Tromso Olympiad 2014

[andyburnett]

I notice on the main page that the Women's team has been announced with Keti on top board. Interesting decision.

[amuir]

Keti wishes to play in the Women's team as it fits best with her preparation for the Women's World Championship in October. She would like to play all 11 rounds.
In line with this I shall be asking the AGM if we can afford to send two captains - perhaps myself for the Open team and her husband Jonathan for the Women's team. This will reduce funding available for GM appearance fees though. Members can have a say, eg what do members want to spend their money on and how much ? I hope there will be time under AOCB for this discussion.

[andyburnett]

Keti wishes to play in the Women's team as it fits best with her preparation for the Women's World Championship in October. She would like to play all 11 rounds.
In line with this I shall be asking the AGM if we can afford to send two captains - perhaps myself for the Open team and her husband Jonathan for the Women's team. This will reduce funding available for GM appearance fees though. Members can have a say, eg what do members want to spend their money on and how much ? I hope there will be time under AOCB for this discussion.

Doubtless having Keti on board 1, and its knock-on effect on the lower boards, will enable us to win more matches, but I guess a few things spring to mind...

a) we could end up with much more of a yo-yo effect (we win more easily against weaker teams but still struggle badly against very strong teams)

b) Keti will likely play 2400/2500 one round, then possibly unrated/sub-2000 next round.

I would have thought (personally) better preparation would have been 7 or 8 games against 2400-2600 opposition in the Open tournament - more reflective of what she will face in the women's world championship (although it may be a knock-out format again, I haven't checked yet). Also, playing 11 days consecutively isn't easy against ANY level of opposition.

c) are the reserves intended as travelling reserves or just in case of drop-outs prior to the Olympiad?

Regarding the Open team/captains...is there anything positive/negative from the European Teams in Warsaw which could, or need, be taken into account for these Tromso Olympiad team decisions??

[amuir]

Andy - playing for your country is more rewarding than playing in the Open. Also CS would not fund this. If Keti wants a day off, she can ask. Only 5 women players travel. We performed above par in Warsaw. Jonathan and I added to our experience and we hope both teams do very well in Tromso. A couple more months for the Open candidates to get good results before that team is chosen too. With Paul Motwani and Keti not playing there are spaces available.

[andyburnett]

Andy - playing for your country is more rewarding than playing in the Open. Also CS would not fund this. If Keti wants a day off, she can ask. Only 5 women players travel. We performed above par in Warsaw. Jonathan and I added to our experience and we hope both teams do very well in Tromso. A couple more months for the Open candidates to get good results before that team is chosen too. With Paul Motwani and Keti not playing there are spaces available.

Maybe one or both of us have misunderstood something Andy!

I meant Keti playing in the Olympiad OPEN team, representing Scotland, not some random 'open' tournament! I believe they stopped calling it the 'men's' Olympiad a long time ago.

[amuir]

Andy
Yes a mix-up. This time round Keti prefers Women's team Board 1 to Open team unknown board.

[Alan Jelfs]

I notice on the main page that the Women's team has been announced with Keti on top board. Interesting decision.

A good decision, I reckon - I think the Women's team could now finish higher in their competition than the Open team do in theirs.
And obviously replacing Keti with a 2350-ish player in the Open team has less effect than having to replace her with a 1900-ish player in the Women's team. No offence to 1900-ish players - I am one myself.

[amuir]

Council voted to retain current grandparent rule by 6 votes to 5 so Matthew Turner is still ineligible to play for Scotland. The noticeboard vote was 4-4 and the 2300+ vote was 4-4 too after a late email. I wasn't permitted an AGM vote. Couldn't have been closer.

David Congalton has given me a tight budget and depending on airfare prices this might be the first Olympiad for a long while where 100% travel costs are not met. I am expecting organisers to charge transit fees of 100 euro per person and team entry fees of 540 euros and training fees of 100 euros. There was little AGM support for GM appearance fees.

[andyburnett]

A few questions if I may...

-When will the final line-up for Scotland's Olympiad teams/managers be decided?

-Has anyone recently attempted to secure private sponsorship for such events?
I was reading on the ECForum that 'rumoured' appearance fees for Adams and Short were in the region of £5000 and for lower boards about £1500-2000! This apparently does not include 'expenses' and may or may not have come entirely or partly from the ECFederation's budget.

-I noticed IM Andrew Greet changed federation last year (at a cost of 2000 Euros) from England to Scotland. When does he become eligible for selection to represent Scotland in events such as the Olympiad/Euros?

-Does anyone have constructive ideas for how we can bring through the 'next generation' to International level?

Thanks in advance,
Andy Burnett

[IMarks]

I noticed IM Andrew Greet changed federation last year (at a cost of 2000 Euros) from England to Scotland. When does he become eligible for selection to represent Scotland in events such as the Olympiad/Euros?

When Jacob became affiliated to SCO, he was eligible to play for us. Now that Andrew has changed to SCO, he'll be eligible. Matthew has been affiliated to SCO for some time now, but isn't eligible. I've just re-read the CS Adult Selection Policy and can't see any reason why he should be excluded. The FIDE Handbook, section 04 on Registration, Transfer & Rules of Eligibility for Player, says '1.1 A player may be registered under a Federation if he or she has citizenship, naturalization or residency in the country of that Federation'. As a UK citizen, Matthew can opt for 'Scottish' as his citizenship, so no infringement or impediment there. Voting and polls apart, what's the criterion for not selecting him? What am I missing?