25-08-2014, 10:50 AM
Adam,
Scotland has a number of aspiring players in their 20's around the 2200 mark. They might become IMs and it would be nice if they did. I agree with You that the key is getting them regular games against stronger opposition.
I think Chess Scotland can help in a number of ways and in fact this doesn't need to, and shouldn't, cost a lot of money. Some things which might help
1. Searching out invites and making sure they are passed on
2. Helping with setting up a group (either physical or online) to enable the players to work together
3. I really like Graham's idea about training matches
4. Suggesting foreign events and helping with accommodation - for example there may be Scottish players living abroad who could help
However, in order to radically take the Scottish (Olympiad) team forward we need 2600's and realistically that is very unlikely to come from the current crop of twenty-somethings. The twenty-somethings are important, because they are very keen and they can be the next generation of coaches, officials, organisers, perhaps even sponsors.
However, we want to be focussing our real attention on the twelve, thirteen, fourteen year olds. Select a small group of players perhaps 6, 8 or 10 and get them used to playing 2200+ players at an early stage. Find good tournaments to coincide with School holidays and send a group along with one of the twenty somethings to provide coaching support. This shouldn't cost a lot in comparison to World and European Championships, so it needn't cost Chess Scotland a lot.
The youth group can be developed in lot of ways. For example perhaps they should take it in turns to write a pamphlet for the rest of the group with games they have annotated or studies they've found.
Scotland has a number of aspiring players in their 20's around the 2200 mark. They might become IMs and it would be nice if they did. I agree with You that the key is getting them regular games against stronger opposition.
I think Chess Scotland can help in a number of ways and in fact this doesn't need to, and shouldn't, cost a lot of money. Some things which might help
1. Searching out invites and making sure they are passed on
2. Helping with setting up a group (either physical or online) to enable the players to work together
3. I really like Graham's idea about training matches
4. Suggesting foreign events and helping with accommodation - for example there may be Scottish players living abroad who could help
However, in order to radically take the Scottish (Olympiad) team forward we need 2600's and realistically that is very unlikely to come from the current crop of twenty-somethings. The twenty-somethings are important, because they are very keen and they can be the next generation of coaches, officials, organisers, perhaps even sponsors.
However, we want to be focussing our real attention on the twelve, thirteen, fourteen year olds. Select a small group of players perhaps 6, 8 or 10 and get them used to playing 2200+ players at an early stage. Find good tournaments to coincide with School holidays and send a group along with one of the twenty somethings to provide coaching support. This shouldn't cost a lot in comparison to World and European Championships, so it needn't cost Chess Scotland a lot.
The youth group can be developed in lot of ways. For example perhaps they should take it in turns to write a pamphlet for the rest of the group with games they have annotated or studies they've found.