British Senior Championships

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Tim Harding
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British Senior Championships

Post by Tim Harding » Sat Aug 01, 2015 5:35 pm

In the British 65+ Seniors today there are already (according to results showing at 5.30pm) five players tied first on 4.5/6 and two more games in progress where winners could reach that score. This clearly shows that six rounds are insufficient.

There used to be seven rounds in the days before the age group split. I think ECF should reconsider for next year whether to run 65+ and 50+ in succession (how many people really want to play both?) and instead have both of them 7 rounds at least.

A BIT LATER: Finally six players in the tie. Absurd for a championship.
Tim Harding
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Kevin Thurlow
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Re: British Senior Championships

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Sun Aug 02, 2015 10:16 am

"I think ECF should reconsider for next year whether to run 65+ and 50+ in succession (how many people really want to play both?) and instead have both of them 7 rounds at least."

I agree.

Some FIDE guy was saying in Vienna that the European Seniors was switching to 50+ and 65+ to agree with FIDE. He seemed a bit put out when I said there was no way I would play in the 50+ event (might as well play an ordinary Open), and as they were stopping me playing for three years I might very well not bother when I qualified again...

Of course by then, they might change it to 70+.

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IM Jack Rudd
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Re: British Senior Championships

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Sun Aug 02, 2015 10:20 am

If you want to play in a 60+ event, there's always the English Seniors' Championship.

Tim Harding
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Re: British Senior Championships

Post by Tim Harding » Sun Aug 02, 2015 11:53 am

IM Jack Rudd wrote:If you want to play in a 60+ event, there's always the English Seniors' Championship.
Thanks for the info (though I won't be playing) but I think something needs to be done about the website for that chess festival.

1. Awful blinding garish primary colours and SHOUTING CAPITAL LETTERS.

2. Venue not stated on the page you linked. I had to click into "Festival home page" and then "Accommodation list" just to find out that this event is going to be somewhere in Surrey.

3. Spelling: "ex-patriotes" (is that Latin?) should of course be "expatriates".

(And wasn't there some row about the prizes for last year's event, discussed elsewhere in this forum?)

**
Further to my original post in this thread, actually I see a couple of people have entered both the 50+ and 65+ in Warwick but perhaps they would have preferred one longer event.

Good luck to some regular posters I see in the start-list for the Baby Seniors event starting today.

Personally I am in favour of the 65+ age grouping and prefer not to play kids born in the 1950s or early 60s. I can enter an Open to do that...
Tim Harding
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NickFaulks
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Re: British Senior Championships

Post by NickFaulks » Sun Aug 02, 2015 1:20 pm

The ECU is big enough to make its own decisions and should not hide behind FIDE, but I think that two senior groups, 50+ and 65+, is a sensible approach. If senior is defined as 60+, that leaves players in their fifties with no major events which they can reasonably hope to win. Equally, genuine wrinklies might be out of their depth in the 60+.

The problem comes, of course, at the point when the goalposts are moved, depriving some cohorts of the opportunity to spend a few years as the youngsters in their group. There is no way to avoid that.
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Re: British Senior Championships

Post by John McKenna » Sun Aug 02, 2015 2:44 pm

NickFaulks wrote:... The problem comes, of course, at the point when the goalposts are moved, depriving some cohorts of the opportunity to spend a few years as the youngsters in their group. There is no way to avoid that.
Are you, or have you ever been, employed by the DWP?

At higher levels, I hasten to add.

Tim Harding
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Re: British Senior Championships

Post by Tim Harding » Sun Aug 02, 2015 3:36 pm

NickFaulks wrote:The ECU is big enough to make its own decisions and should not hide behind FIDE, but I think that two senior groups, 50+ and 65+, is a sensible approach. If senior is defined as 60+, that leaves players in their fifties with no major events which they can reasonably hope to win.
The European individual seniors this year was already run as 50+ and 65+ so I suppose it was the Vienna organisers of the Senior Teams who declined to change.

At the European Championship (in Jerusalem last February) they announced 10 senior prizes (if I remember correctly) but all for 50+. Since the event clashed with the World Senior Teams in Dresden, I expect several of those prizes were picked up by Israelis.

If they made some of these for 65+ (maybe even 60+) I might consider going another year. As of now, however, the ECU website calendar shows they have no venue or dates for the 2016 EU Individual, though the senior individual and senior teams have been announced.
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David Sedgwick
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Re: British Senior Championships

Post by David Sedgwick » Mon Aug 03, 2015 12:21 pm

Tim Harding wrote:As of now, however, the ECU website calendar shows they have no venue or dates for the 2016 EU Individual ...
Whilst there is indeed nothing in the calendar as yet, Circular Letter 4, available for download at http://www.europechess.org/press-info/c ... s/cl-2015/, states that:

"The European Individual Chess Championship 2016 will take place in Gakova, Kosovo from 11 to 24 May 2016 with a total of prize fund of 150,000 Euros."

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Re: British Senior Championships

Post by Tim Harding » Mon Aug 03, 2015 3:55 pm

David Sedgwick wrote:
Tim Harding wrote:As of now, however, the ECU website calendar shows they have no venue or dates for the 2016 EU Individual ...
Whilst there is indeed nothing in the calendar as yet, Circular Letter 4, available for download at http://www.europechess.org/press-info/c ... s/cl-2015/, states that:

"The European Individual Chess Championship 2016 will take place in Gakova, Kosovo from 11 to 24 May 2016 with a total of prize fund of 150,000 Euros."
Thanks for the info; I can forget about that, then. While it's not an actual clash, it''s not long after the EU Senior Teams and ends only a month before the World Senior Teams.

Moreover, the European senior individuals start somewhere in Armenia on the 25th May (or maybe that's the travel day) so I doubt many people will play both.

I see from that Circular that they didn't have bids yet for the 2017 EU senior Team or individuals and the new deadline is only a few days away. Any chance the ECF might put in a bid, Stewart?
Tim Harding
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Re: British Senior Championships

Post by David Sedgwick » Mon Aug 03, 2015 4:57 pm

Tim Harding wrote:I see from that Circular that they didn't have bids yet for the 2017 EU senior Team or individuals and the new deadline is only a few days away. Any chance the ECF might put in a bid, Stewart?
Sadly not. That is no fault of Stewart's.

Paul Habershon
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Re: British Senior Championships

Post by Paul Habershon » Wed Aug 05, 2015 3:07 pm

Tim Harding wrote:
IM Jack Rudd wrote:If you want to play in a 60+ event, there's always the English Seniors' Championship.
Thanks for the info (though I won't be playing) but I think something needs to be done about the website for that chess festival.

1. Awful blinding garish primary colours and SHOUTING CAPITAL LETTERS.

2. Venue not stated on the page you linked. I had to click into "Festival home page" and then "Accommodation list" just to find out that this event is going to be somewhere in Surrey.

3. Spelling: "ex-patriotes" (is that Latin?) should of course be "expatriates".

(And wasn't there some row about the prizes for last year's event, discussed elsewhere in this forum?)...
Although it is good of Coulsdon to stage the English Seniors for 2015, I fear that the short notice will lead to few entries, thus discouraging organisers from taking on the event in the future.

From the inaugural English Seniors in 2008 I have always tried to participate, but this year I had already made non-chess plans when the 2015 event was first advertised a few weeks ago. There seems to be this generous anonymous donor and it is such a pity that the ECF (or someone) has been unable to establish a permanent venue and time of year after the successful series at Dovedale under Neil Graham.

Sean Hewitt did a great job at Gatwick in 2012(?) but circumstances led to short notice being given for Sunningdale last year with the resultant poor entry. It is unacceptable that a national championship should not be on the calendar a year in advance.

It is always difficult to establish a newish event without date clashes.If the English Seniors is to be free-standing I think it should be in late autumn or winter (as the British Seniors is in the summer) and not too far north (snow and ice was often a threat at Dovedale in January). Otherwise it perhaps could be incorporated into the London Classic (December) or the Beacon Seniors (November).

If I were the donor, I would be feeling disappointed, if not insulted, at the way generosity has been treated.

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Re: British Senior Championships

Post by Tim Harding » Wed Aug 05, 2015 3:44 pm

ORIGINAL POST (Wednesday): The World Seniors is generally in November so maybe early March would be a good time, not clashing with other senior events and probably good off-peak hotel rates available then. I agree that if it's to be considered a Championship it needs to be announced well in advance. Then if entries pick up there should be more than five rounds.

ADDED (Thursday):
Re the prize fund for last year's English Seniors, I see that the controversy has flared up again. See the Streatham and Brixton blog today:
http://streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.i ... .html#more

Basically the post quotes the organiser of the 2014 tournament saying the ECF official was either seriously misinformed or talking porky pies at the recent Q&A.

I don't know who is telling the truth but I certainly would not consider entering an event that had this kind of issue overhanging it. It needs to be cleared up!
Tim Harding
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Ken Norman
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Re: British Senior Championships

Post by Ken Norman » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:23 am

I see the list of entries for the English Seniors Championship being held next week in Coulsdon includes a player registered as Australian and a possible entry from someone registered as Scottish.

Clearly the organiser regards Australia and Scotland as part of England.

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IM Jack Rudd
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Re: British Senior Championships

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:43 am

We made the decision to allow players resident in England, whether or not ENG-registered, to play in the event.

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: British Senior Championships

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Fri Sep 04, 2015 1:37 pm

And Ian Snape won this event with 4/5:

http://www.ccfworld.com/Chess/Results/2 ... 0_JGCI.htm

Congratulations to him!

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