14-09-2016, 10:50 PM
I had been hoping that our Olympiad teams would be given a chance to at least return from Baku in peace before discussions such as we have seen, but it wasn’t to be.
Before I share my own thoughts and views on how we can improve matters, and I do think we can and should improve our approach - I’d like to point out that I was happy with the final results of our teams.
The men performed at about the expected level in the Open section, with Andrew Greet proving he is capable of greater heights. Could we have done better? Of course – things can always be improved, and that will be the focus going forward.
The women played very well overall, facing many stronger teams and achieving some excellent team and individual results. Everyone got on well, there was good team spirit and plenty of hard work being done both on and off the board.
My own role, as captain of both teams for half of the event, hopefully helped everyone to focus almost exclusively on their chess – but it was far from an ideal situation compared to that of other nations.
Ok, onto the here and now and future…none of which is directly related to our recent Baku trip or those who represented us there! Nevertheless, the results over the past many years have seen us pretty much stand still in world and European terms, and there is much to be learned from those who have found ways to advance chess at the highest level in their countries.
I am going to qualify all my further thoughts by stating that we are an amateur chess nation comprised of more than 99% amateur players! This does not mean, however, that we should be content with a purely amateur approach in everything we do.
Time, money and quality of training/resources can be viewed in a professional way – even if those participating are not full-time professionals. There are numerous ways we can develop a more professional approach within an amateur framework, and utilise resources which are available or can be made available with a little work.
-Goals
Alan Tate questioned what our goals as a team actually are, and it’s not such a simple question to answer.
Possible goals are:
-to finish above seeding
-to enable players to achieve norms
-to ensure continued representation of Scotland within FIDE as a separate entity
-to introduce up-and-coming players to high level international team chess
-and no doubt there are many others slipping my mind at this moment.
-Selection process
To my mind, the criteria and approaches adopted up until now need to be changed. It should be an honour to represent your country and should not be given away lightly, despite our limited resources with regard to players/funds/etc.
My suggestions are as follows:-
-the cut-off date for selection will be June 30th each year
-4 players will be chosen by the selectors based on the following criteria:
-minimum 15 FIDE-rated games played during the preceding 6 months to ensure reasonable ‘match-fitness’ when it comes to the big team tournaments.
-FIDE rating
-the usual qualifying criteria re: nationality/FIDE code/etc
The 5th spot will be reserved for the Scottish champion in July each year (European teams one year/Olympiad the following, and so on) or the highest-placed Scot not already selected, subject to a minimum 2300 rating at the time of selection/qualification (for men) and 1600 (for women)
-Pre-event training
Once selected, players must commit to a pre-event training weekend – preferably to be arranged 1 week before the event, which will include morning seminars from FIDE trainers focused on preparation and then a match against a) our top juniors (to replicate playing weaker teams we might face) and b) an invited squad (for example Ireland) to replicate playing a team roughly our own strength.
-Captains/tournament coaches
As most serious teams have captains/coaches (often separate people!) we should endeavour to send one person for each team (Open/women’s sections) to aid the team by not only taking care of all the bureaucracy/registrations/accreditation involved, but also to help with opening preparation. As such the player should be of a standard/standing that they can actually help. (In Baku, for example, I could do little to help the men in the Open section as I am not strong enough as a player or trainer)
-Funding
I will be looking to secure funding for the travel/pre-tournament training event/Scotland ‘kit’ (! We should really try to LOOK like a team if possible during play – CS logos on polo shirts for example)
The current use of the adult budget for such things as travel expenses to Olympiads precludes funding for almost any other adult-focused activities throughout the year. Helping players to play internationally and gain experience/norms is hugely important in developing stronger players and I feel that a decent chunk of the adult budget should be spent on this.
Ok, these are just my brief thoughts on things – and will no doubt be added to, argued about, refined, changed, whatever. I will be e-mailing all prospective players/captains/interested parties about these maters over the next couple of months with a view to effecting whatever changes are deemed necessary and useful at the start of January 2017.
Feel free to comment , discuss and argue about these ideas on the forum -and you can also contact me directly on abburnett (at) hotmail.com
All the best,
Andy Burnett
(CS International Director)
Before I share my own thoughts and views on how we can improve matters, and I do think we can and should improve our approach - I’d like to point out that I was happy with the final results of our teams.
The men performed at about the expected level in the Open section, with Andrew Greet proving he is capable of greater heights. Could we have done better? Of course – things can always be improved, and that will be the focus going forward.
The women played very well overall, facing many stronger teams and achieving some excellent team and individual results. Everyone got on well, there was good team spirit and plenty of hard work being done both on and off the board.
My own role, as captain of both teams for half of the event, hopefully helped everyone to focus almost exclusively on their chess – but it was far from an ideal situation compared to that of other nations.
Ok, onto the here and now and future…none of which is directly related to our recent Baku trip or those who represented us there! Nevertheless, the results over the past many years have seen us pretty much stand still in world and European terms, and there is much to be learned from those who have found ways to advance chess at the highest level in their countries.
I am going to qualify all my further thoughts by stating that we are an amateur chess nation comprised of more than 99% amateur players! This does not mean, however, that we should be content with a purely amateur approach in everything we do.
Time, money and quality of training/resources can be viewed in a professional way – even if those participating are not full-time professionals. There are numerous ways we can develop a more professional approach within an amateur framework, and utilise resources which are available or can be made available with a little work.
-Goals
Alan Tate questioned what our goals as a team actually are, and it’s not such a simple question to answer.
Possible goals are:
-to finish above seeding
-to enable players to achieve norms
-to ensure continued representation of Scotland within FIDE as a separate entity
-to introduce up-and-coming players to high level international team chess
-and no doubt there are many others slipping my mind at this moment.
-Selection process
To my mind, the criteria and approaches adopted up until now need to be changed. It should be an honour to represent your country and should not be given away lightly, despite our limited resources with regard to players/funds/etc.
My suggestions are as follows:-
-the cut-off date for selection will be June 30th each year
-4 players will be chosen by the selectors based on the following criteria:
-minimum 15 FIDE-rated games played during the preceding 6 months to ensure reasonable ‘match-fitness’ when it comes to the big team tournaments.
-FIDE rating
-the usual qualifying criteria re: nationality/FIDE code/etc
The 5th spot will be reserved for the Scottish champion in July each year (European teams one year/Olympiad the following, and so on) or the highest-placed Scot not already selected, subject to a minimum 2300 rating at the time of selection/qualification (for men) and 1600 (for women)
-Pre-event training
Once selected, players must commit to a pre-event training weekend – preferably to be arranged 1 week before the event, which will include morning seminars from FIDE trainers focused on preparation and then a match against a) our top juniors (to replicate playing weaker teams we might face) and b) an invited squad (for example Ireland) to replicate playing a team roughly our own strength.
-Captains/tournament coaches
As most serious teams have captains/coaches (often separate people!) we should endeavour to send one person for each team (Open/women’s sections) to aid the team by not only taking care of all the bureaucracy/registrations/accreditation involved, but also to help with opening preparation. As such the player should be of a standard/standing that they can actually help. (In Baku, for example, I could do little to help the men in the Open section as I am not strong enough as a player or trainer)
-Funding
I will be looking to secure funding for the travel/pre-tournament training event/Scotland ‘kit’ (! We should really try to LOOK like a team if possible during play – CS logos on polo shirts for example)
The current use of the adult budget for such things as travel expenses to Olympiads precludes funding for almost any other adult-focused activities throughout the year. Helping players to play internationally and gain experience/norms is hugely important in developing stronger players and I feel that a decent chunk of the adult budget should be spent on this.
Ok, these are just my brief thoughts on things – and will no doubt be added to, argued about, refined, changed, whatever. I will be e-mailing all prospective players/captains/interested parties about these maters over the next couple of months with a view to effecting whatever changes are deemed necessary and useful at the start of January 2017.
Feel free to comment , discuss and argue about these ideas on the forum -and you can also contact me directly on abburnett (at) hotmail.com
All the best,
Andy Burnett
(CS International Director)