Updates of the other leagues asap.

 

 

I hope by now you have all seen the WCU newsletter for Feb 2002.  Your secretary should have copies, so if you haven't seen it you know who to ask.  Many thanks for all the nice things they said about this ezine.

 

I can't resist commenting on the section FIDE GRADES.  Is there a hint of a Freudian slip?  Could somebody be suggesting that this FIDE initiative is 'an ill wind that will blow nobody any good'?  I don't think so, but there is one point we need to consider.  FIDE charge for including people in their list (not sure but it may be about £6).  Since players FIDE grades are usually about 50 to 80 points higher than their national grades (in my case about 150) it is likely that eventually everybody on the WCU list with a grade of 1750 or more will become eligible for a FIDE grade.  At a rough estimate that's going to cost in the order of £1000, so we might have to consider how that is going to be financed.

 

Should players pay if they want an international grade?

Should the WCU pay as a matter of course?

Should we have a sliding scale, e.g. over 2100 free, the rest pay?

 

What are your feelings on the matter?  Why not drop me an email and let everybody know?  In particular, if somebody has actual details of the cost could they let us know?

 

 

About six weeks ago the problems organisers face with ungraded players in tournaments was highlighted.  I have received the following comments:

 

   With regard to the issue you raised about ungraded players winning prizes in congresses, it seems to me that a fairly simple rule could be introduced whereby a player without a current rating could be barred from winning a prize. FULL STOP. It may sound a rather draconian measure, but I know from being involved with the organizing the Gwbert Congress in the past that this sort of problem goes on and the only way in which to prevent other players in the same competition from feeling cheated is to put a stop to it altogether.
     The rule already exists that an ungraded player cannot win a grading prize, so why not extend this rule to cover the rest of the prize money as well?

                   All the best,
                                 IOLO    

 

Thanks Iolo.

 

 

Thanks Brian.

 

I'm afraid this is a grey area that will always be a problem.

 

An Excellent Offer From Paul Orton.  

 

The following exchange of emails has taken place between Paul and me over the last few days.

 

Dai,

Reading about the schools competition in your latest edition I
thought "Hmm, I'll ring Dafydd Johnston for a report on it to put on the
Dyfed website". Then I thought, "No, that's stupid when I've got a report
in front of me". Then I thought "No, I can't use that without permission".
Then I thought "Why not publish Winter Butterfly on a website?"

It was just a thought but I would be more than willing to have a
section of the Dyfed site devoted to your ezine. It would be clearly
marked as *your* enterprise (credit where credit's due!) and the benefit
to us would be increased traffic! The magazine could still be emailed to
subscribers as at present but you would have the added plus of a much
bigger exposure to the outside world.

What do you think?

Best wishes,
Paul.

 

Dear Paul

Thank you for your email earlier today.  What a wonderful idea.  I'm sure that we'll be able to cooperate on this.

Firstly regarding the use of Winter Butterfly.  To protect the rights of any contributors I must retain copyright (which inmost cases probably belongs to them anyway).  However, having said that, you have my permission to use any part or the whole of any edition in any way you think fit.   Please keep this email as it gives you permission to use past or future editions in any way you think fit unless I specifically state that something is not for republication (for example where the contributor has requested this).

I would be delighted to see material from Butterfly on the Dyfed website.  In fact I wonder if we could take it a little further.  The ezine is more or less text only because people use different computer systems.  As a result I haven't been able to include any pictures in my articles.  Would you be prepared to consider placing articles with pictures on your website?  I think I could set them up using HTML so that all you would have to do is poet them to the site.  Obviously they have a limited life and would need to be deleted after a period of time.

Have a think about it and let me know what you feel?

Would it be ok if I published your email and my reply in the next Butterfly, as possible developments of the ezine constitute news.

Best wishes
Dai James. 

 

 

I won't bore you with the other emails we've exchanged, but you can see we have agreed in principal and are now sorting out the details.

 

By the way, unless I state that something is not for republication (usually because a contributor has requested this) I have no objection to people using the material in this ezine for any reasonable purposes.  I only ask that you acknowledge the source.

 

 

I'm going to stop now, as this edition is getting a bit long. I'm still in the progress of working through a backlog of material (far better than having nothing to print) so I'll start on the next edition this evening.

 

Best wishes

Dai James.