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World Senior Team Championships 2018

  • 20-02-2018 2:59pm
    #1
    Tim Harding
    Closed Accounts Posts: 954 ✭✭✭


    The I.C.U. is still looking for a few players to complete teams for the World Senior Team Championships which will be played over nine rounds in July. The venue is an excellent hotel (Radisson BLU, Radebeul) in a suburb of Dresden where the well-organised 2016 event was held.
    On that occasion Ireland had a team in the 65+ tournament for the first time but we have never yet had a team in the 50+.

    Anyone born on or before 31 December 1953 is eligible to play on the 65+ team and the eligibility date for the 50+ is 31 December 1968. (Players 65 or over can play on a 50+ team). Only players who are IRL registered with FIDE can be considered, which rules out a handful of Irish residents (e.g. Manuel Gardenes) unless they change their affiliation.

    Expressions of interest have been invited; eligible players can sign up free of charge on the form at
    https://www.icu.ie/events/1046
    and so far three players have signed up for each of the 50+ and 65+ teams. We need at least one more player for each as teams are of four with an optional reserve. The 50+ team badly needs another player 2000+ but on the lower boards there isn't much difference between the standard (except for teams competing for high honours).
    The event is not only for national squads; there will be lots of regional and club teams (mostly German) and some countries last time had second and even third teams.

    Dresden is a very interesting place to visit and the hotel has a pool and gym. Yes the soccer World Cup will be on then, but in 2016 it was the Euros and they had a big screen in the lobby (commentary in German of course).

    Play is in the morning (except for round 1) after which it's easy to get into the beautifully rebuilt city centre by tram (2 minutes walk from the hotel) or mainline rail. The organisers also run some afternoon tours, though you have to pay.

    It's also a chance to rub shoulders with some famous players; Yusupov is already announced on one of the German teams.

    So far 13 teams have entered in each section (mostly German but also a Singapore team in each section and a few others) and you can follow who has entered at:
    http://www.schachfestival.de/world-team-championship-50-65-2018-en/list-of-registrations.html?view=ergebnisse&layout=teilnehmermannschaft&tngid=2

    Entries close in early May so if would be a good idea if people interested would sign up or contact ICU secretary Ciaran Mahon for more information. I am not sure what ICU will do if more than five are interested in one of the teams; two years ago we didn't need a selection process as in the end precisely five people were available when we had to finalise the team.

    Perhaps the 40+ tournament before Easter will be the last chance to get in some good practice before the teams have to be submitted.

    I shall be at Bunratty this weekend if anyone wants to ask for more details.


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