English Counties Girls Chess Federation

  The Year Letter system of identification for junior chess players

This system has been used in the ECGCF for many years. It is invaluable as an aid in keeping track of large numbers of junior players such as may accumulate in a database over a number of years.

Each player who enters the system is allocated a letter according to her date of birth. This letter stays with her throughout her junior career and is included on any database holding her details. The letters in use at present are shown below:

 

Year Letter

Date of birth in range

Q

1 Sept 1984 - 31 August 1985

R

1 Sept 1985 - 31 August 1986

S

1 Sept 1986 - 31 August 1987

T

1 Sept 1987 - 31 August 1988

U

1 Sept 1988 - 31 August 1989

V

1 Sept 1989 - 31 August 1990

W

1 Sept 1990 - 31 August 1991

X

1 Sept 1991 - 31 August 1992

Y

1 Sept 1992 - 31 August 1993

Z

1 Sept 1993 - 31 August 1994

A

1 Sept 1994 - 31 August 1995

B

1 Sept 1995 - 31 August 1996

C

1 Sept 1996 - 31 August 1997

D

1 Sept 1997 - 31 August 1998

E

1 Sept 1998 - 31 August 1999

F

1 Sept 1999 - 31 August 2000

G

1 Sept 2000 - 31 August 2001

H

1 Sept 2001 - 31 August 2002

Of course, when Z has been reached we start again at A. Since only around half of the alphabet is in use at any one time, no confusion is created.

Two of the most major advantages of the system are:

1. When looking at a screenful of data it is far easier to pick out one letter than a date of birth in digital form, or even "U 11" etc.

2. At the year end there is no need for data to be updated as the letters are a permanent property of the players concerned.

I can recommend this system strongly. I hope that more junior organisations will adopt it as time goes on. With a little bit of ingenuity the year-letter could be incorporated into the player's grading reference.

 

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