27-04-2016, 08:54 AM
Here are a few wee facts to chew over:
- There are 79 players on the Chess Scotland grading list over 2000 who have played at least 1 game thus far this season (wherever they are based in the world) - 13 of the 79 have played fewer than 5 games though.
- There used to be a time when you had to have a grading over 2000 just to get into the top 100 rated players in Scotland. So the pool of 2000 plus grading players has shrunk over the years.
- One club has 13 of the 79 active players over 2000 grading.
As for this season's Richardson Cup:
- 29 out of the 48 players in the 3 games played in the quarter finals were graded above 2000. The game which defaulted would have increased this to around 50% of the active players graded above 2000.
- 18 out of the 32 players in the two semi finals were graded above 2000.
- 13 out of the 16 players in the final were graded above 2000.
The above tells me a few things:
- The Richardson is already attracting a large proportion of the stronger players in the country. More than any other competition perhaps? (9 out of the 32 2000 plus graded players playing in last summer's Scottish Championship were from abroad = 23 out of the 2000 plus Scottish graded players played and no one is calling that tournament a "failure").
- To be successful in this knock out competition you require very strong team from boards 1 to 8.
In my mind the second point here is one which may be putting off more teams entering the Richardson.
Perhaps the Spens should be decoupled from the Richardson rules and consider the following:
- A grading cap (either for the team as a whole or the maximum graded player which can play) or some form of handicap system to attract more teams. There is a handicap system in place for the Summer Cup in the Edinburgh league which attracted 15 teams from 11 clubs last year and has a plate competition for teams knocked out in the first round.
- Consider the time controls and days the games could take place (evening games in the early rounds using different time controls which could increase participation).
- Regionalise the early rounds if that helps with travel arrangements.
- There are 79 players on the Chess Scotland grading list over 2000 who have played at least 1 game thus far this season (wherever they are based in the world) - 13 of the 79 have played fewer than 5 games though.
- There used to be a time when you had to have a grading over 2000 just to get into the top 100 rated players in Scotland. So the pool of 2000 plus grading players has shrunk over the years.
- One club has 13 of the 79 active players over 2000 grading.
As for this season's Richardson Cup:
- 29 out of the 48 players in the 3 games played in the quarter finals were graded above 2000. The game which defaulted would have increased this to around 50% of the active players graded above 2000.
- 18 out of the 32 players in the two semi finals were graded above 2000.
- 13 out of the 16 players in the final were graded above 2000.
The above tells me a few things:
- The Richardson is already attracting a large proportion of the stronger players in the country. More than any other competition perhaps? (9 out of the 32 2000 plus graded players playing in last summer's Scottish Championship were from abroad = 23 out of the 2000 plus Scottish graded players played and no one is calling that tournament a "failure").
- To be successful in this knock out competition you require very strong team from boards 1 to 8.
In my mind the second point here is one which may be putting off more teams entering the Richardson.
Perhaps the Spens should be decoupled from the Richardson rules and consider the following:
- A grading cap (either for the team as a whole or the maximum graded player which can play) or some form of handicap system to attract more teams. There is a handicap system in place for the Summer Cup in the Edinburgh league which attracted 15 teams from 11 clubs last year and has a plate competition for teams knocked out in the first round.
- Consider the time controls and days the games could take place (evening games in the early rounds using different time controls which could increase participation).
- Regionalise the early rounds if that helps with travel arrangements.
John Watkins