wrote: Captains need not be too obsessive about fielding the strongest possible team (by grade).
Actually, really not sure about that. Fundamentally if you want to have 'fun' chess you'd choose a very different organisational unit than counties.

Well it clearly works OK in places, it'd be terrible in the NCCU. The Yorkshire league/Div 3N are both much saner ways of doing mass participation Saturday chess there.

The knock out stages are where the competition has struggled a bit for numbers. Some bad intrinsic problems like the considerable travel/organisational burdens attached and happening in late Spring/Summer to boot.

Think Andrew did quite a good job and I don't envy the next few people doing it.

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Re: County Championship Controller's Report 2015

Post by David Pardoe » Fri Aug 28, 2015 5:24 pm

Martin,
You seem to view things through your Yorkshire Rose tinted glasses...
You say that the NCCU for County chess is a waste of time...yet you keep urging Manchester to join the NCCU...to enjoy these `so called` naff offerings, when the MCCU does run some well supported county events...by which, I don't just mean `Open/Minor counties`, but also the lower graded U160, U140, U120, and U100 sections.. I`m sure some NCCU counties could muster a few teams for such sections with a bit of organisation.
It would be good to see teams from Merseyside, Cheshire, Lancs, Cumberland and West Yorks, along with Northumberland, Durham, and Cleveland plus North/East Yorks, perhaps...
Yes, and I can see good logic in allowing Yorks and Lancs to have automatic entry to National stages in the top events/sections.. ie, Open and U180/Minor Counties.. With the Finals stages running through the Summer months, when 4NCL and Yorks leagues are closed, it would mean these events don't clash during Summer...but I would like to see some streamlining of the Counties National Finals stages..

I can see how you regard Yorks as being well catered for as regards weekend chess, but there is a wider community out there who could well benefit from other chess offerings presented by County chess, amongst other things..

As regards 4NCL, I agree this is a good offering for weekend players...but mainly targeted at the 140+ graded players.
The county scene could offer some options to other counties at all levels, but would probably need structuring as separate `east` and `west` based sections in the NCCU to accommodate travel issues..
All these events can generate great interest with the right support and organisation...and maybe a few well targeted changes might not go amiss.
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Andrew Zigmond
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Re: County Championship Controller's Report 2015

Post by Andrew Zigmond » Fri Aug 28, 2015 6:05 pm

Starting with a disclaimer that I am posting in a purely personal capacity and not as an ECF official.

I take Neil's point that the NCCU teams have `qualified` rather than qualified. This season Yorkshire only fielded teams in the Open and the U160 and otherwise there was no competition in the NCCU stages. Last year things were slightly better as Yorkshire ran teams in all sections bar the U140 but only wished to progress to the national stages in the Open/ U160 (just to avoid Martin or anybody else jumping in, there was a misunderstanding about the U180 last season that led to a defaulted match in the national stages).

As noted in the controller's report there has been correspondance received from Lancashire. It is not for me in an official or private capacity to reveal what was said. I think I can say that Lancashire have tried to keep all six teams going while the Yorkshire committee take the view that if people want county teams they should be willing to volunteer to run them. As a member of the YCA committee I am happy to state that we appeal for new volunteers to come forward year on year and each year nobody comes forward. We have the player base but not the infrastructure, which is a shame.

Regarding the wider NCCU initiatives have been tried to get entries from the other counties (Cumbria do enter the U160 but have only qualified once in recent years and this year didn't complete their matches in time anyway) but without success. I know that Neil has long detested the resulting situation that Yorkshire and Lancashire can qualify automatically but at the same time it is hardly their fault that no other NCCU county enters the competition. My own perception is that there are capable individuals within the Northern Counties but they choose to devote their energy to congress organisation and/ or the 4NCL.
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David Pardoe
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Re: County Championship Controller's Report 2015

Post by David Pardoe » Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:36 pm

Andrew,
You probably know the Yorks/Lancs NCCU scene better than most..
As an outsider (with strong connections), its not my place to interfere in matters, but I comment to try to assist.. if possible.
The NCCU is perhaps suffering the historical hang overs of being stuck in an administrative straight jacket, to some extent.
They may now be freeing themselves gradually from this and opening up to outside involvement.
By `outside` I mean outside of the tight knit group who seemed to run things in past times..in some areas.

But...looking at today.. lets be positive and hope for greater participation from all quarters in the NCCU camp..

You mentioned that the NCCU had called for teams to enter county competitions, but responses have been disappointing..

First you must offer a workable framework... an `east` `west` split, possibly along lines I have outlined earlier, might be a start point.
You might even borrow the MCCU model....its not perfect, but does get some good support from the counties in most sections.
Many county bodies don't seem to see past the prestige of an `Open`, `Minor Counties` or U180 teams... but starting off with lower level teams in other sections might be a way forward..
Yes, Yorks have already got there weekend programme well sorted, so its down to others to get the ball rolling.
Yes, volunteers are the key.. and attracting some enthusiastic captains and deputies is the start..at a county level.
Union reps I guess have probably discussed matters at length in the past..hopefully a chink of light will emerge.
Yes, our modern world, with all its problems, does not make things easy.. as Cameron and the blotted tory gooons watch as we are swamped with issues and pressures mount.. the workers are challenged by the Minimum wage, zero hours contracts... and growth rrepresented by new Call centres and the increasing number of coffee shops on the High Street... and Charity Shops...
Real jobs seem harder to come by... and industry seems to be moving offshore.. to cheap labour Far East locations..
But I digress ...surely the dissatisfaction levels will not result in UKIP exit from Euroland..
And Scottish devolvement...

Just a quick mention for Manchester.. they are keen to recruit a team captain for there Open team for this season.
Anyone who can help please post, or contact Jon Lonsdale or Mick Norris asap.
See http://manchesterchessfederation.co.uk/page5.html
We have a good potential squad of players.. just need someone to volunteer to run things.. plenty of assistance available.

Good Chessing..
BRING BACK THE BCF

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