Clash of dates

[Alan Burke]

On the ECF calendar for 2012, I note that although the 1st and 2nd rounds of the 4NCL Divisions 1 and 2 as well as Division 3 South are on the 3-4 November, the first two rounds for Division 3 North are on the weekend of 24-25 November - the same dates as the British Rapidplay Championships.

Is that correct ? If so, why ?

[Mick Norris]

4NCL dates are here:
http://www.4ncl.co.uk/2012_13_dates.htm

[Mike Truran]

One for the British Rapidplay organisers I suspect. The 4NCL dates were published back in June 2011.

[Mick Norris]

There are FIDE rated Rapidplays in London on 24 November 2012 too, so if it were me I would move the British, but as they are from Yorkshire, they may not

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/?page_id=11568

Would be nice to know for sure soon, as the dates for 2012 Bolton and Bury Rapidplays need to be fixed soon

[Alan Burke]

Yes the 4NCL dates were published first, but by having two different dates it didn't give other events much chance of avoiding a clash. Why couldn't the 4NCL have ensured that ALL matches were played on the same date ?

[David Sedgwick]

Why couldn't the 4NCL have ensured that ALL matches were played on the same date ?

Surprising as it may seem, hotels aren't available to the 4NCL on demand. It's not unknown for them to have bookings from other clients.

[Alan Burke]

David Sedgwick .... Surprising at it may seem to you, there are ways to properly answer a question without trying to be sarcastic !

From your answer I assume you have the knowledge that every possible hotel in the country was fully booked for both dates when the 4NCL approached them quite some time ago.

[Mike Truran]

Alan Burke......It's such a stupid question that it's hard to reply sensibly without sounding sarcastic. Do you think the 4NCL deliberately sets out to organise split weekends so as to cause inconvenience to other organisers?

Guilty as charged - I didn't check that every possible hotel in the country was fully booked for both dates when I arranged the dates. No doubt an experienced event organiser like you could have done much better though.

Best wishes for Xmas and the New Year. No doubt we can look forward to seeing your own formidable event management skills in full play in 2012.

And yes - I am trying to be sarcastic.

PS If you do have a spare moment free from your organisational activities you might want to learn how to make use of the 'quote' facility. It works like this:

From your answer I assume you have the knowledge that every possible hotel in the country was fully booked for both dates when the 4NCL approached them quite some time ago.

or this:

Surprising as it may seem, hotels aren't available to the 4NCL on demand. It's not unknown for them to have bookings from other clients.

[Alan Burke]

Mike Truran .. when did I ever say that YOU had not checked out every hotel ? - my comment was asked of David Sedgwick.

Why is it a stupid question to just ask why the 4NCL matches are on two different weekends ? If hotels were not available then OK that is reason enough, but why get insulting instead of just giving an answer ?

I am certain that nobody forced you into taking on the position of organiser of the 4NCL, so whilst accepting praise for any good work you do, you must also be willing to answer any potential criticism in a proper manner.

To answer your question .. No, I don't think you deliberately organised two seperate weekends, but in your original post on this thread you just stated it was a problem for the British Rapidplay without actually answering my question.

I won't reply to the PS in your most recent post as you are obviously trying to trade personal insults - however, I won't descend to that level.

[David Pardoe]

Festive greetings to all....
I`ll just make the obvious comment that event clashes are a fact of life....sometimes unfortunate, but not usually the end of the world. Major sporting and football events, can provide challenging competition..
Good that we are quite often spoilt for choice...but more importantly, we need to ensure these events get good publicity so that they achieve there deserved support, not least for all the effort put in by organisors....
More support (and team entries..) for the 4NCL Northern league, from our northern/midlands players, is but one that deserves mention, not least for its excellent venues and playing conditions.

There`s a minor `clash` next month when the new Shropshire Congress, taking place on Sat 7th & 8th Jan actually clashes with some MCCU County matches.
This revamped Congress being held atTelford, at a smart new venue, has been put together at very short notice and has already attracted good support...hopefully it will see a full turnout, and the various County matches will also attract good support.
For those looking to play the Telford event, see entry details in the `Congress Diary` thread...top marks to the organisors for putting this on at such short notice, and hopefully it will get good support from Midlands and Northern players. A list of current entries can be seen on the Shropshire Congress website.
Tell your fellow players who might be interested.....

[Mike Truran]

Alan Burke......thanks for your comments - invaluable as always.

Just two thoughts if I may:

1. Calling someone an argumentative muppet or a thin-skinned internet troll would be an attempt to trade personal insults. Saying that a question is stupid or drawing someone's attention to an as yet unused forum facility is not.

2. Your postings might carry more credibility if you actually played or organised chess yourself.

Anyway, that's me done. I'm not going to get drawn further into one of the interminable and pointless threads you seem to delight in.

[Alex Holowczak]

It has been revealed to me by Sean Hewitt that the original date of the British Rapidplay next year was 10/11 November, and this was changed to 24/25 November only very recently. Sean knew about this because he had scheduled Brighton for 24/25 November to avoid clashing with the British Rapidplay on 10/11 November!

[John Upham]

2. Your postings might carry more credibility if you actually played or organised chess yourself.

A very small amount of research will reveal that MT is quite active as a player http://www.ecfgrading.org.uk/?ref=120614L and the smaller matter of 4NCL could be reasonably counted as "organisation". Some may argue.

[Mike Truran]

Boom boom. As they say, "I'll be here all week".

All best wishes for the New Year.

[Alan Burke]

Alex H - Again, that is a reasonable explanation as to why the events clashed - it seems a pity the 4NCL organiser could not have just pointed out that simple fact in answer to my original question.

Mike Truran - Just to ask for you to get your facts right in future before accusing someone of neither playing or organising chess. I will not be listing my chess connections and abilities on this public site - and if you wish, you might therefore wish to assume I have none - suffice to say that it would seem very unusual for one of the largest and best-attended chess clubs in the country (approx. 50-60 attendees every week) to award their Clubman-of-the-Year award to someone who does nothing at all for the game of chess. (Those who I wish to know about my chess abilities are well aware of them, as well as obviously appreciating them.) You might well decry that award, but if so, you will be insulting both the club itself and all of its members who made the award.

Returning to the original point, I simply asked a question about a clash of dates - and a proper explanation would have been sufficient, as provided by Alex H.