24-08-2014, 02:03 PM
Matthew Turner Wrote:Adam,
Well done for organising some training matches for yourself. Clearly that shows that initiatives are possible without Chess Scotland necessarily having to be involved. However, can you give us us some ideas on how Chess Scotland could best help aspiring players like yourself? Money is always going to be an issue so let's combine wishful thinking with a bit of realism and limit you to spending £1,000 per person.
Training matches are not free, but much much cheaper than an event, which is why I went for them. I maintain that in order to play at that sort of level, you need regular games at that level. It is why I like Graham's idea so much (sorry for the wrong spelling last post!). So I guess, how do you get regular FIDE games for aspiring players against good opposition is the question.
There is the obvious one of helping out with costs for big FIDE events. Of course if any player wants to play an event, they should have to contribute to it, so I would not suggest CS straight up pay for someone completely. Maybe CS could hire out a flat at wherever (which is always cheaper than hotels) maybe for two events during the summer and fill it with aspiring players. Flights and entry to be paid by the player. The Scottish is also a prime example of this, where helping with at least accommodation would be helpful. If you don't have your own place nearby, it ends up being as expensive as any other event. I don't mean that as a criticism, because there is not a lot can be done about it, it is just a fact. Now of course you could say, yes but with this one you support CS, but equally it should be a 2 way street.
I also wonder how many congresses would be able to maybe put a closed FIDE section in. Say a 6 player all-play-all. As much as I hate two games in a day, shoehorning FIDE games into weekenders seems to be one of the more realistic ways to get games. It really isn't important to make all FIDE events norm opportunities, because let's be honest, getting to FM first is more realistic. Of course titled players would need paid for this, but I am sure that aspiring players wouldn't mind an increased entry fee. After all, as I said earlier, it costs around £100 a game for 4ncl. However, finding titled players willing to put their rating at risk is difficult.
A lot of this is dependant on us finding this mythical money though. It is a very tricky one.
Of course, this is my opinion as a patzer on how things could be improved, and a lot is guesswork. As someone who actually knows what is needed to get good, what do you think needs doing Matt? What are the important things a federation needs to do to start generating more titled players?