21-04-2016, 01:03 AM
Well done indeed to Ian Marks in downing GM Pushkov. And good luck to all Scots in Halkidiki!
But am I reading the websites correctly? Only 8 teams in the 50+ event and 10 in the 65+? No separate women's event(s)?
This would appear to be a catastrophic collapse in support for this annual event. Can anyone on the ground explain why?
I suspect that the main culprit may be the introduction by FIDE of an annual seniors world teams championship in 2014, which has attracted effectively nil interest from non-euro teams and is in effect no more than a second (competitor) euro seniors team championship.
The so-called 'world' seniors teams championships (in Radebeul, near Dresden), to be held in late-June, already has a vastly more numerous and competitive entry and has (unsurprisingly) won out as the 'real' euro championships this year (as any event held in Germany inevitably attracts huge German and Central European interest, as that part of the world has far and away the greatest tradition of interest in seniors chess).
I also suspect that abolishing the old 60+ sections and replacing them by widely criticised 65+ events (since 2014) has not helped either. But what is the word on this in Greece?
One improvement might be to hold the world's teams championships every second year, with continental team championships held in alternate years. Adding a 4th annual international seniors event to the pre-2014 3 may have, as many feared (and pointed out), simply asked too much of the seniors chess community.
Oh dear!
But am I reading the websites correctly? Only 8 teams in the 50+ event and 10 in the 65+? No separate women's event(s)?
This would appear to be a catastrophic collapse in support for this annual event. Can anyone on the ground explain why?
I suspect that the main culprit may be the introduction by FIDE of an annual seniors world teams championship in 2014, which has attracted effectively nil interest from non-euro teams and is in effect no more than a second (competitor) euro seniors team championship.
The so-called 'world' seniors teams championships (in Radebeul, near Dresden), to be held in late-June, already has a vastly more numerous and competitive entry and has (unsurprisingly) won out as the 'real' euro championships this year (as any event held in Germany inevitably attracts huge German and Central European interest, as that part of the world has far and away the greatest tradition of interest in seniors chess).
I also suspect that abolishing the old 60+ sections and replacing them by widely criticised 65+ events (since 2014) has not helped either. But what is the word on this in Greece?
One improvement might be to hold the world's teams championships every second year, with continental team championships held in alternate years. Adding a 4th annual international seniors event to the pre-2014 3 may have, as many feared (and pointed out), simply asked too much of the seniors chess community.
Oh dear!