26-07-2013, 07:49 AM
In my experience Girls only events can work very well especially if combined with some coaching. However, I also believe that in order to be really good that girls need to compete with boys.
With David's idea I think you would have to ask three questions to start off with
1. Can we actually get 24 players?
2. If the events are free and you are providing serious coaching, what is the cost, is this good value for money for ChessScotland?
3. If the same girls keep playing each other, won't they be playing their friends a lot of the time. Might this lead to a lot of boring draws. I think this is a general problem, but it might be exacerbated with the format you have proposed. If the main aim in group 1 is to avoid the drop then 4 draws and a couple of losses might do the trick - London system here we come.
I think (initially) I would be looking for a more flexible format to gauge the interest, so perhaps a three day event to run alongside an existing congress and a one day rapidplay ditto. If might be possible to have regional 'semi-finals' leading up to a grand final, but again I would be a bit worried about getting sufficient numbers
With David's idea I think you would have to ask three questions to start off with
1. Can we actually get 24 players?
2. If the events are free and you are providing serious coaching, what is the cost, is this good value for money for ChessScotland?
3. If the same girls keep playing each other, won't they be playing their friends a lot of the time. Might this lead to a lot of boring draws. I think this is a general problem, but it might be exacerbated with the format you have proposed. If the main aim in group 1 is to avoid the drop then 4 draws and a couple of losses might do the trick - London system here we come.
I think (initially) I would be looking for a more flexible format to gauge the interest, so perhaps a three day event to run alongside an existing congress and a one day rapidplay ditto. If might be possible to have regional 'semi-finals' leading up to a grand final, but again I would be a bit worried about getting sufficient numbers