Irish Championship 2020

Has the rating floor for the Irish Championship been abolished now that the subsidiary events are cancelled?
A player rated 1250 has entered today.

So there are seven players over 2200 entered so far, including two 2300+.
Any one of those seven is capable of winning. Trisha Kanyamarala (2184) could also play an important part in the event.

RooksPawn: “ At the ICU agm this year, there needs to be a motion amending or temporarily suspending the normal qualification rules on eligibility for selection which specify a requirement to play a number of recent tournaments in Ireland.”

The 2020 Olympiad teams have already been chosen - though it is now scheduled for 2021. So there is no issue to be solved in that respect.

"Competition Terms

1. The latest official ICU and FIDE rating lists shall apply prior to the close of entries.

2. Players rated above 1900 on either of the two lists above are permitted entry. All others must apply for wildcards to the event if they wish to play unless they won a qualifying event or are a past champion. See appendix 1 below.

Appendix 1: Invited players

Players in the Irish Chess Championship may have the rating requirement ignored provided they are nominated by:

a.The ICU Executive (maximum 2 players)

b.The tournament organisers (maximum 1 player)

The Irish Women’s Champion, Irish 50+ and 65+ Champions, and all previous IRL winners of this event are automatically nominated to play in the Irish Championship irrespective of rating.

https://www.icu.ie/articles/670

sodacat11 wrote: »

I have no objection to past champions or senior champs but allowing the ICU or the organisers to nominate players smacks of nepotism and should not be entertained. Ratings should decide who plays.

I generally use the tournament organiser's pick to even up numbers if needed. I don't think I've used it that often otherwise but I honestly don't recall. If I was to use it (or when I do), I think I tend to look favourably on players who were 1900+ in that year. The Irish tends to have entries up to 9 months in advance so players can go above and below a few times in that time. (At a normal weekender, I'd just move players to the appropriate section when I scan entries but as we only have one upper tiered section, I'd be refunding entries as opposed to simply moving them.)

I think it works well under the understanding that if you've been over 1900 in the calendar year, you're likely to get a wildcard - but as that's not in writing it probably could be nailed down to "1 player, who does not meet rating criteria, may be permitted entry to even up entries" and "Players rated above 1900 on either of the two lists above during the calendar year of the event are permitted entry."

The 1900+ entry requirement should written clearly on the entry page. At the moment that information is in a link. Because there is a listed entry fee for <1900, it is natural that players below 1900 will think they can enter.

RooksPawn wrote: »

At the ICU agm this year, there needs to be a motion amending or temporarily suspending the normal qualification rules on eligibility for selection which specify a requirement to play a number of recent tournaments in Ireland.

Excellent idea.

RooksPawn wrote: »

I still think there should be a motion. What cdeb said about the Olympiad team is true, but there could be withdrawals, and anyway that's not the only event potentially affected.

The rules for eligibility for the national club championship might need relaxing for a year or two also.

What did cdeb say? The point is the eligibility rules take into account the last two years before an event, so obviously they will need to be adapted to the current circumstances

macelligott wrote: »

RooksPawn: “ At the ICU agm this year, there needs to be a motion amending or temporarily suspending the normal qualification rules on eligibility for selection which specify a requirement to play a number of recent tournaments in Ireland.”

The 2020 Olympiad teams have already been chosen - though it is now scheduled for 2021. So there is no issue to be solved in that respect.

This one?

Well there is every issue Gerry!!! You are only on about one event there

I can't find what cdeb said earlier in this thread. He thought I was only referring to the next Olympiad. Maybe he's deleted the post.

Meanwhile the new Irish government has said that they will not be issuing a "green list" of countries for air bridges on 9 July, but will postpone this until at least 20 July. They continue to advise against inessential travel overseas.

The priority is to try to get schools fully open in September in the face of opposition from teacher unions who are acting the maggot.
It is more important to get them onside by keeping Ireland healthy than to placate Michael O'Leary who can afford to lose more money.

I’ll give an update to bring us slightly back on track - Apologies for the delay since my last one.

Generally, the Irish has not been too difficult to put together over the past 2 years (at least the work could be spread over a year than a couple of months) but obviously this year is on the other end of the spectrum. To combat that extra work, there’s a bit more of a committee approach to things so I can’t be as certain in my answers as previous years. However, I’ll do my best.

Tentative plan:
Guidelines are on paper and due to be published early next week, pending committee sign-off. This will include a walk-through of what to expect at the door each day - to ensure safety, anti cheating measures and a check-in for devices.

Trial games will go ahead in the middle of the month. We need to test the guidelines and walkthrough and make sure everything is actually workable (and timed out). We don’t want to turn up on August 1 and hope for the best.

Pictures of the venue and trial games will be published to give a further idea of what to expect so you are not caught unawares on August 1. We’ll tweak guidelines as necessary once those trial events are complete.

Entries: will close a week later than usual. I think we generally close two weeks in advance - in the past (the before times), people would have limited holidays to work with so would know long in advance if they’d play. This year, given the new date, lack of foreign playing opportunities and the uncertainty around very many things (and no new rating lists to worry about) - we think it’s best to be more flexible here. We’re looking at around 30 entries - not sure about norm chances but I think there is a 50-50 chance of 3-4 titled players. I haven’t done a push on the latter like I normally would as there’s just too much else to do before that - but should have a better idea by the end of next week.

Finally, Colaiste Eanna have been a massive help and the event would not be possible without them. It will probably be more clear once the walkthrough has been published and/or once you’ve seen the venue but they’ve been tireless in getting everything ready for the event and will have volunteers on the door each day to make sure it all runs as smoothly as possible. Special thanks of course go to Dave Grant whose directed their efforts.

Again, apologies for the slowness - but we’re getting there.

Retd.LoyolaCpt wrote: »

I’ll give an update to bring us slightly back on track - Apologies for the delay since my last one.

Generally, the Irish has not been too difficult to put together over the past 2 years (at least the work could be spread over a year than a couple of months) but obviously this year is on the other end of the spectrum. To combat that extra work, there’s a bit more of a committee approach to things so I can’t be as certain in my answers as previous years. However, I’ll do my best.

Tentative plan:
Guidelines are on paper and due to be published early next week, pending committee sign-off. This will include a walk-through of what to expect at the door each day - to ensure safety, anti cheating measures and a check-in for devices.

Trial games will go ahead in the middle of the month. We need to test the guidelines and walkthrough and make sure everything is actually workable (and timed out). We don’t want to turn up on August 1 and hope for the best.

Pictures of the venue and trial games will be published to give a further idea of what to expect so you are not caught unawares on August 1. We’ll tweak guidelines as necessary once those trial events are complete.

Entries: will close a week later than usual. I think we generally close two weeks in advance - in the past (the before times), people would have limited holidays to work with so would know long in advance if they’d play. This year, given the new date, lack of foreign playing opportunities and the uncertainty around very many things (and no new rating lists to worry about) - we think it’s best to be more flexible here. We’re looking at around 30 entries - not sure about norm chances but I think there is a 50-50 chance of 3-4 titled players. I haven’t done a push on the latter like I normally would as there’s just too much else to do before that - but should have a better idea by the end of next week.

Finally, Colaiste Eanna have been a massive help and the event would not be possible without them. It will probably be more clear once the walkthrough has been published and/or once you’ve seen the venue but they’ve been tireless in getting everything ready for the event and will have volunteers on the door each day to make sure it all runs as smoothly as possible. Special thanks of course go to Dave Grant whose directed their efforts.

Again, apologies for the slowness - but we’re getting there.

Is it a good idea though? When not all players can play.

sodacat11 wrote: »

Not ALL players ever play. Yes it is unfortunate that a few foreign based players like yourself will miss out but there is a larger group of people based here that have to be catered for. I think that the ICU are doing a great job in staging it and I endorse the compliment to scoil eanna which is an excellent venue and add my thanks to Dave Grant.

Isnt the current defending champion also foreign based? I just throw the question out, I dont say that I am right but it deserves a mention which hitherto it doesnt seem to have got. There is a legitimate question to be asked if this is the right moment for the championships to take place.

Retd.LoyolaCpt wrote: »

I don’t think Joe said it would be weaker - just that some couldn’t play due to restrictions. Which is a fair point but ultimately, I think the pros of running it outweigh the cons - namely that we’d risk having no championship this year by not running it in this slot. And as cdeb points out, it will hopefully be a blueprint for other events to return.

It should be a reasonably strong Irish - not on the level of ‘18 or ‘19 but stronger than most other years this decade.

Thats a fair point, lots of people are talking about a second wave coming in the Autumn/Winter but ultimately nobody knows for sure. I think in the circumstances its probably the best decision.

5 players rated over 2300 FIDE entered so far.