04-08-2012, 07:23 PM
Quote: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
I agree with this.
Having played against and witnessed the collosal strength of Slovak juniors (a country with the same population as Scotland) i think we need to establish high standards in order to be competative in some way at tournaments. Playing against a 9 year old with a playing strength of 1800 is one example, i had an opponent aged 15, who was collecting IM norms, with a rating of 2300+. The Slovak system is a pyramid one. Promising juniors were identified and given weekly coaching from a club players of around 2000 strength. Those who developed were "promoted" to equivalent of county level and given monthly coaching from a player of around 2200. The juniors who progressed from there were given quarterly coaching from a state sponsored GM. This gave a clear, competative, established route for juniors and the results were there to see. The thing was the examples given above were not rare but the norm (unintentional pun) for Slovak juniors.
I appreciate that we are light years behind many countries and that it is easy to criticise but by having open debate we may identify a way where we can catch up with Slovakia.