(19-07-2019, 08:13 AM)David Deary Wrote: Are the criteria for eligibility to represent Scotland internationally and to be Scottish Champion one and the same?
I’m not convinced they are, if they were, they would be in the same place on the website. Admittedly, navigating the website is not the easiest at the best of times!
Is the criteria for Scottish Champion within the gift of the Championship Organisers? If so, from the entry form if you have the SCO FIDE designation you were eligible? I suspect (without any knowledge) this is the premise that is being examined by the independent panel.
I think your questions are at the root of the matter David (some discussed already in post 31, also 16 and 23).
From the entry form pdf, which is still there on the Championships link:
"Is the criteria for Scottish Champion within the gift of the Championship Organisers?"
I think it's not; It's never been the case before.
"Titles will only be awarded to those satisfying Scottish nationality(SCO)who are also members of Chess Scotland;"
http://www.scottishchesschamp.co.uk./documents/entryForm19b.pdf
Your point:
"If so, from the entry form if you have the SCO FIDE designation you were eligible?"
I don't think this can have been the intention, as the presence of the '(SCO)' is necessary, in line with the 2016 motion (eg see Craig Pritchett's post on this page) which was specifically to stop people who are registered to play for another federation from winning the Scottish title, as they could still meet one of the nationality criteria.
One would have to assume that is why the '(SCO)' is there - otherwise that anomaly would not have been corrected.
So it being there for one clear purpose I don't think another purpose can be inferred.
Also, this would mean that the organizer of one tournament has not just the 'gift' of the Championship but the power to change the rules on nationality!
I understand that Alex wrongly believed that Matthew was eligible anyway; so he may have thought it didn't make any difference in practice.
The main reason for this belief was the 2011 AGM when Matthew was given the SCO code. It was wrongly believed (with some morphing of the memory, I presume!?) that the membership had at some point accepted Matthew as being eligible at an AGM. In fact the AGM just conferred the SCO code needed for FIDE admin purposes. It is clear from discussions (especially before the 2014 Olympiad) that some in management aimed to make Matthew eligible later by the Grandparent criterion. This was a second strand to Alex's mistaken belief in Matthew's eligibility-he thought the Grandparent criterion had existed at some point where Matthew was made eligible for selection. In fact this Grandparent criterion attempt failed two votes - one vote at the 2014 Council meeting and also when I proposed it at the 2015 AGM.
(The 2011 vote was an AOCB item, so wasn't put to the membership anyway, may not even have been competent - but I think most chess players would accept that the admin is the administrators' business!)
When it was queried, I think Alex should have asked some players and not just senior management. Half an hour before the prizegiving must be quite stressful though. One lesson is that eligibility questions need careful thought and should not be left to one person who has a lot of other duties! It hasn't helped that the eligibility criteria have become almost invisible.
Hope helpful.
Cheers