Canadian Junior - Ont./BC Representation?

[Bob Armstrong]

I have been discussing with the " Atlantic Region " ( well, with PEI and NB ) the possibility of sending a " regional representative " to the Can. Junior in Calgary in Jan. 2012 ( Jan. 5-8 ).

I'd be interested in knowing how many provinces currently subsidize to some extent their top juniors ( Open/Girls ) attending the Canadian Junior.

Any provincial affiliate responses?

In particular, I'm interested in whether the Ontario Chess Association is in any way supporting a top Ontario Junior to go to Calgary for the 2012 Can. Junior. I'm sorry, but I've forgotten whether there was an Ontario Junior Championship in 2011 ( I thought there was, but the OCA website shows the last one as in 2003? ). If so, is s/he being subsidized?

I'm also interested in the BC situation, since they have active junior programs. But the BCCF website does not show any junior champion for 2010 or 2011 - was there any provincial championship? Does BC have any plan to send a BC representative? If so, would they be subsidizing the trip, or seeking sponsors for their rep?

If the Altlantic Region, Ontario and BC could all agree to send a Junior Representative, with subsidization or sponsorship, then maybe they could contact the CFC Youth Coordinator if CFC can do anything to assist. The CFC could then contact the organizers, to see if they could do anything to help.

Then CFC could contact the other 4 provinces ( I don't know the situation in Alberta with respect to a representative junior attending - their website shows a 2010 champion but no 2011 junior champion ) and try to get other provincial/regional representation with some type of provincial subsidy or sponsorship.

The idea is to try to build some type of provincial/regional rivalry back into the Can. Junior, as there used to be in the days of the regional/provincial round robin format - which seems no longer possible due to funding constraints - which is why CFC went to an open swiss format .

Any comments on all this would be welcomed.

Bob - GTCL CFC Governor

[Andrei Botez]

Re: Canadian Junior - Ont./BC Representation?

BC Junior 2011 is schedule on Nov 12-13 2011 and was advertised last week on the BC Junior website:
http://www.bcjuniorchess.com/2011-bc...-championship/

And if you check registration (http://www.cjcc2012.ca/?page_id=15) you can see that BC has already a representative.

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Canadian Junior - Ont./BC Representation?

Hi Andrei:

Thanks!

Is Loren Laceste the 2010 BC Junior Champion? Is he attending solely on his own resources, or does he have any kind of support from the BCCF?

Will the 2011 BC Junior Champion be also attending the Can. Junior 2012? Will he have any BCCF support or sponsorship arrangements?

Bob

[Andrei Botez]

Re: Canadian Junior - Ont./BC Representation?

Tanraj Sohal is the 2010 BC Junior Champion (Loren Laceste did not participate). I don't have an answer for the other questions.

Andrei

[Felix Dumont]

Re : Canadian Junior - Ont./BC Representation?

The Quebec Junior champion received 1500$ in 2011 (2000$ in 2010 if my memory is good), which was to be used to participate at a tournament of his choice (not the Canadian junior in this case). There should not be any official representative from Quebec, especially since it would cost more to participate (air flight) than what the winner could actually win... I guess this is a major problem with the national championships in Canada.

[Bob Armstrong]

Canadian Junior - What is at Stake?

Hi Felix:

Does winning free registration, room and board for the World Junior Chess Championship, + CFC funding toward transportation, + title of Canadian Junior Champion, not make the prize worthwhile to try for for a Quebec Representative to the Canadian Junior ?

Bob

[Roger Patterson]

Re: Canadian Junior - Ont./BC Representation?

I have been discussing with the " Atlantic Region " ( well, with PEI and NB ) the possibility of sending a " regional representative " to the Can. Junior in Calgary in Jan. 2012 ( Jan. 5-8 ).

I'd be interested in knowing how many provinces currently subsidize to some extent their top juniors ( Open/Girls ) attending the Canadian Junior.

Any provincial affiliate responses?

In particular, I'm interested in whether the Ontario Chess Association is in any way supporting a top Ontario Junior to go to Calgary for the 2012 Can. Junior. I'm sorry, but I've forgotten whether there was an Ontario Junior Championship in 2011 ( I thought there was, but the OCA website shows the last one as in 2003? ). If so, is s/he being subsidized?

I'm also interested in the BC situation, since they have active junior programs. But the BCCF website does not show any junior champion for 2010 or 2011 - was there any provincial championship? Does BC have any plan to send a BC representative? If so, would they be subsidizing the trip, or seeking sponsors for their rep?

If the Altlantic Region, Ontario and BC could all agree to send a Junior Representative, with subsidization or sponsorship, then maybe they could contact the CFC Youth Coordinator if CFC can do anything to assist. The CFC could then contact the organizers, to see if they could do anything to help.

Then CFC could contact the other 4 provinces ( I don't know the situation in Alberta with respect to a representative junior attending - their website shows a 2010 champion but no 2011 junior champion ) and try to get other provincial/regional representation with some type of provincial subsidy or sponsorship.

The idea is to try to build some type of provincial/regional rivalry back into the Can. Junior, as there used to be in the days of the regional/provincial round robin format - which seems no longer possible due to funding constraints - which is why CFC went to an open swiss format .

Any comments on all this would be welcomed.

Bob - GTCL CFC Governor

the 2010 Junior champion was Tanraj Sohal. That it is not on the BCCF website is an oversight. A good place to double check for such information is Stephen Wright's page http://www3.telus.net/public/swright2/homepage.html

The junior championship is typically early in November and as Andre notes is scheduled for then. These events are not run by the BCCF but rather by the BC Junior Chess people (a.k.a Ken Jensen) which maintains it's own funding and budget. Funding is not supplied by the BCCF.

As far as other provincial champions go, the BCCF fully funds the BC Closed (and somewhat erratically, the BC Women's Closed) by which I mean free entry, venue costs, TD costs, rating costs, and prize fund (formerly we also provided a small travel allowance but that has been discontinued for budgetary reasons). My understanding is that historically speaking, the prize fund is in lieu of funding to the Canadian Closed. The change was made because of the erratic timing of the Canadian Closed and the format of the Canadian Closed as a semi-open Swiss.

As a personal opinion, I think if you want regional participation for the Closed and Junior Closed, the prestige of those events needs to be restored. Maybe that is a chicken and egg problem but the current format of open or semi-open Swiss for these events is not conducive to encouraging provincial champions to make the trip.

I'll also point out that saying the Swiss format is necessary for funding reasons is misleading. The costs of actually running the tournament are small, well within the budgetary constraints of most organizations including the CFC and are probably less for a round robin than a Swiss with more participants. The funding issue is the "demand" that these events provide a significant prize fund (possibly in the form of travel to the next level), extras for certain players, and the like.

[Felix Dumont]

Re : Canadian Junior - Ont./BC Representation?

I didn't mean to discredit the tournament ; it is definitely a great prize. However, if one has to pay about 1500$ to play in this championship only in order to have a chance to go at the World Junior, he might simply consider registering directly into a big tournament somewhere in Europe in which he would be assured to play against very strong opponents. As I said, this is not of the organizers' fault , but more a problem with the size of our country. They surely do not have this problem in most countries.

[Roger Patterson]

Re: Re : Canadian Junior - Ont./BC Representation?

I didn't mean to discredit the tournament ; it is definitely a great prize. However, if one has to pay about 1500$ to play in this championship only in order to have a chance to go at the World Junior, he might simply consider registering directly into a big tournament somewhere in Europe in which he would be assured to play against very strong opponents. As I said, this is not of the organizers' fault , but more a problem with the size of our country. They surely do not have this problem in most countries.

The World Junior also doesn't seem to have the prestige / draw it once had either and is overshadowed by the WYCC.

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: Canadian Junior - Ont./BC Representation?

Isn't the World Junior still U20, with the WYCC limited to U18 classes and below?

Roger - do you mean that the World Junior has lost its prestige due to fewer (if any) very strong U18's entering it?

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Canadian Junior - BC Junior Chess - BC Representation

Hi Roger:

So as I understand it, the BCCF has devolved responsibility for the BC Junior Championship and the participation, if any, of the BC Junior Champion in the Canadian Junior Championship, to the BC Junior Chess ( aka BC CFC Gov. Ken Jensen ). The BCCF provides no funding in regard to either, nor does it seek out sponsorship to assist either.

Could someone from BC Junior Chess advise whether they provide any subsidization for the BC. Junior Champion to attend the Canadian Junior, or assist in any way re possible sponsorship for this?

Bob

[Dr. Parmjit Sohal]

Re: Canadian Junior - Ont./BC Representation?

BC Junior 2011 is schedule on Nov 12-13 2011 and was advertised last week on the BC Junior website:
http://www.bcjuniorchess.com/2011-bc...-championship/

And if you check registration (http://www.cjcc2012.ca/?page_id=15) you can see that BC has already a representative.

(Tanraj Sohal is the 2010 BC Junior Champion (Loren Laceste did not participate).

Andrei, I am not sure what you are trying to prove. Just because Loren is registered for the Candian Juniors does not mean he is representing BC. 2010 BC Junior champion is Tanraj Sohal. What is the relevance of your statement Loren Laceste did not participate. You should watch what you write.

[Andrei Botez]

Re: Canadian Junior - Ont./BC Representation?

You should watch what you write.

Maybe I wasn't clear enough for you... What I meant was that any BC player playing in a Canadian tournament, is representing BC. Just like Loren would represent BC despite not participating in last year's BC Junior Championship.
Andrei

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Canadian Junior - Ont./BC Representation?

Hi Andrei:

I'd only note that my particular interest however, is whether the junior is formally supported somehow by the Provincial Affiliate, or whomever they delegate to - in BC, the BC Junior Society it appears. These are in a sense " official " provincial reps.

Bob

[Roger Patterson]

Re: Canadian Junior - BC Junior Chess - BC Representation

Hi Roger:

..... The BCCF provides no funding in regard to either, nor does it seek out sponsorship to assist either.
....
Bob

or more precisely, it does not generally do so although it may do so from time to time. It has in the past (for the CYCC in Victoria and for the upcoming 2012 CYCC in Vancouver) provided some funding to the CYCC to aid in supporting the tournament overall.