Glorney 2013

[Patrick McGovern]

Patrick, Andy B, Alex

If you can't make AGM, care to discuss this by phone rather than the noticeboard/email ?

suggests some kind of wish to seek reconciliation, yet

"Andrew M wasn't available for Glorney"
Why not?
Can anyone enlighten me with the reasons for all the top players not playing ? eg player x, reason y
I coached the Glorney team when it was in Scotland but it is demoralising when they refuse to play in future years. They should be playing for the team, not themselves.
I played for Scotland five years running 1973-1977 and I wouldn't have thought to play an International Open instead.
McClement Andrew, Murdochy Shivan, Scott Jonathan, Roy Ali, Espinosa Cancino Miguel
Abdulla Murad, McDonald Ian are the ratings favourites.
Was anyone bullied into playing in Andorra ?
Apologise for paucity of information but the IJD should answer some basic questions.

suggests the opposite.

Andy to use loaded words such as bullying will keep the negativity going.

I think you are being economical with the truth Andy when you ask about being enlightened about top players not playing,,, to quote you in an earlier post on this topic

"Michael Hanley states the following:

"Hi Andy, can you please change your post, that Hamilton players withdrawn because of political situation, it is not accurate.Andrew McCusker has quit chess, Stuart Wynne is playing volleyball this summer in an international event.Michael Doyle and Craig Gillies are playing, do not know of any other Hamilton player selected.Michael."
amuir
Mikhail Botvinnik

Posts: 256
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2011 8:25 am
"

[JRedpath]

None of the 19 Scots in Andorra were under 18, so why ask if anyone was bullied into it?

Very pleased to hear you say individuals should play for the team and not themselves.

Only one, repeat one, Scot taking part in the British Championship, and I think there is a similar number in the Major Open. In fact Torquay is nearly a Scot free zone. Why?

£225!! entry fee might have something to do with it. :\

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi,

So next year we are going to put out the strongest teams this event has ever seen.

Er...No...We have the squad for next year.
It should be (age permitting) the exact same team we sent to Cardiff.

They stepped up the plate in 2013 and should be rewarded with a second chance.
I cannot think of anything more motivating then telling this entire squad they are selected for next year.

By all accounts the team spirit was there and don't tell me they are not hurting just a wee bit.
They are 6 games better than what they were before they went there.
The kids will be up for it.

The minor flaws as I pointed out with Lauren can easily be ironed out and we have some very good
players posting in this thread who by the very act of posting have shown an interest.
So you lot be ready with your best lectures and piece of advice you will be called upon.

Winning all four sections would be great, and it could be done.
(Or am I the only one actually looking at the games.) Some just need a wee leg up that's all.
The Daniel Dreary's etc etc of the squad are spot on.
(smashing swindle D.D. v that English lad Gordon Scott. You have hackers luck, use it.)

Right I'm off to do my bit.

I will set up false ID's in the English, Welsh and Irish forums and keep telling them all year round
how cold and expensive Stirling is. (We know it's not but they don't.)
Round about Februay/March 2014 I'll tell them that the place is haunted and children are going missing.

That should guarentee weaker squads.
Infact they will only send up the unwanted and the curious.

[Patrick McGovern]

thank you Geoff for bringing some levity to the matter

[Alan Tate]

If, however, you have a 'medical' explanation for your behaviour (e.g. Aspergers or some other Autistic Spectrum disorder, etc) then it would be useful to know - some leeway could be given. A good friend of mine has Aspergers and has terrible communication skills/no idea he is being rude/etc.

I couldn't agree more. Us neuro typical people struggle to understand when/why someone behaves differently from the norm so labelling is most definitely required in order to avoid us jumping to conclusions, judgemental behaviour, general confusion, and even bullying.

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Patrick

I'm serious about letting that squad try again.
I'd rather have one volunteer than ten pressed men.

I have started my wee fibs in the English, Irish and Welsh forums.

The Irish are considering not sending a team, the Welsh want the venue moved
and the English are hiring lawyers.

Hi Alan (Tate),

All chess players are nutcases.

[Patrick McGovern]

All chess players are nutcases.

that explains a lot

[David G Congalton]

Whilst it would be easy to all gang up on Andy Muir like a gang of chimpanzees I believe a healthy dose of realism is needed.

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A plot to add eight new CS members for Mr Muir to have discussions with, at the AGM???

[Hugh Brechin]

I've only just noticed this thread (or, more accurately, the extended diversion this thread has taken since the conclusion of the junior competitions). What follows is a series of thoughts on various aspects of it.

Andy, I will admit to having on occasion worried that the reporting of junior performances is a bit too saccharine. There's a difficult balance to strike though, because the last thing we want to do is dent the confidence of juniors who'll already be struggling with feelings of having underperformed - I lost the first three games I played for Scotland in all competitions, and I still remember how awful that felt; I certainly wouldn't have wanted anybody doing anything that could be perceived as rubbing it in. On the other hand, it's important to acknowledge it when things don't go right, as that's the only way we're going to learn lessons and prevent things from going wrong again.

Having been on holiday I don't know anything about any moderation of critical posts in this or related threads, but on a general note, I'm sorry if moderation sometimes leads to confusion. There have been a number of changes to the way the board is run over the last couple of months, and I imagine there will be more after the AGM, where I'm sure there will be some discussion. That's as it should be. None of us approach the board looking to remove posts unless there are complaints, or what we see as grounds for serious concern. In the recent past, there have been far more complaints about posts on the board than there have been previously. We've been trying to adapt to this, and I certainly don't think we've always got it right. We are trying, though. It's nobody's intention to stifle debate.

Walter is exactly right when he points out that the members of the squad we sent acquitted themselves admirably. A lot of people who might have been there weren't, for various reasons. Picking over those reasons after the fact isn't very helpful, and it seems to have primarily been a series of coincidental clashes which have deprived us of a lot of internationalists. It would be an overreaction to view this year's tournament as indicative of any kind of new crisis, given this. We'll almost certainly be able to field a lot of these guys, or at least of the ones still eligible, next year. The teams we sent did their best and deserve nothing but praise for that. There are a lot of young, improving players who will perform more successfully at these and other events in the future. To pick out one example - and in the unlikely event that she reads the noticeboard I hope she will forgive me for this - I played a couple of games against Caitlin Reid in the Scottish Blitz this summer, and was very impressed by her understanding. I wasn't at all surprised to read about her strong results on the last day of the tournament. I also agree with Donald's point that in the last few years, our Glorney and Faber/Gilbert results have been far from dreadful.

I'll echo Adam in pointing out that nobody was bullied into going to Andorra, and the organisers would have raised an eyebrow or two if any member of our uniformly over-18 party had tried entering the Glorney. (Though we might have bullied Mr Bremner a bit when he walloped our only football into the Arinsal River from a goal kick during a post-round game of 5-a-side for no immediately apparent reason.) I also agree with his assessment of why Torquay is so Scot-light this year, at least from a personal point of view. I played in the British from 2005 until 2009, but ultimately I'd rather spend my summer holiday in the Pyrenees than on the English Riviera.

Geoff, Stirling is pretty cold in fairness. I like the psy-ops in general though. Let's take the fight to the opposition. Enjoyed the characteristic efforts to make the controversial step of discussing chess moves on this forum. I've maintained for years that just drumming the mantra 'loose pieces drop off' into the heads of our young players would be a good start, though honesty compels me to admit that in my sole foray into Glorney competition I dropped a piece against a Welshman in the opening. By putting it on a6, where it fell to a Qa4 trick (it was marginally more complicated than the example in this thread, but only very slightly. I think there was a bishop exchange first or something. I did manage to draw the game, but still...)

Anyway. There are some not very coherent and disconnected responses to some of what has been said above.

[Andy Howie]

Hugh,

I am on holiday as is Andy Mc. You are Het so to speak. I will pop on a couple of times a day but on the whole everyone is behaving

Andy