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Controversy over the England Team for TurinLast Edited: Tuesday April 4, 2006 6:14 PMJohn Saunders (writing on 30 March) comments: It is now more than
a month since most UK chess federations announced their squads for the
Turin
Olympiad, which starts on 20 may, but there has been no official announcement
(but see below) of the English team. However, it
appears that the line-up (of the men's team at least) was finalised some
time ago. I've asked the federation for confirmation of the rumoured team
a couple of times but been told it would be announced 'soon'. However,
I think we can take it that the rumour is right (it has not been denied)
and that the men's team (with January and April ratings shown) is Adams
(2707/2720), Short (2676/2668), Speelman (2539/2551), Gormally (2573/2554),
Conquest (2522/2505), N Pert (2500/2494). But what is not clear is
why higher rated players have been overlooked. Leaving aside Nunn, Sadler
and Hodgson, who have either retired or become inactive, and Luke McShane,
who will be busy doing university exams in May, several other players
are rated significantly higher than the bottom two boards selected. [start] Statement over Olympiad Team Selection From We are surprised by the selections for the Olympiad team. Judged by rating, for example, a different team would have been picked. No doubt the selection was made with certain criteria in mind, but what these criteria were, and whether they were applied across the whole team, is not clear to us. Basically, there is a lack of transparency about the selection procedure. In other countries, the selection criteria are set out clearly, leaving no room for doubt or speculation. Can we suggest that in future the same is done here? Which criteria are used is up for discussion. Some countries go strictly by rating. Others have a mix. For example, rating, participation in the national championship, minimum number of games and so on. Whatever is decided, let's just state it clearly. And let's apply it to all team members. We will be contacting the English Chess Federation and the selectors with some more detailed proposals, which we hope will prevent such an unsatisfactory situation occurring again. [end] Provisional ratings for the April 2006 FIDE List are available as follows: Chandler 2551, Hebden 2523, Davies 2521, King 2521, Conquest 2505, Parker 2504, Emms 2502, Turner 2495, Wells 2495, Pert 2494. The two selected players are shown in bold. Today (31 March), speaking purely on his own behalf, GM Murray Chandler has added to and expanded the above statement as follows: [start] From Grandmaster Murray Chandler During March the English Chess Olympiad Team for Turin was selected. For some reason, this team has not yet been made public by the English Chess Federation. I was advised in mid-March that my services would not be required. The team is shown [as above]. The April 2006 FIDE ratings reflect results from events PRIOR to the selection being made. As such these results were known (or should have been known) to the selectors when they made their decisions. The rating list shows that I am ranked 46 points above the player selected as board 5, and 57 points above the player selected for board 6. No explanation has been given as to why the selectors excluded me from the team. In any case, it would be extraordinary if a minor subjective issue was used to justify disregarding this enormous differential in rating. Other players with higher ratings than those selected may also feel the selections to have been odd. Daniel King and I have made a joint statement [see above] as regards our hope that future selections may be more transparent. Meanwhile I remain both baffled and frustrated over the current selection. [end] John Saunders comments: It is hard not to sympathise with the
two grandmasters, and it is not just them who have been affected in this
case. The gaps between the selected and non-selected are huge and there
seem to be no other obvious criteria that can justify the selection that
has been made. Chandler and King have both been in excellent form recently,
Daniel King in the 4NCL, and Murray Chandler in the Australian and New
Zealand championships (2nd and 1st respectively). * Latest news (30 March): Some four hours after the above statements were published on this website, the English Chess Federation released the official announcement of their squads. The men's team is as listed above. See below: the full press release.
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