Irish Championship 2020

Entries to the Irish as of 09.07.2020

sodacat11 wrote: »

Two more entries for the Irish Championship yesterday !! Looks like the numbers are going up and not down as some have predicted.

Yes, 27 now, up from 20 a few days ago. It is not surprising that a few people who had paid entry fees before the pandemic might not be able to/want to play under the changed circumstances.

But evidently many are keen to play and good luck to them. Most of the entrants are young naturally, though I see two or three Seniors are willing to take the risk.
If there are no negative consequences, maybe more older players will return for league matches or maybe the City of Dublin if it happens. For events like that, ICU/LCU need to find large well-ventilated rooms with high ceilings, maybe hotel ballrooms?
Schools are clearly going to be unavailable in term time.

I hope the twin-board system won't prevent online broadcasting of the Irish Championships as I am keen to watch.

macelligott wrote: »

I count at least 11 Seniors playing!

I don't count the kids who are barely 50. They are not in the Covid-19 vulnerable group, but you are certainly one of the brave ones!

I guess I'll start by saying, you're going to just have to take my word for it on the feedback as I did the leg work here. If you don't, then I guess this post won't matter to you.

spidersweb wrote: »

Now with the withdrawal of Mark Quinn. One down and maybe another 20+ to go?

For a non guideline related reason. He still hopes to play but, with norm hopefuls in mind, I felt I should remove him from the draw so as to not falsely advertise norm chances at this stage.

spidersweb wrote: »

To cap it all all off, and as as if to underscore the impression of a certain contempt or utter indifference to all the participants there are no details about the prizes. Aside from a reference to a prize fund of 4000, There is no information about 1st,2nd, 3rd (4th 5th?) or about Grading prizes, if there are any, and if so, what are they.

There is a flyer. https://www.icu.ie/system/events/flyers/000/001/239/original/Irish_Championships_2020.pdf?1594466211

spidersweb wrote: »

Various minor irritants and intrusions that make for a potentially very unpleasant chess playing experience in which focusing and concentrating on just playing chess is made harder if not well nigh impossible.

What I would say to this is that everything at the door is not too dissimilar from an ECC or Olympiad style setup. Having your temperature taken from a distance? I don't see this as too dissimilar to being checked for a device. 100.4 is the generally accepted temperature which you should not go over and I'd imagine this will be ours but I don't know for sure and it will be published in advance. This is not something you can prep for so I didn't think it was a priority in our initial walk-through - I just wanted to let people know it would be happening. Giving a verbal waiver while this is happening? This is a matter of listening to and saying a few words. I don't think you have a problem with checking for devices or having somewhere to store your device; in the same way that those are a cost of checking for cheats (as best we can), the other checks are attempting to ensure health and safety.

I can't deny this is all an inconvenience; believe me - this is not what I wanted to spend my summer planning for either.

spidersweb wrote: »

This second absurdity is again an unnecessary imposition and more of a parody or freak show. It too could be tolerated IF it was the other way around and optional by default. As in, if two players want this then go ahead. Not allowing one player to dictate the playing conditions of both.

To clarify - you cannot change your preference from round to round. If you do not pick a preference, we will assume you are happy to play on one board. You will have the same conditions as your opponent in each round. I think it is unhelpful to suggest that a player would select the two board option for any reason other than their own and their loved ones health. If you think that this choice can be gamed, then I disagree completely.

We are guessing that there will be 1-4 players who choose the two-board option based on the feedback I received but I didn't hear from everybody so perhaps I'll be proved wrong.


I won't snip any particular quote on face masks if that's ok but just to tackle that below:

My girlfriend is on the Covid wards. She wears facemasks for 12 hours a day when she is on the long shift, and 10 hours a day otherwise. From March to May, they worked on 15 minute breaks every 4 hours. This is not a covid phenomena - face masks have been in use for decades and infectious disease and surgical departments wear them for the majority of their day. In developed countries, doctors live longer than similarly paid professionals. (I can provide a source if needed)

You are not being asked to do that. You must wear a facemask while your opponent is at the board. You can step outside and take it off for extended periods if you wish and have some respite while your opponent is not at the board.

On public transport, you are rarely facing the nearest person - in chess, you are for up to 6-7 hours and in the one board option, you are within 2 meters.

spidersweb wrote: »

Leaving aside the crazy scenario of time scrambles and having to not only call out moves (imagine if there are lots of games with this happening?) but also to use a lever to press a chess clock? Is this a comedy show now?

Those boards will be in a separate part of the hall - which is twice the size of our usual Talbot room with fewer boards. Calling out moves is not unheard of as Gmac mentioned. The clocks have been tested by some of my fellow organisers but I have yet to see them in action but have had some input from tournaments abroad about it to get an idea for what to expect. I'll be there for the trial on Saturday.

spidersweb wrote: »

Being 1 M apart from someone on the other side of a table with no contact and NOT TALKING is very safe so long as each player observes all the other guidelines and good practices. Not a shred of evidence to indicate otherwise.

This is very much disputed.

spidersweb wrote: »

Might even be worthwhile for the ICU to contact each and every player (or their parents in many cases) and simply ask them if they prefer wearing masks be optional or not?

I did this for as many as I could - circa 70 players. A large majority understood the necessity of masks.

spidersweb wrote: »

How many listed as playing still intend to play now I wonder?[/B] "

I'm confident that 24 of the entries have read the guidelines and will be playing, based on their feedback, speaking with them and when they entered. 1 of the 27 I expect will be pulling out based on their feedback. 2 others I haven't spoke to about it as yet but are both paid entries. I'd imagine there will be 30-32 entries.

cdeb wrote: »

Could be someone just chancing it, or not realising what the entry requirements are.

Remember the site will take all entries, and they have to be moderated after.
.

David Tautkus is down as “FID” and no rating. Not IRL on the FIDE website.
If that’s the same player, he is ineligible. Players must be registered IRL with FIDE in order to enter the championship.

Joedryan wrote: »

Unless my memory fails me if he is an Irish citizen he also qualifies?

From the conditions of entry: “ all entrants to the main week-long event must be registered as IRL with FIDE.”

Two board option

One board

Playing area

Venue

If players feel the need to remove the mask for a short period, they can walk outside in the same way some players take a smoking break.
As players will not be allowed to have phoned with them, this shouldn’t pose a problem.

Irish Championship safety measures https://youtu.be/GwuZJsJ8XE8

Retd.LoyolaCpt wrote: »

And photos here: https://www.icu.ie/articles/906

That looks absolutely fantastic.

Whats the refreshment situation? is there a coffee machine nearby?

sodacat11 wrote: »

When will the draw for the first round be posted? All the contestants in the tipping competition are champing at the bit to get going.
Also, what is the penalty for anyone who takes off, or doesn't wear, their mask at the board?

Hopefully tonight. Just waiting to hear back from one player.

Will put the penalty on the site this evening too if I've time.

sodacat11 wrote: »

I presume that every effort will be made to have an even number of competitors? It would not be right if nine players had to take byes just to facilitate the entry of an under 1900 player

It'll be even from the off, with a couple of volunteers to ensure it stays that way for the most part in the case of pullouts too. Can't promise it in every round for definite, but we should have cover.

Pairings should be done today - updated entry list on the site now with 2 pullouts. Had a replacement for one but not two (obviously) so we settle at a nice number (hopefully), 32.