Youth Girls Award

[Hazel Smith]

A generous donor has put forth an amazing contribution to the Elaine Howie Fund in order to encourage female chess players. The new Youth Girls Award will provide $100 to one female player in the Top 12 each year for at least five years. The 2010 Youth Girls Award will be given to Nicole Birarov. Congratulations!

http://checkmateupdate.blogspot.com/

[Erik Malmsten]

Re: Youth Girls Award

A generous donor has put forth an amazing contribution to the Elaine Howie Fund in order to encourage female chess players. The new Youth Girls Award will provide $100 to one female player in the Top 12 each year for at least five years. The 2010 Youth Girls Award will be given to Nicole Birarov. Congratulations!

http://checkmateupdate.blogspot.com/

Could you give a one-line bio or something about the winners Nicole Birarov (and Razvan Preotu). Maybe what city they live in and how many rated games they played in the year, are a provincial champion or if played in the World Youth CC. Then as more names are added over the years keep a list of winners together on one page, as if on a trophy.

[Larry Bevand]

Re: Youth Girls Award

A generous donor has put forth an amazing contribution to the Elaine Howie Fund in order to encourage female chess players. The new Youth Girls Award will provide $100 to one female player in the Top 12 each year for at least five years. The 2010 Youth Girls Award will be given to Nicole Birarov. Congratulations!

http://checkmateupdate.blogspot.com/

Hi Hazel,

I think you have started something important!

Congratulations!

Larry

[Jin Daxin]

Re: Youth Girls Award

Hi Hazel,

I think you have started something important!

Congratulations!

Larry

Pls check this girl CFC rating and not available meet with Hazel Smith's regulation:
female player in the Top 12 each year for at least five years
She start to play chess from 2009, I am the women chess coordinator, why I am not be informed? There are more Female players qualify than her! Should deny this award to her! Which committee receive this nomination?

[Andrei Botez]

Re: Youth Girls Award

Hi Jin,

Hazel is the one who created this prize with money that are coming from her family. She is the one who decide who is winning and you don't have to be informed, asked or anything else regarding this award.

I believe as women chess coordinator you first responsibility is to find an organizer for Women Closed Championship, and so far nothing been announced.

Cheers
Andrei

PS
Congrats to Hazel for this great idea, and to Razvan and Nicole for this great result.

[Ben Daswani]

Re: Youth Girls Award

Pls check this girl CFC rating and not available meet with Hazel Smith's regulation:
female player in the Top 12 each year for at least five years
She start to play chess from 2009, I am the women chess coordinator, why I am not be informed? There are more Female players qualify than her! Should deny this award to her! Which committee receive this nomination?

.....the chess world never ceases to amaze me

[Corinna Wan]

Re: Youth Girls Award

Hazel: "The new Youth Girls Award will provide $100 to one female player in the Top 12 each year for at least five years."


Jin Daxin: "Hazel Smith's regulation:
female player in the Top 12 each year for at least five years"
??????

[Hazel Smith]

Re: Youth Girls Award

Could you give a one-line bio or something about the winners Nicole Birarov (and Razvan Preotu). Maybe what city they live in and how many rated games they played in the year, are a provincial champion or if played in the World Youth CC. Then as more names are added over the years keep a list of winners together on one page, as if on a trophy.

That's a great idea. I have posted bits of information on my blog for all of the Top 12 http://checkmateupdate.blogspot.com/...2-of-2010.html but can surely summarize further to keep a running list. This fund is a work in progress, so I appreciate any suggestions I can get :) Many things build up through collaboration, and initiatives like this fund, Chess in the Library, amazing promotion of events like the Canadian Open and CMA tournaments, and so forth, are just stepping stones of inspiration for the future of Canadian chess.

[Hazel Smith]

Re: Youth Girls Award

Hi Hazel,

I think you have started something important!

Congratulations!

Larry

Thanks Larry!

[Hazel Smith]

Re: Youth Girls Award

Pls check this girl CFC rating and not available meet with Hazel Smith's regulation:
female player in the Top 12 each year for at least five years
She start to play chess from 2009, I am the women chess coordinator, why I am not be informed? There are more Female players qualify than her! Should deny this award to her! Which committee receive this nomination?

I'm sorry if there was any confusion, but the criteria for the Youth Girls Award is the same as for the Elaine Howie Fund Top 12 (in fact, the Youth Girls Award will be given to a female player in the Top 12). The 2010 Elaine Howie Fund criteria can be found below. Performance is considered for the year, and does not exclude players based on how long they have been playing chess. I have carefully gone through all players in the CFC and CMA lists, and Nicole Birarov is a very suitable candidate for the award.

In terms of information, I try to be as transparent as possible about how the fund is run. The fund is still quite small/personal and new, so I don't feel it has to be organized through coordinators. I simply do my research based on objective criteria, without any committees.

The main objective of the Elaine Howie Fund is to encourage juniors in Canadian chess (not just to distribute monetary prizes). Denying a prize to a junior who has already been selected is very disrespectful, and could do much more damage than good. I truly believe I have made an appropriate choice with Nicole, and wish all the best to others who may be eligible for future awards.

Here is the basic criteria -

Main criteria used to judge:

- Must be a junior, under the age of 18
- Must be a member of both the CFC and CMA
- Must appear in the Top 50 list for their grade/age group in 2010
- Displays commitment through participation in a variety of tournaments in 2010; active tournaments count for participation; at-home matches do not count
- Substantial rating growth in both CFC (regular rating) and CMA in 2010
- General consistency - for instance, performance ratings generally higher than ratings entering tournaments
- Preference is given to those who achieved a score of 50% or more in a few large events (provincial, national, continental), particularly the CYCC
- Significant achievements/performances/training/teamwork are considered
- Rating progress for new players is judged based on their first rating, where available, rather than zero
- Factors such as province, gender, school, chess club, etc. are considered irrelevant in the selection process

Exclusions:

- Anyone affiliated with me or my blog, such as past students, co-instructors, and library volunteers, is excluded from receiving the monetary prize
- Anyone known to be receiving funding from another source (like CMA) is also excluded
- In future years, the fund cannot be claimed by the same recipient unless the fund structure changes significantly

[Hazel Smith]

Re: Youth Girls Award

Hi Jin,

Hazel is the one who created this prize with money that are coming from her family. She is the one who decide who is winning and you don't have to be informed, asked or anything else regarding this award.

I believe as women chess coordinator you first responsibility is to find an organizer for Women Closed Championship, and so far nothing been announced.

Cheers
Andrei

PS
Congrats to Hazel for this great idea, and to Razvan and Nicole for this great result.

Thanks Andrei!

[Hazel Smith]

Re: Youth Girls Award

Hazel: "The new Youth Girls Award will provide $100 to one female player in the Top 12 each year for at least five years."


Jin Daxin: "Hazel Smith's regulation:
female player in the Top 12 each year for at least five years"
??????

I have clarified the criteria/regulations in another post in this thread.

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: Youth Girls Award

Perhaps any confusion, Hazel, might be clarified by saying that a Youth Girls Award is going to be given annually to one young girl or another for at least the next five years, and for any year the young girl chosen would be from the Top 12 for that year?

At least that's my interpretation of what has been posted in this thread so far.

[Hazel Smith]

Re: Youth Girls Award

Perhaps any confusion, Hazel, might be clarified by saying that a Youth Girls Award is going to be given annually to one young girl or another for at least the next five years, and for any year the young girl chosen would be from the Top 12 for that year?

At least that's my interpretation of what has been posted in this thread so far.

Yes, thank you for your clarification. Please note that the 'Top 12' refers to the Elaine Howie Fund Top 12 that have been selected on my blog (only if no female player makes the Elaine Howie Fund Top 12 will other girls be reconsidered), not the top 12 on a particular rating list.

[David Ottosen]

Re: Youth Girls Award

I am the women chess coordinator

Please outline what accomplishments you've achieved in your time as women's coordinator?

BTW, although I think "women's chess" is a silly distinction, I fully support any person who wishes to raise their own funds to support whatever they want, and kudos to Hazel for taking the initiative to do so.