08-01-2014, 04:50 PM
amuir Wrote:Keti wishes to play in the Women's team as it fits best with her preparation for the Women's World Championship in October. She would like to play all 11 rounds.
In line with this I shall be asking the AGM if we can afford to send two captains - perhaps myself for the Open team and her husband Jonathan for the Women's team. This will reduce funding available for GM appearance fees though. Members can have a say, eg what do members want to spend their money on and how much ? I hope there will be time under AOCB for this discussion.
Doubtless having Keti on board 1, and its knock-on effect on the lower boards, will enable us to win more matches, but I guess a few things spring to mind...
a) we could end up with much more of a yo-yo effect (we win more easily against weaker teams but still struggle badly against very strong teams)
b) Keti will likely play 2400/2500 one round, then possibly unrated/sub-2000 next round.
I would have thought (personally) better preparation would have been 7 or 8 games against 2400-2600 opposition in the Open tournament - more reflective of what she will face in the women's world championship (although it may be a knock-out format again, I haven't checked yet). Also, playing 11 days consecutively isn't easy against ANY level of opposition.
c) are the reserves intended as travelling reserves or just in case of drop-outs prior to the Olympiad?
Regarding the Open team/captains...is there anything positive/negative from the European Teams in Warsaw which could, or need, be taken into account for these Tromso Olympiad team decisions??