What is going on with Irish chess????

amdublin

My oh plays now and again at comps so I've dipped in and out of this forum in the past.

Don't know how but the "mark orr" thread caught my eye. And now I have seen that fb page!!!!

So as a relative outsider I am in shock. That fb page is full of crazy rantings. It really does not look great from the perspective of representing irish chess.

I'm on two sports club committees myself and I'd be appalled if I people were going on like people on that page. It's shocking behaviour altogether...from grown adults.

And what is Eboards btw??

cdeb

eboards is here. I don't know why the additional "e"

There's a couple of shouty loons who are remarkably tedious (as you've kind of worked out). Unfortunately, they've been given a position of power and - well, you've seen what happens.

By and large, Irish chess is a very sociable place - I don't know how seriously your OH plays, but a trip to the Kilkenny or Bunratty weekenders in particular would give you a much better picture of the game here. In fact, Bunratty in particular has such a good reputation as a both social and competitive weekend that some of the strongest players (talking top ten in the world) now attend, as well as a decent-sized contingent from other countries.

But shouty loons tend to be very loud, so they distort things unfortunately.

What can you do?

amdublin

He's been to both kilkenny and bunratty. And Galway i think. I've never been.

It's just really sad I think.

cdeb

amdublin wrote: »

It's just really sad I think.

It really is.

plastictag

Hi amDublin
The problem here is a clic run by cdeb, reunion and sparks. Perhaps you could observe their activities for say 2 weeks? You will see a pattern. Reunion is the worst of the 3 but they are all very bad news for the chess forum IMO. Sparks (maybe) is probably ok' ish inasfar as he likes debating and talking about anything chess related and considers himself some sort of expert on the subject. The pattern you will see is that reunion and cdeb will edit, delete and snip everything and anything that they disagree with or does not meet with their personal point of view...they have taken over the chess forum to such a degree that they have brought the eboards into disrepute among the Irish chess community. That is what happens under a dictatorship.

Lucena

Hi amdublin.

I'm a neutral here, and as far as I can see the chess section of boards.ie is well run. Bearing in mind I don't live in or play chess in Ireland, so I'm less up to speed on the cliques/politics etc of Irish chess, but I don't have the impression of expressing myself under a dictatorship.

amdublin

plastictag wrote: »

Hi amDublin
The problem here is a clic run by cdeb, reunion and sparks. Perhaps you could observe their activities for say 2 weeks? You will see a pattern. Reunion is the worst of the 3 but they are all very bad news for the chess forum IMO. Sparks (maybe) is probably ok' ish inasfar as he likes debating and talking about anything chess related and considers himself some sort of expert on the subject. The pattern you will see is that reunion and cdeb will edit, delete and snip everything and anything that they disagree with or does not meet with their personal point of view...they have taken over the chess forum to such a degree that they have brought the eboards into disrepute among the Irish chess community. That is what happens under a dictatorship.

I have seen nothing here on boards that would cause me to worry about the state of irish chess.
On that fb page I have seen rabble rousing rantings.

You are criticising this forum. I'm asking what is going on in irish chess in general. With fb pages like that out there. With stories of the executive doing things based on reports that no one can see. All together it is putting together a very bad picture.

For a start, I think people (person?) behind that fb page need to Calm Down.

Why are you calling it Eboards btw?? I had no clue what you were talking about when I saw it first. People tend to call it boards or "Boardsdot.ie". Just an FYI that no one knows what you are talking about when you say "eboards".

Mr E

plastictag wrote: »

The problem here is a clic run by cdeb, reunion and sparks.

4th or 5th account of yours that I've banned in the last 48 hours. You come across like a petulant teenager and you do your sport a disservice.

Regards,
eboards administrator.

amdublin

I've just seen that our President is the patron of the ICU :eek:
Ah lads would you be mortified if President Michael D Higgins dropped in on that fb page or some of those vitriolic blog pages out there??Come on I know you can do better than that! Really are doing the sport and Ireland a disservice.

I've had a read over some other threads here on the boards chess forum I really cannot see how it is a dictatorship. The mods are applying the standard boards rules and snipping deleting on basis of charter rules not personal opinion. As far as I can see anyway.

Seriously I think people need to take a deep breath before typing, then walk away for half an hour, come back and read it like you were a parent thinking about signing your kid up to a chess club or (god forbid!!!) your patron President Michael D Higgins...do all this before pressing send or post.

bucketybuck

amdublin wrote: »

My oh plays now and again at comps so I've dipped in and out of this forum in the past.

Don't know how but the "mark orr" thread caught my eye. And now I have seen that fb page!!!!

So as a relative outsider I am in shock. That fb page is full of crazy rantings. It really does not look great from the perspective of representing irish chess.

I'm on two sports club committees myself and I'd be appalled if I people were going on like people on that page. It's shocking behaviour altogether...from grown adults.

I'm a complete neutral, non-chess playing randomer who happened to see the threads and gave them all a read.

Nobody may care a whit what the general public thinks on the whole thing but by god, what an embarrassment the whole chess scene appears to be. I guess it just goes to show what happens when bad leadership gets put in charge.

amdublin

bucketybuck wrote: »

I'm a complete neutral, non-chess playing randomer who happened to see the threads and gave them all a read.

Nobody may care a whit what the general public thinks on the whole thing but by god, what an embarrassment the whole chess scene appears to be. I guess it just goes to show what happens when bad leadership gets put in charge.

Bad leadership in the ICU? Or here on boards?

My perspective is the ICU. ...

bucketybuck

amdublin wrote: »

Bad leadership in the ICU? Or here on boards?

My perspective is the ICU. ...

In the ICU, based upon everything I have been reading.

wine and final destination

Well said amdublin, unfortunately it only takes one rotten Apple to ruin a bunch, and there are a few rotten apples involved in Irish chess and they have managed to get themselves into a position of some power. I am involved in Irish chess and it embarrasses me the impression that the outside world see! The bile written on the Facebook page and on personal blogs is just hate mongering. This new ticket thinks they can improve Irish chess but the current exec are just resorting to name calling and flinging mud at anyone Who isn't on their side, it feels like they say "you're either with us or against us" people in charge of a community should not deal in absolutes! People only want what's best for the game! When a party can no longer rely on their strengths but has to try tarnish the reputation of their opponents then it's time for that party to leave.

NubieOne

Correct me if I'm wrong but the Irish Chess Cogitations website is run by the PRO of the Irish Chess Union, Colm Daly, right? He presumably wants to see the current executive stay in power, even if he himself is not running again. That being the case, why would he password protect all his recent, presumably negative posts about the main protagonists of the proposed new executive on his website?

I can't see the point in this, it seems counter productive, does this make sense to anyone?

Tim Harding

There is no rational explanation. The guy is paranoid, probably certifiable. You have to feel sorry for him.

brilliantboy

Tim Harding wrote: »

There is no rational explanation. The guy is paranoid

That's a perfectly rational explanation Tim

pawntof4

Its the saddest chess blog you'll ever read. I sometimes wonder why some of his friends inside irish chess don't take him aside and talk to him about it.

NubieOne

He may be, as you say, certifiable but his fellow officers on the current executive must be able to see that this absurd website can only help the "opposition", it all looks very weird. Rather than his friends having a chat to him about it, wouldn't you think the ICU chairman should be asking his to sort this out, his is the PRO after all !

Irish Chess seems to have it's own special brand of electioneering, I can't see many other sports emulating it !

Chess Addict

As a neutral on this debate and a paid up ICU Member, why should I vote in a new Executive? I would like to hear from both sides, as some comments are being censored in the ICU blog.

Tim Harding

Chess Addict wrote: »

As a neutral on this debate and a paid up ICU Member, why should I vote in a new Executive? I would like to hear from both sides, as some comments are being censored in the ICU blog.

I suggest you go to the list of recent topics (now on the second page) and read through the many postings in the topic I began which is headed "How many distinct actions of the ICU executive are being objected to?". I started that for much the same reasons that motivated your question.

Some of the posts are a bit off-topic but mostly it is a very cogent review of the issues with the present regime, and you will find a summing-up by me near the end.

That should provide you with ample reasons not to vote back those in the old executive who are being opposed. I don't have personal objections to all of them but there are certainly some "bad eggs" in there. Most of the new candidates are known to me personally and have my confidence.

Unfortunately there does not seem to be any place you can go to find reasoned debate between the two sides. When members of the executive post here (which only one or two have done recently under various pseudonyms) their "contributions" take the form of ranting and bullying.