Appearance fees for our best players

[Derek Howie]

Derek,
I would not list names simply because that is not fair but I would not exclude Jonny from the list certainly on his first tournie, when he really struggled: which was a mixture of inexperience and not being strong enough to compete.

Mike, I'm sure he learned a lot in respect of prepaing for opponents etc that he may not have got elsewhere. He may have struggled but hopefully it helped him become a better player and more prepared for his next trip and was an important part of his chess development.

I simply look at the grading list and do not see where the players are who have benefited from the existing policy. Andy claims there are some players but has produced no evidence.

To be fair, neither side has produced evidence. I've certainly seen improvement in some players in my admittedly limited experience. How much of it would have happened anyway is impossible to say, but I firmly believe that the intensity of being focused on chess over the period must play a major part.

I am actually sure that there will be some players who are better players for the experience but that really is not the point.

I'd say that it is.

Have a look sown the lists of past participants and you will find quite a number for whom it was one of their last events and/or who have not significantly improved in strength since.

That may be the case in some instances, but grade in itself wouldn't prevent that happening. I'd have thought that kind of issue would be dealt with under the current selection procedure, reviewing whether someone shows the necessary activity and enthusiasm.

My experience of these events has been that yes a lot of chess is played but the training and practice was somewhat relaxed and ad hoc.

To me its about whether you are serious about it or not. Do you want players to just have an experience, or to be as good as they can be at chess?

In Greece last year, the coaching for the younger kids was fairly structured and intense. It wasn't so structured in Brazil due to the lack of a formal coach, but everyone certainly worked hard at their game.

I'd totally agree with your comment about whether you want to be serious or not about chess. These trips seem to me to be much more about the chess than the experience, although the "experience" is also a postive thing if it helps their development as youths, and can give them an even greater enthusiasm for the game.