Richardson/Spens - what next?

[Alan Tate]

Oh, for some reason I thought there were only 2 competitions. The final Dragons v Edinburgh West was played there one year though.

Well it would still be really nice if we could use the live boards even if they are not broadcasting

[andyburnett]

Well it would still be really nice if we could use the live boards even if they are not broadcasting

True! Very nice boards and sets to play with.

[andyburnett]

Re: the possible FIDE rating of the Richardson etc. the following discussion on the ECForum may be relevant (go to page 8)

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If true/allowed in practice it would perhaps negate the need for having FIDE licensed arbiters at every match/central venue etc.

[Alex McFarlane]

I think this answers the point. FIDE was asked directly by Douglas. A later reply suggested that the captains could be licenced at a cost of €20 each.

From: FIDE.com <>
To: Chess Scotland Grading
Cc: Takis Nikolopoulos
Sent: Sunday, August 4, 2013 1:14 PM
Subject: Re: Licensed arbiters only for FIDE rating
Dear Mr. Bryson


Please note that according to current regulations we cannot accept tournaments with non licensed Arbiters for rating.
I'm also forwarding your email to Mr. Takis Nikolopoulos for his information.

[Andy Howie]

Is there not a further complication in that the licensed player is not allowed to play if acting as the arbiter?

[Andy Howie]

There is a way it can be done, but it involves planning.

When we played in the Spens we often shared a venue with Hamilton to reduce costs. If we can "ground share" for the fixtures, we reduce the number of arbiters needed to FIDE rate and it becomes doable.

[Keith Rose]

One of the earlier suggestions is to change the Richardson (Spens too, possibly) from knockout to regional groups. This would make venue sharing a little more feasible on a wider scale. It makes some sense anyway for cost-reduction.

The next question might be – what venues would be suitable for hosting more than one match? Hamilton, as you said, and Castlehill could handle three matches. Others?

Also, if we were to go to groups, places such as leisure centres and hotels might be an option. They would likely be more expensive than the venues currently used but if several matches were played then the proportional cost might not be unreasonable. I haven’t researched this so I could be wrong here.

What would help is suggestions based on local knowledge of venues not currently known to most of us.

I’m not pushing for grouping, BTW, just stirring the pot a little, but it could be a solution to the FIDE question as well as the other considerations

[Alex McFarlane]

In answer to Andy, you can be an arbiter and player in a FIDE rated event but not if norms are available. As norms require 9 rounds this would not be a problem. Still playing when needed as an arbiter would be, especially if it was for your game.

[andyburnett]

My point relating to the ECForum postings was this one from Nick Faulks...

Shortly before the scheme started, when there was genuine confusion, I asked the AC Chairman whether a federation's rating officer, having got himself licensed, could simply insert his own name whenever he registered a tournament where there would be no onsite arbiter. His reply was that this was not what they had in mind, but would work.

So, Dougie Bryson gets himself licensed and appends his name to any CS-run FIDE-rated tournament? It might not be 'technically correct' but sounds like an improvement over FIDE's hoped-for approach (an approach which doesn't really work for smaller chess-playing nations like our own).

[hamish olson]

this seems like the way forward - every other country seems to be able to provide regular fide rated events, why not scotland?