New schedule for Seniors at the British

Information and discussion on all matters relating to Seniors Chess.
Roger de Coverly
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Re: New schedule for Seniors at the British

Post by Roger de Coverly » Tue Oct 21, 2014 12:46 am

Ian Thompson wrote: My question was whether other sports declared someone as a national champion where the eligibility criterion is an upper limit on their ability at the sport
Golf is a sport where there is a long established absolute and relative ranking system. The cut in golf appears to be "amateur" v "professional" with "amateur" being presumed a lower skill level.

http://championships.randa.org/AmateurC ... ships.aspx

In chess Luke and Matthew would presumably be classed as "amateurs", despite being in the British top 6. Are there parallels in the world of Golf? Golf though has a more stringent definition of "amateur".

But perhaps we shouldn't be looking in the direction of physical sports. With the "Millionaire" tournament in Las Vegas fresh in our minds, to what extent is it possible to win competitions and prizes at Poker without being very good? Being in part a game of chance presumably makes a difference.

Stewart Reuben
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Re: New schedule for Seniors at the British

Post by Stewart Reuben » Tue Oct 21, 2014 2:23 am

Why suddenly now wake up to the fact there are national and international chess championships where the eligibility criterion is an upper limit on their ability at the game? Anyway that is incorrect. It is an upper limit on the achievements. It is a bit late now to say, 'Stop that, it is all wrong.'
World Open U2200 dates back I guess 40 years.
World Amateur 1995.
Amateur is just a label in chess. We don't have the concept of distinction between amateur and professional. Even the British U8 champion receives a cash prize. There have been discussions on 'amateur' and 'professional' in poker. I wrote a book 'Poker 24/7. 35 years a poker pro.' Byron Jacobs wanted it to be 25 years. But there were first 10 years when half my income came from poker and half from being a schoolteacher.

If you look at the hands Chris Moneymaker played in the World Poker Series he won, it is easy to see he got very lucky and wasn't a good player. The following year he played much better and fared far worse.
For somebody rated about 2100, there are perhaps 10 decisions in a chess game where there are 7 plausible alternatives. That means it is only a 1 million/1 against my playing a perfect chess game randomly.

Paul Habershon
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Re: New schedule for Seniors at the British

Post by Paul Habershon » Tue Dec 16, 2014 12:32 am

I have taken the plunge and booked a room at the University of Warwick for twelve nights of the British Championships, full payment being required in advance.

I remain disappointed about the changes to the Seniors age groups. The traditional 60+ was well established and thriving. Now the line of succession has been broken. We did not have to copy FIDE.

I shall definitely enter for the 65+ despite it being a 6-game sprint in the first week. In recent years the 60+ has had seven afternoon rounds, starting on the middle Saturday. This meant I could not play in the middle Sunday blitz, nor could I very often watch British Championship games or get to the commentary room. At least now, by entering a second week AM tournament, I can do all those things and play my own chess as well. This is my main reason for not entering the 50+ 'Senior' tournament which starts on the middle Sunday and is played in the afternoons. I don't like the concept of the 50+ anyway. I wonder if any other grumpy old men agree with me.

At a tangent: is there any hope of the English Seniors Championship happening in 2015? Would that remain a 60+ event?

Stewart Reuben
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Re: New schedule for Seniors at the British

Post by Stewart Reuben » Tue Dec 16, 2014 6:01 pm

There could be an English Senior Chess Championship in 2015, but I fear only if I did something about it. I would favour 50+ and 65+.
I did favour remaining with 60+ witht the Briish until it settled down internationally. But apparently the majoity fo the respondents at Aber favoured 50+ 65+.
Now the European Senior Team Championship has reverted to 60+.

Roger de Coverly
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Re: New schedule for Seniors at the British

Post by Roger de Coverly » Tue Dec 16, 2014 6:10 pm

Stewart Reuben wrote: But apparently the majoity fo the respondents at Aber favoured 50+ 65+.
That might well be the case. What was not indicated was that a consequence would be to reduce both events to six rounds only. With the numbers wishing to play, even seven rounds wasn't really enough.

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