Irish Championship 2020

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.

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.