Irish Championship 2020

sodacat11

Joedryan wrote: »

Great, but its not really about you is it.

Says the man who wants the whole championship postponed just because HE can't play.
Pot/kettle.

Joedryan

sodacat11 wrote: »

Says the man who wants the whole championship postponed just because HE can't play.
Pot/kettle.

Just kidding

As I said above, I agree its the best decision in the circumstances.

sodacat11

Joedryan wrote: »

Just kidding

As I said above, I agree its the best decision in the circumstances.

You still have the tipping competition to look forward to!

Joedryan

sodacat11 wrote: »

You still have the tipping competition to look forward to!

I'll have to enter that then! I have marvelled at the standard in that previously :pac:

macelligott

Entries to the Irish as of 09.07.2020

sodacat11

It says on the ICU site that there are no wildcard entries in the Irish Ch. How did a player with an 1820 rating get in then?

spidersweb

sodacat11 wrote: »

It says on the ICU site that there are no wildcard entries in the Irish Ch. How did a player with an 1820 rating get in then?

Non issue, Rome is burning,put the Fiddle away.

sodacat11

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

RooksPawn

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

RooksPawn wrote: »

Most of the entrants are young naturally, though I see two or three Seniors are willing to take the risk.

I count at least 11 Seniors playing!

RooksPawn

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!

spidersweb

RooksPawn wrote: »

Yes, 27 now, up from 20 a few days ago.

Actually no, it was 26 went down to 25 and has gone back up but was not 20 for a very very long time.


In any case, we have no way of being sure what the numbers will be. After the trial run it might be better to guess.

Retd.LoyolaCpt

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.

sodacat11

Thank you for all that and for all the work you are putting in to organizing the Championship. People seem to forget that it is done on a voluntary unpaid basis but then again some people are never happy.

cdeb

General coronavirus and chess stuff moved to the coronavirus thread here.

Let's leave this for the build-up to the Irish itself.

spidersweb

cdeb wrote: »

General coronavirus and chess stuff moved to the coronavirus thread here.

Let's leave this for the build-up to the Irish itself.

My last post was all about the build up to the Irish ch and was directly responding to a post that is still here. I never mentioned the word not to be used once, yet ithe post was beamed over elsewhere like magic.

Talk about moving the goal posts.

What are you so afraid of? its ok to be wrong and this is about the Irish ch and not some other agendas right? Please either restore my response or maybe transfer more of the comments here?

I think I must have just misunderstood so many things and it has all since been explained and makes so much sense to me now.

cdeb

spidersweb wrote: »

My last post was all about the build up to the Irish ch and was directly responding to a post that is still here. I never mentioned the word not to be used once, yet ithe post was beamed over elsewhere like magic.

Talk about moving the goal posts.

What are you so afraid of? its ok to be wrong and this is about the Irish ch and not some other agendas right? Please either restore my response or maybe transfer more of the comments here?

Mod note - the lengthy (and rather tedious) post which is primarily about coronavirus measures is here in the coronavirus thread (twice, in fact), where it belongs, and where it can be responded to.

I've left Retd Loyola Captain's post here as it primarily deals with the Irish Championships. I've just had to make a judgement call as to which post best belongs to which thread, but I don't want this thread getting clogged up with badly-informed coronavirus talk, and I do think informative posts on the Irish Championships (like RLC's) do belong here.

It didn't help that you almost entirely ignored RLC's post in your reply.

Don't post it in here again; it will just get moved again

sodacat11

28 entries now. I think that the numbers speak for themselves, most people are happy to play with the restrictions that are planned. Anyone with serious doubts about how well it will work could have played in the trial on Saturday to make an informed decision whether to play in the main event or not.

spidersweb

sodacat11 wrote: »

28 entries now. I think that the numbers speak for themselves, most people are happy to play with the restrictions that are planned. Anyone with serious doubts about how well it will work could have played in the trial on Saturday to make an informed decision whether to play in the main event or not.

I think you are right. Spot on in fact. It is going to be the greatest Irish ch ever now.

spidersweb

cdeb wrote: »

Mod note - the lengthy (and rather tedious) post which is primarily about coronavirus measures is here in the coronavirus thread (twice, in fact), where it belongs, and where it can be responded to.

I've left Retd Loyola Captain's post here as it primarily deals with the Irish Championships. I've just had to make a judgement call as to which post best belongs to which thread, but I don't want this thread getting clogged up with badly-informed coronavirus talk, and I do think informative posts on the Irish Championships (like RLC's) do belong here.

It didn't help that you almost entirely ignored RLC's post in your reply.

Don't post it in here again; it will just get moved again

Fair enough, thanks for the explanation. I get it now. Makes so much sense.

sodacat11

Who is the latest entry in the championship? As far as I can see he has a rating of 600

cdeb

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.

The 1820 has been moved to the wildcard list, and this person probably will be too, unless they can show a foreign national rating I guess.

macelligott

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

macelligott wrote: »

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.

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

macelligott

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.”

Joedryan

macelligott wrote: »

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

Fair enough. I must be remembering it wrongly, thought that was the selection rule, but I suppose it makes it simpler.

macelligott

Two board option

macelligott

Two boards

macelligott

One board

sodacat11

Thanks for those. The playing conditions look great and very safe!!

macelligott

Playing area

macelligott

An outstanding piece of work by the organising committee!!!

macelligott

Venue

sodacat11

I think that the ICU should make it clear before the championship commences what the penalty will be for anyone in violation of the safety rules. The simplest , and the best deterrent, would be to treat the non wearing of mask at the board the same as a phone going off.

macelligott

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.

cdeb

macelligott wrote: »

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.

And he's been removed again.

I think people are very quick to give out when an ineligible player suddenly appears on an entry list - I think we should acknowledge that there's a volunteer moderation of entries behind the scenes, which seems to work well, if it's given a little bit of time!

32 entries now. Not far off last year's 38, although the top two players from last year (Lopez and Murphy) are missing. Still, really encouraging to see overall.

macelligott

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

Retd.LoyolaCpt

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

Joedryan

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?

dave grant

Yes you will be able to make a cup of tea or coffee on site.

sodacat11

dave grant wrote: »

Yes you will be able to make a cup of tea or coffee on site.

Seems that you've thought of everything!! Brilliant venue with free parking and so much easier for me to get to from outside Dublin than the usual places tournaments are held.

Joedryan

dave grant wrote: »

Yes you will be able to make a cup of tea or coffee on site.

Excellent idea!

Eugene Donohoe

I would like to post a note of thanks and appreciation to John McMorrow and all who are organising the Irish Championship and specifically in relation to them for now putting on the Major (1300-1900 rating band.) It really means a lot to be able to play over the board chess having lived like everyone else with the Covid19 worries and restrictions this year. Having read through and seen the photos of the walk through arrangements they have really organised this magnificently and I feel totally safe in these arrangements. Hopefully the coaching and study I've been doing during the lockdown might bear some fruit, although I can identify with sodacat11 saying results can suffer for a bit after same study. Anyways, good luck to all of ye in the Championship proper.

sodacat11

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?

Retd.LoyolaCpt

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

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

Retd.LoyolaCpt

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.

sodacat11

Retd.LoyolaCpt wrote: »

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.

Excellent!! You have thought of everything.......................Now, about my appearance fee?

Retd.LoyolaCpt

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.

spidersweb

So it looks like 4 players - J Delaney, E Keogh, (both ex champs) A Fox, J McMorrow have withdrawn . All ranging from more or less 2100+ to 2200/2330 playing strength. With 4 very young players more or less ranging from about 1800 to 2000 playing strength.



Pity they all are not playing now.


The first round paring now looking like: