14-12-2011, 12:35 PM
Phil mentioned.
I think these events are U20
It was good to see Andrew and Clement play in Poland and allthough I don't know the venue for next year it would be nice to see Scotland represented again.
Your comment though prompts me to do a reflection on The World Youth in Brazil which I'd intended to do previously. Lost one post as if you take a long time typing you get logged out I think and when you log back in the post is lost??
So will try to do this quickly.
As you mention Phil the logistics of arranging Scotland's participation at a distant continent is more complex especially when there are internal flights involved on arrival and if you are trying to do things economically.
Without fantastic support from Judy Milton and Derek Howie things would not have worked. So I can thank them and luck that it worked rather than good planning.
I was very fortunate that these families committed to paying for a parent to travel with their child to the World Youth. I'm delighted that both Anna and Colin did fantastically well for 11 year olds playing in the under 12 section. Both can play again in same age group and I'm sure that both will have gained from their experience in Brazil.
From my own experience I consider the World Youth and Euro Youth event as massive World Class events.
I believe the children who attend these events gain things which will help their confidence for many years to come and the knowledge that they can compete against the best of the World at a very complex intellectual game prepares them for challenges ahead. It appears that Britain is quickly losing it's last remnants of it's former quite privileged position on the world stage and the future for our children is going to be very competitive in my opinion. Those who represent Scotland at Chess are being equipped for challenges ahead in my opinion and have first hand knowledge of what that entails. I consider what my wife and I have spent on Chess over the last few years as an investment and that our children will get the benefit of it for many years to come. I think our children and we should think about Scotland's heritage where many talented Scots were at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution and inventions which emancipated much of the Western World and beyond from lives of drudgery. We along with the rest of Britain have a heritage to be proud of.
If parents can afford it and their children are talented enough then I think they should send their children to at least one of these events even if they are 2nd, 3rd or even 4th choices. Apologise to Paul MacDonald and his team if this comment is misplaced but, often it's difficult for selectors to make the 1st choice and sometimes this takes time. Then after that there might be other talented players who miss out at certain age groups because there isn't enough time left to do a 2nd selection and do the arrangements for the tournament at the same time. There are deadlines to meet etc. This means sometimes that obvious 1st choices get most of the selections and that 2nd and 3rd choices rarely go to these events. My suggestion to parents who know their child has the ability to do well but is unlikely to be a 1st choice is to be pro-active and state early to Paul and Robin that you are happy to pay for them to go to the event. This would give time to plan and arrange everything and create a positive atmosphere where many children are preparing for next years Euro Youth and World Youth in advance. This would help Scottish Chess as a whole and hopefully be good for the Congress scene also. i.e if 40 go to World Youth and Euro Youth on continental Europe next year (say 20 to each) then that would be 40 children preparing for these World Class Events. Having seen what Judy and Derek can do I'm certain that getting as many children and parents involved early will create a very positive vibe for the whole of Chess in Scotland. Apologies to Paul and Robin for this but it's something I've wanted to mention for quite a while and I think you are able to deal with it. I'd be happy to help if you go for this kind of approach.
I.E last year I said to Phil, That I was going to the World Youth in Brazil with Maryann and Ian. My wife is Brazilian and I speak Portuguese reasonably well. ( Apologies to Judy and Derek about the gender thing :-) though that's another story) Instead of telling me to shut up he tried to help me make that happen.
As it is 9 children eventually went and represented their country.
We had some problems which I'm going to mention because I think it might be useful for the future. For the first 4 nights the party were split into 2 hotels. The girls and the 2 under 12s and their parents in one hotel and myself and the 4 older boys in another more distant appartment like hotel. This would have been worse if Judy hadn't managed to get the organiser running us around in his car the night we arrived to battle to get 3 rooms in the original hotel we were booked for. This was ofcourse the fault of the Brazilian organisers. I do think it impacted slightly on the results for the older boys allthough Hamish still managed an outstanding result overall. I think for the future that 2 assurances that you are safely booked into a certain hotel a month before you go isn't enough. Because we are a small federation we get bumped if a larger federation increase the size of their party late on! If I'd phoned more often right up to the last week and been on top of them then it's likely they would have bumped someone else. Just taking their word for it wasn't enough and someone perhaps can be delegated to keep a check on accomodation arrangements in the future? It is funny now but at the time it was infuriating to arrive at the right hotel to be told you weren't booked in. In hindsight with 9 players going it would have been good to have a coach travel with us but it was only quite late that I knew that as many as 9 were going and also the expense of doing this was unclear.
I'd arranged some online coaching from Calum Macqueen prior to the event which Calum was able to make work. Success of this down to Calum, and online support from Calum whilst in Brazil. This didn't work so well because the internet connection was far more patchy than I had expected. There were though a couple of notable victories where Calum's preparation was very helpful.
I must thank Phil for entrusting me with trying to head a delegation to represent Scotland, Paul MacDonald for his many words of encouragement and support and support to arrange online coaching,
Chess Scotland for giving some support to the trip and online coaching and the parents for supporting the event and their childrens participation.
Finally I want to thank all the players. It was a joy to see your dedication and commitment and how you kept yourself up for every round of the tournament through all the ups and downs of results etc. They really kept themselves going through quite an intense schedule like athletes! I sincerely hope that they all gained from
the experience and wish them well in their Chess for the future.
Quote:In the middle part of that age range I sent representatives to World U21 in Poland (I recall 2010) but I was unable to get Clement to India in 2011. As you know organising to play in different continent is much harder than a budget flight from a UK airport to the continent.
I think these events are U20
It was good to see Andrew and Clement play in Poland and allthough I don't know the venue for next year it would be nice to see Scotland represented again.
Your comment though prompts me to do a reflection on The World Youth in Brazil which I'd intended to do previously. Lost one post as if you take a long time typing you get logged out I think and when you log back in the post is lost??
So will try to do this quickly.
As you mention Phil the logistics of arranging Scotland's participation at a distant continent is more complex especially when there are internal flights involved on arrival and if you are trying to do things economically.
Without fantastic support from Judy Milton and Derek Howie things would not have worked. So I can thank them and luck that it worked rather than good planning.
I was very fortunate that these families committed to paying for a parent to travel with their child to the World Youth. I'm delighted that both Anna and Colin did fantastically well for 11 year olds playing in the under 12 section. Both can play again in same age group and I'm sure that both will have gained from their experience in Brazil.
From my own experience I consider the World Youth and Euro Youth event as massive World Class events.
I believe the children who attend these events gain things which will help their confidence for many years to come and the knowledge that they can compete against the best of the World at a very complex intellectual game prepares them for challenges ahead. It appears that Britain is quickly losing it's last remnants of it's former quite privileged position on the world stage and the future for our children is going to be very competitive in my opinion. Those who represent Scotland at Chess are being equipped for challenges ahead in my opinion and have first hand knowledge of what that entails. I consider what my wife and I have spent on Chess over the last few years as an investment and that our children will get the benefit of it for many years to come. I think our children and we should think about Scotland's heritage where many talented Scots were at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution and inventions which emancipated much of the Western World and beyond from lives of drudgery. We along with the rest of Britain have a heritage to be proud of.
If parents can afford it and their children are talented enough then I think they should send their children to at least one of these events even if they are 2nd, 3rd or even 4th choices. Apologise to Paul MacDonald and his team if this comment is misplaced but, often it's difficult for selectors to make the 1st choice and sometimes this takes time. Then after that there might be other talented players who miss out at certain age groups because there isn't enough time left to do a 2nd selection and do the arrangements for the tournament at the same time. There are deadlines to meet etc. This means sometimes that obvious 1st choices get most of the selections and that 2nd and 3rd choices rarely go to these events. My suggestion to parents who know their child has the ability to do well but is unlikely to be a 1st choice is to be pro-active and state early to Paul and Robin that you are happy to pay for them to go to the event. This would give time to plan and arrange everything and create a positive atmosphere where many children are preparing for next years Euro Youth and World Youth in advance. This would help Scottish Chess as a whole and hopefully be good for the Congress scene also. i.e if 40 go to World Youth and Euro Youth on continental Europe next year (say 20 to each) then that would be 40 children preparing for these World Class Events. Having seen what Judy and Derek can do I'm certain that getting as many children and parents involved early will create a very positive vibe for the whole of Chess in Scotland. Apologies to Paul and Robin for this but it's something I've wanted to mention for quite a while and I think you are able to deal with it. I'd be happy to help if you go for this kind of approach.
I.E last year I said to Phil, That I was going to the World Youth in Brazil with Maryann and Ian. My wife is Brazilian and I speak Portuguese reasonably well. ( Apologies to Judy and Derek about the gender thing :-) though that's another story) Instead of telling me to shut up he tried to help me make that happen.
As it is 9 children eventually went and represented their country.
We had some problems which I'm going to mention because I think it might be useful for the future. For the first 4 nights the party were split into 2 hotels. The girls and the 2 under 12s and their parents in one hotel and myself and the 4 older boys in another more distant appartment like hotel. This would have been worse if Judy hadn't managed to get the organiser running us around in his car the night we arrived to battle to get 3 rooms in the original hotel we were booked for. This was ofcourse the fault of the Brazilian organisers. I do think it impacted slightly on the results for the older boys allthough Hamish still managed an outstanding result overall. I think for the future that 2 assurances that you are safely booked into a certain hotel a month before you go isn't enough. Because we are a small federation we get bumped if a larger federation increase the size of their party late on! If I'd phoned more often right up to the last week and been on top of them then it's likely they would have bumped someone else. Just taking their word for it wasn't enough and someone perhaps can be delegated to keep a check on accomodation arrangements in the future? It is funny now but at the time it was infuriating to arrive at the right hotel to be told you weren't booked in. In hindsight with 9 players going it would have been good to have a coach travel with us but it was only quite late that I knew that as many as 9 were going and also the expense of doing this was unclear.
I'd arranged some online coaching from Calum Macqueen prior to the event which Calum was able to make work. Success of this down to Calum, and online support from Calum whilst in Brazil. This didn't work so well because the internet connection was far more patchy than I had expected. There were though a couple of notable victories where Calum's preparation was very helpful.
I must thank Phil for entrusting me with trying to head a delegation to represent Scotland, Paul MacDonald for his many words of encouragement and support and support to arrange online coaching,
Chess Scotland for giving some support to the trip and online coaching and the parents for supporting the event and their childrens participation.
Finally I want to thank all the players. It was a joy to see your dedication and commitment and how you kept yourself up for every round of the tournament through all the ups and downs of results etc. They really kept themselves going through quite an intense schedule like athletes! I sincerely hope that they all gained from
the experience and wish them well in their Chess for the future.