22-12-2011, 10:38 AM
Who are all these kids who are playing at the Euros and the Worlds that need weeded out by grading floors?
Playing in a weekend congress where you play 2 games a day and don't have any opportunity to prep for your opponent is totally different from playing at the Euros or the Worlds.
There is then still the issue about coaching support, If it's limited for the Euros and Worlds then it's presumably non-existant for other tournaments.
Yes, Mureck could be different as it takes place in the summer holidays and this year the squad were lucky to have Phil as HoD and coach, but being stuck in a small guest house with no internet access and miles from the nearest shop is possibly not the best environment to have a successful tournament.
Alex McFarlane Wrote:Without knocking the overall benefits of playing in something like the world junior - and such an event should certainly be the target for all up and coming juniors, most of our junior players (in purely chess terms) would gain more from playing in the Open or Major of a couple of weekend congresses with the services of a coach at the event to help with post mortems.But surely that happens anyway. Most play weekend congresses. Most have a coach to review their games subsequently.
A bit of work between events on the errors made would provide dividends.
Playing in a weekend congress where you play 2 games a day and don't have any opportunity to prep for your opponent is totally different from playing at the Euros or the Worlds.
Mike Scott Wrote:I have already said that there should be other events that could be used as alternatives, that would be more appropriate level, and which would almost certainly be cheaper to attend - allowing players to play in them more frequently. For example there are regular events held in Budapest (First Saturday). Indeed there has been some move already in this direction with Murak (?) and the sending of the U16 team to the Olympiad.On the other events, part of the problem is timing. Parents may be willing to take their kids from school (and schools may authorise absence) for the Euros or Worlds but not if it is some "random" tournament in Europe.
There is then still the issue about coaching support, If it's limited for the Euros and Worlds then it's presumably non-existant for other tournaments.
Yes, Mureck could be different as it takes place in the summer holidays and this year the squad were lucky to have Phil as HoD and coach, but being stuck in a small guest house with no internet access and miles from the nearest shop is possibly not the best environment to have a successful tournament.