10. Any other business

[Lyle Craver]

Any other business not listed on the agenda may be posted for discussion here. At our discretion the President or Secretary may move any such items to its own thread if we decide there is sufficient VM business.

[Victor Plotkin]

As you know, Canada plays in on-line Olympiad. Our schedule:

FIDE published our pool and schedule.

We play:

1. Aug 21 at 1 PM - Argentina-Canada

2. Aug 21 at 2 PM - Canada-Poland

3. Aug 21 at 3 PM - Peru-Canada

4. Aug 22 at 1 PM - Cuba-Canada

5. Aug 22 at 2 PM - Canada-Greece

6. Aug 22 at 3 PM - Paraguay-Canada

7. Aug 23 at 1 PM - Canada-Italy

8. Aug 23 at 2 PM - Brazil-Canada

9. Aug 23 at 3 PM - Canada-USA

We didn't get any team from Africa, but we got just 2 very strong teams (USA, Poland). If we play well, we have some chances to finish third.

[Victor Plotkin]

Just to understand "Who is who" in our group, I calculated the average FIDE rating for each team. I used the 6 top boards only ("starting" players). Also, I used standard (not rapid) FIDE rating, since I guess it's more accurate in some cases.

1. USA 2566
2. Poland 2523
3. Greece 2440
4. Cuba 2436
5. Italy 2408
6. Peru 2352
7. Canada 2347
8. Argentina 2301
9. Brazil 2294
10. Paraguay 2238

[Michael Barron]

Thank you, Victor, for information!
Good luck to Team Canada!

[ian findlay]

Agree with Michael Barron. Thank you Victor for the information and all the work your have done. Thanks to the players who will be representing Canada. It is nice to see FIDE holding this event online, even though it will not be the same. Hopefully things will get back to normal next year.

[Pierre Dénommée]

In Quebec, tournaments valid for maintaining an IA active are usually held in Montreal or very near to Montreal in July and very rarely at any other time. The pandemic is worst in Montreal than anywhere else in Canada. All relevant tournaments have been cancelled and we don't know when normal (as it was before the pandemic) activities will be allowed to resume. Does FIDE has any plan to take that in consideration when deciding on inactivity of players and arbiters?

[Aris Marghetis]

In Quebec, tournaments valid for maintaining an IA active are usually held in Montreal or very near to Montreal in July and very rarely at any other time. The pandemic is worst in Montreal than anywhere else in Canada. All relevant tournaments have been cancelled and we don't know when normal (as it was before the pandemic) activities will be allowed to resume. Does FIDE has any plan to take that in consideration when deciding on inactivity of players and arbiters?

Yes, measure(s) to "skip year" about to be announced (maybe already has) by FIDE Arbiters' Commission.

[Pierre Dénommée]

Yes, measure(s) to "skip year" about to be announced (maybe already has) by FIDE Arbiters' Commission.

It is nice to know that. Thanks Aris!

[Don Parakin]

Newbie VM question here (apologies if I'm the only one who doesn't know). Of the 4 "Officer" positions (not "Executive"), we had nominations for 2: Ratings Auditor and Women's Coordinator. But we did not have nominations for the other 2: Master's Representative and Publicity Officer. Why is that?

[Vladimir Drkulec]

Masters rep is chosen at the Canadian Closed by the players in the premiere or top section.

The publicity officer position has been eliminated by the executive. We occasionally eliminate, or create new officer positions as the need arises.

Some highlights over the years:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/hockey-chess-windsor-1.3728135


https://i.cbc.ca/1.3731422.1471898097!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/henry-zhang.JPG (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/hockey-chess-windsor-1.3728135)

Young athletes turn to chess for strategic skill development | CBC News (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/hockey-chess-windsor-1.3728135)
Henry Zang says he's a better hockey player because of his love of chess. The 13-year-old athlete plays Windsor Spitfire Bantam Minor hockey and a host of other sports.
www.cbc.ca





https://windsorstar.com/news/windsor-a-hotbed-of-chess-hosts-canadian-championship/


https://postmediawindsorstar2.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/chess_championships-11.jpg (https://windsorstar.com/news/windsor-a-hotbed-of-chess-hosts-canadian-championship/)

A hotbed of chess, Windsor hosts Canadian championship | Windsor Star (https://windsorstar.com/news/windsor-a-hotbed-of-chess-hosts-canadian-championship/)
Anitej Bhaskar, from Windsor, thinks about a move during the Canadian Youth Chess Championships hosted by The Windsor Chess Club, held at St. Clair Centre for the Arts in Windsor, Ontario on July ...
windsorstar.com





https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/too-many-canadian-girls-abandoning-chess-in-high-school-governing-body-1.1911967


https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.1911971.1405277268!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/image.jpg (https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/too-many-canadian-girls-abandoning-chess-in-high-school-governing-body-1.1911967)

Too many Canadian girls abandoning chess in high school: governing body | CTV News (https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/too-many-canadian-girls-abandoning-chess-in-high-school-governing-body-1.1911967)
There is something about the high school years that makes female chess enthusiasts stop playing, the game's governing body says. According to the Chess Federation of Canada, while interest in ...
www.ctvnews.ca





https://www.cbc.ca/life/culture/the-beginner-s-guide-to-the-greatest-pastimes-chess-1.5224064


https://i.cbc.ca/1.5224123.1564006184!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/chess.jpg (https://www.cbc.ca/life/culture/the-beginner-s-guide-to-the-greatest-pastimes-chess-1.5224064)

The beginner's guide to the greatest pastimes: Chess | CBC Life (https://www.cbc.ca/life/culture/the-beginner-s-guide-to-the-greatest-pastimes-chess-1.5224064)
Chess has an undeniable mystique. You've seen it in the movies: Xavier vs. Magneto; Holmes vs. Moriarty; Frank vs. HAL.No dice, no random deal of cards, just mortal enemies locked in a war of wits.
www.cbc.ca

[Vladimir Drkulec]

https://www.durhamregion.com/news-story/4629870-too-few-women-in-chess-governing-body/



Too few women in chess: governing body | DurhamRegion.com (https://www.durhamregion.com/news-story/4629870-too-few-women-in-chess-governing-body/)
There is something about the high school years that makes female chess enthusiasts stop playing, the game's governing body says. According to the Chess Federation of Canada, while interest in playing competitively wanes for both genders in their teens, the percentage of girls who drop out is higher than boys, resulting in abysmally few women at the game's top levels.
www.durhamregion.com




https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/05/22/a-grand-new-future-for-canadas-chess-hopes.html



A Grand new future for Canada’s chess hopes | The Star (https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/05/22/a-grand-new-future-for-canadas-chess-hopes.html)
“You’re hungry,” he says. “Your eyes, they tell me.” The second son of two schoolteachers in the Ural Mountain town of Yemanzhelinsk, Bareev was born on Nov. 21, 1966.
www.thestar.com




http://gomembership.com/archives/news/2018/11/chess-federation-of-canada.aspx


Chess Federation of Canada - GoMembership (http://gomembership.com/archives/news/2018/11/chess-federation-of-canada.aspx)
GoMembership makes another winning move as we announce The Chess Federation of Canada as our latest customer. Founded in 1872, the Chess Federation of Canada is the governing body for chess in Canada.
gomembership.com




https://thegauntlet.ca/2018/11/21/is-chess-a-sport-yes-according-to-some-experts/



Is chess a sport? Yes, according to some experts - The Gauntlet (https://thegauntlet.ca/2018/11/21/is-chess-a-sport-yes-according-to-some-experts/)
By Kristy Koehler, November 21 2018 — If you ask the people around you whether or not chess is a sport, chances are that most will say no. However, the Oxford English Dictionary defines a sport as “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others […]
thegauntlet.ca

[Vladimir Drkulec]

They spelled my name wrong. They bought a vowel

http://iog.ca/img/_profile/Vlad-Drkulec-Head-shot1a.png.jpg Vladimir Drkulec

President and Chairman of the board at the Chess Federation of Canada
A national chess master in Canada and the United States who has been the President and Chairman of the board at the Chess Federation of Canada (CFC) for the last six terms. Previously he prepared the Strategic Plan for the CFC and served as the Master's Representative after being elected at the Canadian Closed Championship and Zonal in 2011 by the other players. Vlad has spent most of his life working in IT or Technical Sales including selling and supporting factory automation software. Vladimir has an MBA and undergraduate degrees from the University of Windsor where he taught freshman business finance for five years in the early 1990s. He also has a diploma in Electrical Engineering Technology from St. Clair College in Windsor. He is a well known chess coach, organizer and arbiter with the National Arbiter and FIDE Instructor credentials from the World Chess Federation (FIDE). He still plays tournament chess at every opportunity and he also enjoys sharing his knowledge with the next generation of players whatever their age. Many of his former students are much better players than he was which is a point of pride. He has taught many Canadian Youth Chess Champions and hopes to continue doing so, well into the future.




https://iog.ca/events/iog-future-forum-annual-conference/



The Future Forum | Institute on Governance (https://iog.ca/events/iog-future-forum-annual-conference/)
Kent Aitken is a participant observer of the changing governance environment in Canada. He has worked with academic institutions, conferences, and think tanks including the Public Policy Forum and the Mowat Centre to research and communicate about digitally-driven trends and challenges.
iog.ca




https://www.durhamregion.com/news-story/4629870-too-few-women-in-chess-governing-body/



Too few women in chess: governing body | DurhamRegion.com (https://www.durhamregion.com/news-story/4629870-too-few-women-in-chess-governing-body/)
There is something about the high school years that makes female chess enthusiasts stop playing, the game's governing body says. According to the Chess Federation of Canada, while interest in playing competitively wanes for both genders in their teens, the percentage of girls who drop out is higher than boys, resulting in abysmally few women at the game's top levels.
www.durhamregion.com




https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/05/22/a-grand-new-future-for-canadas-chess-hopes.html



A Grand new future for Canada’s chess hopes | The Star (https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/05/22/a-grand-new-future-for-canadas-chess-hopes.html)
“You’re hungry,” he says. “Your eyes, they tell me.” The second son of two schoolteachers in the Ural Mountain town of Yemanzhelinsk, Bareev was born on Nov. 21, 1966.
www.thestar.com




http://gomembership.com/archives/news/2018/11/chess-federation-of-canada.aspx


Chess Federation of Canada - GoMembership (http://gomembership.com/archives/news/2018/11/chess-federation-of-canada.aspx)
GoMembership makes another winning move as we announce The Chess Federation of Canada as our latest customer. Founded in 1872, the Chess Federation of Canada is the governing body for chess in Canada.
gomembership.com




https://thegauntlet.ca/2018/11/21/is-chess-a-sport-yes-according-to-some-experts/



Is chess a sport? Yes, according to some experts - The Gauntlet (https://thegauntlet.ca/2018/11/21/is-chess-a-sport-yes-according-to-some-experts/)
By Kristy Koehler, November 21 2018 — If you ask the people around you whether or not chess is a sport, chances are that most will say no. However, the Oxford English Dictionary defines a sport as “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others […]
thegauntlet.ca



https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/eight-extraordinary-canadians-on-whether-talent-is-innate-or-learned

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

The publicity officer position has been eliminated by the executive. We occasionally eliminate, or create new officer positions as the need arises.


VM can make a vote on the Exec decision the next Quarterly meeting. In principle is should have been done during this one. However the decision was not communicated, I think it is fair that it could be done during the next if there is a need.

[Stephen Wright]

Late in the day I know, but I would like to at least mention two stagnant topics:

1) the handbook - what will it take to move forward on revising it? I am willing to help ...

2) arbiter training and accreditation - we are supposed to have a program covering these areas (LTD/RTD/NTD), but AFAIK it only exists in name. But surely this should be the foundation for maintaining and improving the tournament experience for our members? (I wrote a cheque once to the CFC to write a TD exam; the cheque was returned to me because the exam didn't exist. This was at least 15 years ago and is the reason I went the FIDE route - there wasn't/isn't a national alternative.)

[Vladimir Drkulec]

Hi Stephen,

We should also form a committee on the handbook. There are a few individuals who have expressed an interest in moving this forward and even some who have taken responsibility for individual sections. If we pass two or three modified handbook sections in each quarterly meeting we can certainly have a large portion of a reconstituted handbook done by the end of the next AGM. Let us make it happen.

Pierre Denommee has also expressed interest in this arbiter training idea. We should look into it with a few arbiters on board. I would avoid duplicating what FIDE is doing and costs to the arbiters should be minimal.

[Christopher Field]

Hi Stephen,

We should also form a committee on the handbook. There are a few individuals who have expressed an interest in moving this forward and even some who have taken responsibility for individual sections. If we pass two or three modified handbook sections in each quarterly meeting we can certainly have a large portion of a reconstituted handbook done by the end of the next AGM. Let us make it happen.

Pierre Denommee has also expressed interest in this arbiter training idea. We should look into it with a few arbiters on board. I would avoid duplicating what FIDE is doing and costs to the arbiters should be minimal.

Just a note to all Voting Members: Pierre's name is Pierre Dénommée. It's quite easy with any pc to type this: the code for é is alt 130.

A few other useful codes: ç as in François is alt 135 ; É is alt 144 ; Ç alt 128 ; è alt 138 ; î alt 140

I am sure all members would appreciate a little effort to spell their names correctly.

[Pierre Dénommée]

2) arbiter training and accreditation - we are supposed to have a program covering these areas (LTD/RTD/NTD), but AFAIK it only exists in name. But surely this should be the foundation for maintaining and improving the tournament experience for our members? (I wrote a cheque once to the CFC to write a TD exam; the cheque was returned to me because the exam didn't exist. This was at least 15 years ago and is the reason I went the FIDE route - there wasn't/isn't a national alternative.)

Examinations do exist in French only and are used by the FQÉ. Many volunteers did wrote questions for the examination,. The original LTD examination has been written by Me Robert Finta, I am aware that the following persons did contribute to the successive versions of the examination: IA Yves Casaubon, FA Jean-Roger Boutin and myself.

The RTD examination is under construction.

The FQÉ has 4 levels, but many arbiters have chosen to ignore level 3 and go directly for the FIDE Arbiter title. France has completely redone its arbiters levels to be coherent with FIDE. Seminars for teaching FIDE titles and FIDE ratings have been abolished as well as the arbiter's level that was associated with those seminars. There is no point duplicating FIDE's works.

Each level obeys two principles: separating the content into manageable chunks so that no seminars be longer the two days and representing something in the real world. LTD is associated with basic knowledge of the Laws of Chess and paring of non-Swiss tournaments. Other subjects include tiebreak, sharing of prices, Standards of equipment for pieces, board and clocks, introduction to Fair Play, FQÉ rating calculations and FQÉ specific regulation. Practical clock manipulation is also a strong subject.

RTD has one primary focus: Swiss Pairings. Participant need to learn both the theory and the practical use of a FIDE endorsed Swiss Pairing software. This is followed by an in tournament validation by the Chief Arbiter who is at least an FQÉ Senior Arbiter. The Candidate must be either Deputy Chief Arbiter or at least Section Arbiter with full responsibility for the parings of his section. The validation step has been there for many years, but without teaching theory, there is a high risk that the arbiter will simply thrust the output of the computer without understanding it and without performing even basic checks to ensure that the computer is right.

Senior Arbiter has one primary focus : developing the judgment of the arbiter in cases not covered or not entirely covered by the Laws of Chess. Before FIDE Dutch pairings, there was a lot of arbiters discretion in pairings and this was covered in this level. Nowadays, FIDE in unable to admit that arbiter's discretion in necessary in Swiss tournaments in which the number of player is less then twice the number of rounds. As demonstrated in the CYCC and other junior events in the World, the Dutch algorithm can produce atrocities when there are too few players, including giving a pairing allocated bye to the highest rated player in the last round of a tournament when such a player is in second place 0.5 points behind the sole leader.

NTD never had examination and should not have examination. It is a proof that an arbiter can officiate in all big CFC events and that can only be demonstrated through real experience in those events.

Another thnig that should be done is helping junior arbiters. Actually, they are basically on their own after graduation. Most other sport use at least supervisors or supervisors and evaluators to assist their arbiters. Supervisors evaluate arbiters without formally grading them (formative assessment) and evaluators assign numeric grades (summative assessment) that could have dire consequences on an arbiter's career. For example of such program see https://cdn.hockeycanada.ca/hockey-canada/Hockey-Programs/Officiating/Downloads/supervisors_handbook_e.pdf and https://bvcc.net.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2016/05/Supervisors-Manual.pdf .

This summarize the most important features of a good supervision program.

“Every referee needs to identify how and why things occur. Referee coaching, in fact any coaching is about positive and negative situations and need to be discussed. Coaches need to praise the good, not just highlight the bad. Referee Coaching is about correcting deficiencies, by providing critical but constructive evaluation. We must not only highlight errors or deficiencies, otherwise we run the risk of creating a totally negative environment that does not promote growth or harness talent. We must praise good performance and effort so as to engage and empower the referee to learn from their mistakes and reach for continual improvement.”

Evaluating chess arbiters is much harder than evaluating the referee in other sports. In basketball, fools will occur, in a hockey, there will be penalties, in baseball, multiple safe/out and ball/strike decisions are made in a single game, in tennis and volleyball, a referee decision is required to award each point. In each game of traditional sport, the umpire/referee are taking multiple decisions that an evaluator seated in the spectator rows can judge. But about 99% of all chess games will reach their natural conclusion without any arbiter intervention. Spectators seats, when they exists, are located near the top boards and a supervisor seated there would not see the arbiter's actions on board 200. Hal did suffer from the absence of a recognized method for evaluating arbiters' performance. If this was an easy task, it would have been done long ago. Evaluation by the Chief Arbiter may looks nice, until you realize that a bad decision accepted by both players will never reach the Chief Arbiter and that a good decision not accepted by one player will reach the Chief Arbiter.

Traditional sports have another huge advantage over chess: when an arbiter becomes to old to skate at the required speed, run at the required speed or run continuously during a whole period, his career is finished. Those experienced arbiters make excellent lecturers, supervisors and evaluator because they are not evaluating arbiters in direct competition with themselves. Arbiters in direct competition for a tournament should never be allowed to evaluate each other. For example, if A and B both want to be Chief Arbiter of the World Championship, A cannot evaluate B and B cannot evaluate A. Similar conflicts between arbiters exists at a much lower level. Finding an appropriate impartial evaluator could be impossible. The big sport Federations may have more then 16 000 level one arbiters. With such numbers, finding an evaluator who is at arm's length with the evaluated person is much easier.

Another obstacle to supervision and evaluation is cost. Even if they are volunteers, we still must refund their expenses.

[Pierre Dénommée]

Just a note to all Voting Members: Pierre's name is Pierre Dénommée. It's quite easy with any pc to type this: the code for é is alt 130.

A few other useful codes: ç as in François is alt 135 ; É is alt 144 ; Ç alt 128 ; è alt 138 ; î alt 140

I am sure all members would appreciate a little effort to spell their names correctly.

Thank you!

You remind me of my early days at the University. As soon as the word processing software became capable of processing French characters, my professor made it mandatory to use accents in all homework or otherwise we would have to accept the deduction for typos. At that time, there was no such thing as a French Canadian keyboard, so everybody was forced to use the Alt-number option. It is amazing that this trick still works in UTF8 documents.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

Sorry, I had a good friend and a classmate that uses the spelling I sometimes default to.