13-06-2015, 10:22 PM
My objection to the changes is the central venue thing - Richardson is quite literally the only high level classical chess that I get to play in my hometown. Bon Accord would struggle to field a team if there were lots of long drives to Grangemouth, and would probably focus on working our way up in SNCL instead.
SNCL is very good but we don't need two team championships exactly the same, and if the Richardson tries to imitate the SNCL it's just going to be a pale imitation as SNCL is the more established event in this format, with less stringent rules regarding team composition (something that would be a lot less fundamental to change about the Richardson) and a proven track record.
Richardson is a great tournament. Bon Accord's first Richardson win in 2014 is something I will look back on as one of the happiest moments of my chess "career". I don't think we should be changing the tournament so fundamentally when it's great already, it's just got a decline in entry which is largely a symptom of the decline of club chess in Scotland, and I think that is where we need to focus our efforts.
SNCL is very good but we don't need two team championships exactly the same, and if the Richardson tries to imitate the SNCL it's just going to be a pale imitation as SNCL is the more established event in this format, with less stringent rules regarding team composition (something that would be a lot less fundamental to change about the Richardson) and a proven track record.
Richardson is a great tournament. Bon Accord's first Richardson win in 2014 is something I will look back on as one of the happiest moments of my chess "career". I don't think we should be changing the tournament so fundamentally when it's great already, it's just got a decline in entry which is largely a symptom of the decline of club chess in Scotland, and I think that is where we need to focus our efforts.