10-09-2014, 07:04 PM
As I said previously, I am happy for this thread to be moved to somewhere considered more appropriate.
I was looking over the final entries today for the World Youth 2014 in Durban, South Africa which begins on the 18th of September...
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.chess-results.com/tnr144241.aspx?lan=1&art=27&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984">http://www.chess-results.com/tnr144241. ... =30&wi=984</a><!-- m -->
I noticed that the total entries and average entries per country were markedly down on previous events...
Year, Location, Competitors, Countries, average number of competitors per country
2014 Durban, South Africa 995 91 11
2013 Al-Ain, UAE 1818 122 15
2012 Maribor, Slovenia 1584 91 17
2011 Caldas Novas, Brazil 1120 80 14
2010 Porto Carras, Greece 1387 87 16
I was initially thinking that the reduction in competitors had a direct link with the new Fide guidelines regarding "qualified Fide trainers (FT)".
However, when I started looking closer at this year's event in Durban I found that there were plenty of alternative reasons that may have contributed to a reduction in entries.
1/ The organisers failed to publish regulations within Fide's agreed timescale (ie six months before the event) which led to serious doubts if the event was actually going to take place.
2/ When the regulations were eventually published, the cost of accommodation for persons without a funded place were close to double that of any previous event.
3/ The cost of flights were always going to be an issue but the delay in the organisers publishing of the regulations exacerbated this.
4/ The organising committee appeared to change fairly regularly which may have caused confusion in who you were dealing with.
5/ The worrying Ebola medical situation may have had some impact on numbers. South Africa is not directly affected but competitors may have been travelling from or through ones that are.
6/ The Euroyouth event is in October which may have affected European entries.
The number of competitors is considerably down on previous events, no doubt about that. I am sure that the Fide guidelines regarding FT representation may have had an affect on that but I feel it's frankly impossible to say for certain.
I was looking over the final entries today for the World Youth 2014 in Durban, South Africa which begins on the 18th of September...
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.chess-results.com/tnr144241.aspx?lan=1&art=27&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984">http://www.chess-results.com/tnr144241. ... =30&wi=984</a><!-- m -->
I noticed that the total entries and average entries per country were markedly down on previous events...
Year, Location, Competitors, Countries, average number of competitors per country
2014 Durban, South Africa 995 91 11
2013 Al-Ain, UAE 1818 122 15
2012 Maribor, Slovenia 1584 91 17
2011 Caldas Novas, Brazil 1120 80 14
2010 Porto Carras, Greece 1387 87 16
I was initially thinking that the reduction in competitors had a direct link with the new Fide guidelines regarding "qualified Fide trainers (FT)".
However, when I started looking closer at this year's event in Durban I found that there were plenty of alternative reasons that may have contributed to a reduction in entries.
1/ The organisers failed to publish regulations within Fide's agreed timescale (ie six months before the event) which led to serious doubts if the event was actually going to take place.
2/ When the regulations were eventually published, the cost of accommodation for persons without a funded place were close to double that of any previous event.
3/ The cost of flights were always going to be an issue but the delay in the organisers publishing of the regulations exacerbated this.
4/ The organising committee appeared to change fairly regularly which may have caused confusion in who you were dealing with.
5/ The worrying Ebola medical situation may have had some impact on numbers. South Africa is not directly affected but competitors may have been travelling from or through ones that are.
6/ The Euroyouth event is in October which may have affected European entries.
The number of competitors is considerably down on previous events, no doubt about that. I am sure that the Fide guidelines regarding FT representation may have had an affect on that but I feel it's frankly impossible to say for certain.