09-08-2014, 09:52 PM
Hope I am picking up the right vibes here.
The Liverpool Quadrangular (late Nov / early Dec normally) is the next important British Isles event on our junior chess calendar. It's almost certainly too late to consider changing the format for this year but It's worth having a look at future years.
The basics of the event...
1/ It brings together (at present) our best available u12 ( team of ten), best U14 (team of ten) and U16 (team of six) against Wales and two large English regions.
2/ We mostly travel together there and back on a private bus hire starting from Dundee with various pick ups.
3/ We tend to stay at different locations each year in the event area. One year it might be a youth hostel, the next it might be a small hotel, next it might be a travelodge/premier inn etc.
It's a great team building/ fun event that CS have recently been trying to increase quality/number of coaching support to.
I like the U12 and U14 sections.
I don't like the U16 section at it encroaches into the Scottish school prelim exam time (school exams come first and always will !!!). We have really struggled in the recent past with this section as the organisers (through no fault of their own) have had to move the event a week here and there to suit availability at the Liverpool college location.
If we requested to change the format slightly to drop the six person U16 team in favour of a six person U10 side, I feel this could be beneficial to ourselves and Wales certainly and probably to a slightly lesser extent the English regions. It may mean a few more parents attending but player numbers will remain the same.
The timing of the event in this format would be helpful, I feel, to selectors looking at national and international events in the months to come.
Most importantly, it would give some younger players an opportunity of international selection and experience (with coaching support) before the real toughies of the Glorney and overseas events appear on the scene.
The Liverpool Quadrangular (late Nov / early Dec normally) is the next important British Isles event on our junior chess calendar. It's almost certainly too late to consider changing the format for this year but It's worth having a look at future years.
The basics of the event...
1/ It brings together (at present) our best available u12 ( team of ten), best U14 (team of ten) and U16 (team of six) against Wales and two large English regions.
2/ We mostly travel together there and back on a private bus hire starting from Dundee with various pick ups.
3/ We tend to stay at different locations each year in the event area. One year it might be a youth hostel, the next it might be a small hotel, next it might be a travelodge/premier inn etc.
It's a great team building/ fun event that CS have recently been trying to increase quality/number of coaching support to.
I like the U12 and U14 sections.
I don't like the U16 section at it encroaches into the Scottish school prelim exam time (school exams come first and always will !!!). We have really struggled in the recent past with this section as the organisers (through no fault of their own) have had to move the event a week here and there to suit availability at the Liverpool college location.
If we requested to change the format slightly to drop the six person U16 team in favour of a six person U10 side, I feel this could be beneficial to ourselves and Wales certainly and probably to a slightly lesser extent the English regions. It may mean a few more parents attending but player numbers will remain the same.
The timing of the event in this format would be helpful, I feel, to selectors looking at national and international events in the months to come.
Most importantly, it would give some younger players an opportunity of international selection and experience (with coaching support) before the real toughies of the Glorney and overseas events appear on the scene.