30-07-2012, 03:06 PM
Apologies in advance for the post, I know it will upset most people on the board
so I will pretty much make it the only post from me on the subject of Junior Chess.
my 2p's worth (which isn't worth anything really) on junior chess.
- lobbying for more money from the government et al will not work in the current financial climate.
- Corporate sponsorship or a benevolent benefactor is the way to go (at least initially)
Sponsorship is mostly in effect earned by success. Unless someone like Jonathan Edwards can wave a magic wand again as he did for the blitz then I’m afraid success will be the only option.
Companies are willing to sponsor successful young talented athletes/players (e.g Adidas sponsorship with Yang Fang Zhou) if it gets them in the local press/media and generates good publicity (same goes for local politicians, they do love baby kissing).
Anonymous benevolent benefactors also like successful juniors, A while ago there was money put up for the Rowson vs Adams and Rowson vs Arkell matches.
Now comes the controvertial bit.
I present 2 questions as a either/or scenario. If you think that the primary question for children going to the euros/worlds is as follows;
A/ How do we get more money to send more children to European/world games?
OR
B/ How do we want to use the money we have for some Scottish children to get better and be successful in the European/world arena?
at the moment, my view is we can't have both.
If the primary question is A. - The scouts and the girl guides do nice trips to Austria. Their Parents fork out for them to go to these places, ditto for us. that's just how it works.
If the primary question is B - then read on.
I propose to use the money from the chess scotland junior budget for this year on the creation of a chess curriculum and training for top juniors.
The curriculum we could crib from the Dutch chess curriculum based on IM Karel Van Delft's approach or create our own. Many people have used education as a positive for chess on this forum without mentioning that there needs to be a standardised chess education as well. There are many chess players who play in Scotland who are class A players and educators in "real-life" (Messers Marks, Aird and Prince) are three I can think of from the top of my head who would have some experience in curriculum and timetabling.
This curriculum would be to cover advanced material for all areas of the game. As a sweeping generalisation from my experience of all Juniors in Scotland they are book strong in openings and tactically excellent but struggle with middlegame plans,positional approaches and endings.
Once this curriculum is in place I propose that the structure is used as a pay it forward approach. the Top 3 Juniors under 20 in the CS live list are (Clement Sreeves, Adam Bremner and Andrew McClement respectively). Chess Scotland to pay for 1 years training preferably face to face and skype for those 3 players using the curriculum players that are minimum GM strength (as an example lets say from GM Jacob Aagard, GM Colin McNab and GM Keti Arakamia-Grant). In return for this coaching each of these players signs up to a contract and is required to take on 2 students each. These new students would be juniors which are approx 400 points below the teachers level. Using this pay it forward approach and the curriculum to teach standardised advanced chess training to most juniors within a few years.
I would also argue that it is the junior themselves who sign up to this approach, not the parents. If we use standardise a chess curriculum wisely we can still make learning chess fun without the "pushy parent" approach which rears its head every now and again. If i'm being super honest I would also argue for modest performance targets (similar to UK sports funding policy for athletes).
It's not unrealistic to say that with a years free face to face GM training for these 3 players above, that they can achieve a minimum of FM level with a fair chance of IM norms. They would then pass on their knowledge to other juniors whilst keeping their interest and making it fun.
If this means that junior budget doesn’t have any money for tournaments et al this year or next, then so be it. It's short term pain for long term gain.
I also agree with something I believe Clement Sreeves mentioned previously in posts. Minimum grading floors for age groups. The Olympics has qualifying times/distances/points for all sports, why can't we have standards rather than just "Eric the eel" it on the off chance. For example if you are 16 and in the boys section, your grade should be say at least CS live grade 2100 level otherwise you are not going to achieve any success in the euro's or worlds - it might be a great experience but it would be a struggle every game, and it may even be counter productive for their chess in the long run. I realise this is controversial, and if you child is 2099 then im sure there would be leeway from selectors.
I also propose the reinstatement of Scottish Age Championships for Juniors for next year, with the 1 paid place for the euro's as incentive for the future winner of each section (assuming the grading floor has been met).
The point of the above is to produce children who are ready to play in the world/euro arena, armed with the training and knowledge to be successful on the world stage. When one of these children is successful in the world/euro's then it's all local papers and Chess Scotland beats the bushes for corporate sponsorship.
I'm not advocating elitism. If your child is not currently playing at the required level to represent Scotland in the euro/worlds, then you are in the same boat as Thousands of other parents in hundreds of other sports in Scotland. If your child subsequently receives a standardised advanced chess education and is still not currently playing at the required level to represent Scotland for their age group then as a parent then by all means feel free to fork out your own cash to send them to euros/worlds. You should also accept that your child can play for the love of the game, but may not have what it takes to reach the top of the tree in Scottish chess.
I'm not some sort of Scottish Nikolai Krylenko, and I am sure I'll have the same noticeboard equivalent of his fate.
I was a junior - and not a particularly good one!! many years ago back in the "dark" old days when we only had one chess organisation. I played in the under 18 Scottish Age Championships in Springburn!? (I didn't win it).
* - Edit - Apologies for the confusion., I've amended my post to remove SJC.
so I will pretty much make it the only post from me on the subject of Junior Chess.
my 2p's worth (which isn't worth anything really) on junior chess.
- lobbying for more money from the government et al will not work in the current financial climate.
- Corporate sponsorship or a benevolent benefactor is the way to go (at least initially)
Sponsorship is mostly in effect earned by success. Unless someone like Jonathan Edwards can wave a magic wand again as he did for the blitz then I’m afraid success will be the only option.
Companies are willing to sponsor successful young talented athletes/players (e.g Adidas sponsorship with Yang Fang Zhou) if it gets them in the local press/media and generates good publicity (same goes for local politicians, they do love baby kissing).
Anonymous benevolent benefactors also like successful juniors, A while ago there was money put up for the Rowson vs Adams and Rowson vs Arkell matches.
Now comes the controvertial bit.
I present 2 questions as a either/or scenario. If you think that the primary question for children going to the euros/worlds is as follows;
A/ How do we get more money to send more children to European/world games?
OR
B/ How do we want to use the money we have for some Scottish children to get better and be successful in the European/world arena?
at the moment, my view is we can't have both.
If the primary question is A. - The scouts and the girl guides do nice trips to Austria. Their Parents fork out for them to go to these places, ditto for us. that's just how it works.
If the primary question is B - then read on.
I propose to use the money from the chess scotland junior budget for this year on the creation of a chess curriculum and training for top juniors.
The curriculum we could crib from the Dutch chess curriculum based on IM Karel Van Delft's approach or create our own. Many people have used education as a positive for chess on this forum without mentioning that there needs to be a standardised chess education as well. There are many chess players who play in Scotland who are class A players and educators in "real-life" (Messers Marks, Aird and Prince) are three I can think of from the top of my head who would have some experience in curriculum and timetabling.
This curriculum would be to cover advanced material for all areas of the game. As a sweeping generalisation from my experience of all Juniors in Scotland they are book strong in openings and tactically excellent but struggle with middlegame plans,positional approaches and endings.
Once this curriculum is in place I propose that the structure is used as a pay it forward approach. the Top 3 Juniors under 20 in the CS live list are (Clement Sreeves, Adam Bremner and Andrew McClement respectively). Chess Scotland to pay for 1 years training preferably face to face and skype for those 3 players using the curriculum players that are minimum GM strength (as an example lets say from GM Jacob Aagard, GM Colin McNab and GM Keti Arakamia-Grant). In return for this coaching each of these players signs up to a contract and is required to take on 2 students each. These new students would be juniors which are approx 400 points below the teachers level. Using this pay it forward approach and the curriculum to teach standardised advanced chess training to most juniors within a few years.
I would also argue that it is the junior themselves who sign up to this approach, not the parents. If we use standardise a chess curriculum wisely we can still make learning chess fun without the "pushy parent" approach which rears its head every now and again. If i'm being super honest I would also argue for modest performance targets (similar to UK sports funding policy for athletes).
It's not unrealistic to say that with a years free face to face GM training for these 3 players above, that they can achieve a minimum of FM level with a fair chance of IM norms. They would then pass on their knowledge to other juniors whilst keeping their interest and making it fun.
If this means that junior budget doesn’t have any money for tournaments et al this year or next, then so be it. It's short term pain for long term gain.
I also agree with something I believe Clement Sreeves mentioned previously in posts. Minimum grading floors for age groups. The Olympics has qualifying times/distances/points for all sports, why can't we have standards rather than just "Eric the eel" it on the off chance. For example if you are 16 and in the boys section, your grade should be say at least CS live grade 2100 level otherwise you are not going to achieve any success in the euro's or worlds - it might be a great experience but it would be a struggle every game, and it may even be counter productive for their chess in the long run. I realise this is controversial, and if you child is 2099 then im sure there would be leeway from selectors.
I also propose the reinstatement of Scottish Age Championships for Juniors for next year, with the 1 paid place for the euro's as incentive for the future winner of each section (assuming the grading floor has been met).
The point of the above is to produce children who are ready to play in the world/euro arena, armed with the training and knowledge to be successful on the world stage. When one of these children is successful in the world/euro's then it's all local papers and Chess Scotland beats the bushes for corporate sponsorship.
I'm not advocating elitism. If your child is not currently playing at the required level to represent Scotland in the euro/worlds, then you are in the same boat as Thousands of other parents in hundreds of other sports in Scotland. If your child subsequently receives a standardised advanced chess education and is still not currently playing at the required level to represent Scotland for their age group then as a parent then by all means feel free to fork out your own cash to send them to euros/worlds. You should also accept that your child can play for the love of the game, but may not have what it takes to reach the top of the tree in Scottish chess.
I'm not some sort of Scottish Nikolai Krylenko, and I am sure I'll have the same noticeboard equivalent of his fate.
I was a junior - and not a particularly good one!! many years ago back in the "dark" old days when we only had one chess organisation. I played in the under 18 Scottish Age Championships in Springburn!? (I didn't win it).
* - Edit - Apologies for the confusion., I've amended my post to remove SJC.