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Thread: 9. New Business

  1. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Garland Best View Post
    I don't think Yelizaveta realizes what can happen when she writes "Also, if I go as a coach next year, I will not have any problems being a guardian for anyone 14 years and older. If the budget towards having a family member to come is hectic, the child can use myself or another coach as a guardian."

    I run a scout venturers troup for six boys, ages 15 and 16. To do this for Scouts Canada I needed FIVE character references, both male and female, undergo interviews, and go though a full police check.
    The problem even with this somewhat stringent procedure is that someone like former hockey coach Graham James or any number of members of the clergy who have been later charged with crimes against children would no doubt have easily gotten the requisite character references and passed the police clearance.

    In addition I have to go through tens of hours of online training. All for good reason. The liabilities associated with being responsible for youths are horrendous. If something ever went wrong on one of these events, the repercussions could destroy the CFC.
    It would simply not be possible for someone who is acting as a coach for ten players to adequately supervise them in a foreign country and undertake to provide the chess coaching required. The CFC can find coaches but finding guardians is extremely dangerous. The members of the executive would also be exposed to the loss of all of their assets if something ever went horribly wrong. The laws of entropy assure that the potential for things to go horribly wrong is there always and it doesn't even have to be in any way the fault of the coach/guardian for the consequences to the child, the coach, the CFC and the liable members of the board to be catastrophic.


    I'm sure the CFC Youth Commitee is well aware of these concerns and follows some set of rules and guidelines. However just compare the two organizations and you will see just how poorly protected we are.
    This is grounds for concern.

  2. #22
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    Did underage Olympiad team members go with their parents too?
    .*-1

  3. #23

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    Hello Everyone,

    I just saw one of my good friends, Konstantin Semianiuk.

    He got 3rd place at WYCC for U18 boys. He told me that he never even got an email about WYCC.
    I think that this is a bit absurd because he did make it to the top 3, and yet he never got an email offering him to go to WYCC?
    If the 1st and 2nd place did not go, why was Konstantin not contacted?

    This is why Michael and I felt a little confused about how there was no U18 boy to represent our country.
    I am almost certain if Konstantin was invited we would have had a boy to represent Canada in the U18 section.

    Anyways, the past is the past - just think it's important next year to try our best to get at least one person to represent each section.

    Thanks!

  4. #24

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    Also, about being a guardian - I was just making a suggestion. I did not want to say anything wrong. I just want all potential Canadian stars have a chance to play at the WYCC and not have finances to be a concern in them going/not going. I did not think about the reasons you listed, I am sorry. I did however once or twice go to WYCC without my parents: a parent of one of the participants was my guardian. Same as when I went to the Olympiad at the age of 15, Dina Kagramanov was my guardian for that tournament.
    Last edited by Yelizaveta Orlova; 01-09-2014 at 12:50 AM.

  5. #25
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    Hi Yelizaveta.

    Nothing wrong with suggesting being a guardian. Keep making suggestions, that's how progress is made. I just wanted to make known what concerns are related to it.

  6. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yelizaveta Orlova View Post
    Hello Everyone,

    I just saw one of my good friends, Konstantin Semianiuk.

    He got 3rd place at WYCC for U18 boys. He told me that he never even got an email about WYCC.
    I think that this is a bit absurd because he did make it to the top 3, and yet he never got an email offering him to go to WYCC?
    If the 1st and 2nd place did not go, why was Konstantin not contacted?

    This is why Michael and I felt a little confused about how there was no U18 boy to represent our country.
    I am almost certain if Konstantin was invited we would have had a boy to represent Canada in the U18 section.

    Anyways, the past is the past - just think it's important next year to try our best to get at least one person to represent each section.

    Thanks!
    I am looking into this. I know that as late as September 27th, David Zhang who finished 1st was still listed as going as the official representative. I believe he was still trying to get permission to reschedule some of his exams from his school at that point in time which he was ultimately not able to do if I understand the situation correctly.

    According to my spreadsheet from August 28 an email was sent to a yahoo account listed for Konstantin enquiring about his interest in participating at WYCC.


    --Forwarded Message Attachment--
    From: info@chess.ca
    To: flee1@sympatico.ca
    CC: vdrkulec@hotmail.com
    Subject: 2013 World Youth Chess Championships
    Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2013 06:45:54 -0500

    Dear 2013 CYCC Participant,

    You are receiving this message in relation to your qualification for the 2013 WYCC in Al-Ain, UAE. The event runs from the 17th to the 29th of December of this year and offers room, board and shuttle, among other services, for 30 Euros per person per day. Further information on the event can be found at the following link: http://www.worldyouth2013.com/.

    We ask that all qualifiers, regardless of standing, get back to us by Friday, August 16th, indicating whether they intend to participate in this event. Soon after, we will work with you as a group to register our delegation with the organizers.

    First place finishers in each category at this year’s CYCC are entitled to receive bursaries toward their cost of travel. In the past, this has been $1,000 per official representative. Top finishers in each category at the 2013 CYCC were as follows:

    U08G – Harmony Zhu
    U10G – Jeannie Zhang
    U12G – Maili-Jade Ouellet
    U14G – Qiyu Zhou
    U16G – Rebecca Giblon
    U18G – Alice Huanyi Xiao

    U08 – Nameer Issani
    U10 – Luke Pulfer
    U12 – Kevin Wan
    U14 – Jason Cao
    U16 – Adam Dorrance
    U18 – David Zhang

    Congratulations to all qualifiers. We encourage each of you to participate and wish you the best of success in this event.

    Best wishes,

    Michael von Keitz
    Chess Federation of Canada

    To: Frank Lee, CFC Youth Coordinator
    CC: Vlad Drkulec, CFC President





    Michael von Keitz has confirmed that this email was sent to the email address of record for Konstantin and there was no response. Konstantin is identified on the spreadsheet as finishing 3rd at CYCC on tie break. There are emails listed for all of the top finishers in U18 open at CYCC. Emails are listed for all of the following and emails were presumably sent along to each of them. Two of the players that tied with Konstantin said they would not attend and I recall seeing emails or copies of emails for them.

    David Zhang (1st)
    Aquino Inigo (2nd)
    Nikita Kraiouchkine
    David Itkin
    Mate Marinkovic
    Mike Ivanov
    Konstantin Semianiuk (3rd)

    I do recall Konstantin's name coming up in conversation but I don't remember if that was a phone conversation or if it was an email. If it was email I haven't found it.
    Last edited by Vladimir Drkulec; 01-09-2014 at 03:46 AM.

  7. #27
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    Question inquiry or invitation?

    Quote Originally Posted by Vladimir Drkulec View Post
    I am looking into this. I know that as late as September 27th, David Zhang who finished 1st was still listed as going as the official representative. I believe he was still trying to get permission to reschedule some of his exams from his school at that point in time which he was ultimately not able to do if I understand the situation correctly.

    According to my spreadsheet from August 28 an email was sent to a yahoo account listed for Konstantin enquiring about his interest in participating at WYCC.
    Thank you, Vlad, for information!

    We all understand a difference between official player and additional player.
    As well we all understand a difference between inquiry and invitation.

    The question is:
    On September 28th, when David Zhang informed you that he is unable to attend WYCC, what CFC could do to find a replacement?

    The CFC Handbook says:
    If the winner is unable to participate, the second place finisher shall be invited to go in his place.


    Was it done?

    Quote Originally Posted by Vladimir Drkulec View Post

    --Forwarded Message Attachment--
    From: info@chess.ca
    To: flee1@sympatico.ca
    CC: vdrkulec@hotmail.com
    Subject: 2013 World Youth Chess Championships
    Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2013 06:45:54 -0500

    Dear 2013 CYCC Participant,

    You are receiving this message in relation to your qualification for the 2013 WYCC in Al-Ain, UAE. The event runs from the 17th to the 29th of December of this year and offers room, board and shuttle, among other services, for 30 Euros per person per day. Further information on the event can be found at the following link: http://www.worldyouth2013.com/.

    We ask that all qualifiers, regardless of standing, get back to us by Friday, August 16th, indicating whether they intend to participate in this event. Soon after, we will work with you as a group to register our delegation with the organizers.

    First place finishers in each category at this year’s CYCC are entitled to receive bursaries toward their cost of travel. In the past, this has been $1,000 per official representative. Top finishers in each category at the 2013 CYCC were as follows:

    U08G – Harmony Zhu
    U10G – Jeannie Zhang
    U12G – Maili-Jade Ouellet
    U14G – Qiyu Zhou
    U16G – Rebecca Giblon
    U18G – Alice Huanyi Xiao

    U08 – Nameer Issani
    U10 – Luke Pulfer
    U12 – Kevin Wan
    U14 – Jason Cao
    U16 – Adam Dorrance
    U18 – David Zhang

    Congratulations to all qualifiers. We encourage each of you to participate and wish you the best of success in this event.

    Best wishes,

    Michael von Keitz
    Chess Federation of Canada

    To: Frank Lee, CFC Youth Coordinator
    CC: Vlad Drkulec, CFC President
    Hopefully, you would agree that this email hardly could be considered as invitation for Konstantin to go as the official player with a bursary toward cost of travel.
    Is it unreasonable to expect a personal invitation explaining all the details?
    Thanks,
    Michael Barron

  8. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Barron View Post
    Thank you, Vlad, for information!

    We all understand a difference between official player and additional player.
    As well we all understand a difference between inquiry and invitation.
    That was the invitation, the call to adventure. Declining or ignoring the call can result in regrets.

    The question is:
    On September 28th, when David Zhang informed you that he is unable to attend WYCC, what CFC could do to find a replacement?
    David Zhang was still the official player up to October 2nd, according to Andrew Giblon at which point it became clear that he would not be going because of school requirements with respect to exams. At that point we were scrambling to simply get everything done to register the team. None of the players who needed visas had them. The WYCC organizers seemed to be ignoring our barrage of emails. The required payments changed adding 30 euros to the cost for everyone. Some federations managed this chaos better than others.

    Quote Originally Posted by Vadim Tsypin
    Team Canada,

    Now that everyone had lived through a full day of trials and tribulations, you have personally experienced various aspects of the chaos still reigning at the WYCC. The organizers are very warm people genuinely trying to make it a good event, but their approaches just don't scale, so they have to learn - with us reaping the consequences.

    As someone who came in four days earlier to prepare the ground and was engaged in long and extensive discussions with both Mr. Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh and Dr. Nasser Al Salem Al Ameri since December 13, please allow me to tell you that there were myriads of serious problems that snared even the delegations much bigger than ours. I have manually sorted the pile of visa originals that were all over makeshift tables in the magnificent main building of the Al-Ain Chess and Culture Club - with photos not matching names and names assigned to wrong countries. There was a huge European team, 16 members of whom had to spend the first night on the lobby floor since the room payments were wrong. There were teams who couldn't have their badges printed yesterday morning since only part of their FIDE fees were paid. There were dozens of other emergencies that had one thing in common: the team coordinators back in their countries dropped the ball and some point and put their delegations in precarious positions.

    What was different for Canada? Our coordinator, Frank Lee, shined through and came on top of every issue that was within his power - and even beyond.

    Yes, all of us were sometimes tempted to demonstrate weakness and let frustration take over when Frank couldn't give precise answers to seemingly straighforward questions we were asking him back in Canada. Now that we have seen the Oriental way of doing business, we can appreciate even more that Frank was frustrated ten times more than any of us, and still he carried on, and was unfailingly polite and courteous with everyone. I won't bother you with awful details, but let me bear witness that every large team, bar none, was faced with a major crisis on Dec 14-17 that was due to a mistake or omission of their coordinators. Yes, Americans had tremendous clout and Jerry Nash's personal connections, so they recovered from theirs pretty quickly, but Frank Lee's tireless work made it possible for Canada to be in the best shape and avoid such crises altogether.

    Frank's job is often thanksless and underappreciated. I'd like to thank him from the bottom of our hearts.

    We love you Frank! :-)

    --
    V.T.
    The CFC Handbook says:
    If the winner is unable to participate, the second place finisher shall be invited to go in his place.


    Was it done?



    Hopefully, you would agree that this email hardly could be considered as invitation for Konstantin to go as the official player with a bursary toward cost of travel.
    Is it unreasonable to expect a personal invitation explaining all the details?
    That original email was an invitation to go to WYCC. I think it is reasonable to expect a response from the player. Even a response that he will only go if he gets the official player status. You and I have already been through this dance on the governors forum. If there was a flaw in the process it was that we didn't set earlier deadlines for confirmation of attendance. If there had been more time then perhaps better efforts could have been made. As it was everyone involved in the process of getting our team registered was very busy.

  9. #29

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    I must agree with Michael Barron on this... There is a huge difference between inviting someone at his own cost, and inviting him as the official player. The top players should have been made aware that they could have been the official representatives.

  10. #30
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    Default Problems in the CFC membership database

    I got the email:

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Hi Michael,

    Since you are active in CFC Governor meeting can you point out that Toronto
    FIDE Master Yuanchen Zhang has two FIDE ID numbers:
    #2611902
    #2618915

    The first number has his title and rating, should be kept.
    The Hart House Christmas Open is showing on FIDE site with his wrong
    ID number, presumably should be fixed to his real ID number as it now
    shows him as unrated and impacts other players who played him.
    (see attached image)

    If these issues are not fixed, the errors will multiply exponentially and eventually
    years later CFC administration spends all the time fixing mistakes instead of providing
    originally intended service. By that time the person who caused the problems no longer
    works there and somebody else takes the blame.

    If you post please keep my name out of it, just say a player pointed it out to you.
    Personally I would also ask who is supposed to audit for these errors as there may be
    more of them. Where there is one error, there are how many more we simply do not know.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Could we fix it?
    Thanks,
    Michael Barron

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