At the moment someone who was not born in Scotland and who has never lived in Scotland but has a Scottish grandparent is ineligible to play for Scotland. This rule is likely to be reviewed at the council meeting or AGM in January. If it is changed then Matthew Turner will be immediately eligible to represent Scotland. To help me decide on this as a selector, I want people to email me with an answer to the following question by January 11 (a separate vote is being held among the 2300+ players).
Q Do you think that Matthew Turner should be considered for selection for the 2014 Olympiad ? Answer YES or NO
amuir Wrote:If it is changed then Matthew Turner will be immediately eligible to represent Scotland.
Andy (or Matthew)
Has Matthew indicated that he is interested in representing Scotland and available for Olympiad selection?
Matthew in an email sent in 2006 wanted to be considered but wanted support. This is why I am gauging support. Total votes will be presented to committees on Jan 11th
Shouldn’t the question be about what the rule should be? Seems a shame to put the burden of personally pleasing the noble Scottish chess citizenry on poor Mathew.
What about
“Does Mathew go up to the bar more often than that Andy Muir?”
:-)
Andy,
Are you (or is someone else) putting forward a proposal for a rule change at the AGM?
If so, it would be interesting to know why (other than a 7-year old e-mail!) before 'voting' one way or the other.
Also, why would such a rule change have to have 'immediate' effect? There may be reasons why that isn't practical/fair.
Andy- Others are proposing the grandparent rule not me. My job is just to select the Olympiad team so I am concentrating on that. I am pre-empting any discussions on Jan 11 by having some statistics available so members can make informed decisions. No individuals will be mentioned - just the total votes cast for each option.
If you're going to change the rules then I suggest you need to check rules for UK citizenship. One UK grandparent does not seem to qualify people for a UK passport. Last time I looked, FIDE threatened a substantial fine for any country caught fielding a player (in a team event) who did not have either citizenship or a permanent residence visa for the country in question. By FIDE's rules, Turner is OK - but what about a the many kiwis who have a Scottish grandparent? Are they all suddenly to be declared OK to change registration to SCO and play for SCO, even though they have no right to live there?
What is the F.I.D.E position on this issue?
It could perhaps be argued that Matthew is using the Scottish team as a "back door entry" to the Olympiad. Perhaps being not quite good enough to gain selection for the England team. I am in no way suggesting that this is the case.It may well be that he feels that his ancestral roots are Scottish and given the choice he would always play for Scotland. Who would he support in a England/Scotland football match for example?
This is a very tricky issue and it is very wise to debate it.
Does Andrew Muir have difficulty raising a team for these events?
My own personal opinion would be that it would be acceptable to play someone in Matthew's position on a substitute basis when Mr Muir was having difficulty getting a team together. However, I imagine that there would always be someone willing to play in such an important event.
Just out of curiosity, do players pay their own expenses or is this paid by Chess Scotland?
George Thomson Wrote:Who would he support in a England/Scotland football match for example?
This is irrelevant. I supported England against Scotland in the summer, yet I'm allowed to represent Scotland.
I agree that this should be debated, though.