THE ECGCF – PROSPECTUS 2003
The
English Counties Girls Chess Federation was set up in late 1998, with the
object of developing and improving chess prospects for girls in England, in
particular by the organisation of an Inter-County team competition for U14
girls, based upon the traditional Counties of England.
HOW THE
COMPETITION IS ARRANGED
Teams
consist of six girls, and for the 2003 competition, they must have been born on
or after 1 September 1988. There is no
lower limit for age, but the Competition is primarily intended for those girls
who are now too old to play in EPSCA events.
The
various County teams are divided into Regions, as can be seen below. In each
Region, a Jamboree is organised, in which the Counties of that Region compete
against each other in a two- or three-round event. This season’s Regional events are being held in late 2001 or
early in 2002, and every effort is made to avoid clashes, especially with EPSCA
fixtures.
The
winners of each of these Regional events are invited to participate in the
Grand Final, which will take place on Saturday 28 June 2002, at Abingdon in
Berkshire. (Date and venue
provisional). The runners-up from each Regional event are able to participate
in the Minor Counties final, which will also be held at Abingdon on the same
date, alongside the Grand Final.
Full
details of the Playing Rules for the 2003 Competition can be found Here.
COUNTY QUALIFICATION
Girls
who play in the ECGCF are expected to have an appropriate County qualification.
This means that they must live in, or have been born in, the County which they
are representing. In this context, the
term “County” means one of the Real (traditional) Counties of England, as
recognised by the Association of British Counties.
If
a girl is qualified by birth to play for one County, but lives in another, it
is for the girl to decide which of the two Counties she wishes to represent,
but no girl may represent more than one County during a season.
THE REGIONS
These
are flexible and depend on which particular Counties are expected to
play in the ECGCF each year. For the 2003 competition, the Regions will
probably be as follows. Dates are given
when known and will be updated. Venues in italics are provisional and subject
to alteration.
|
Region |
Counties |
Venue |
Date |
G* |
P* |
|
Northern |
Lancashire 13 (to Grand Final) Staffordshire 10 (to Minor Final) Cheshire 8 Derbyshire 5 |
Ormskirk Lancashire |
Sat. 11 January 2003 |
1 |
1 |
|
Eastern |
Norfolk Suffolk Lincolnshire (all to Minor Final) |
Regional did not occur |
|
0 |
3 |
|
Western |
Wiltshire 9½ (to Grand Final) Oxfordshire 8½ (to Minor Final) |
Swindon, Wiltshire |
Sat. 23 November 2002 |
1 |
1 |
|
Southern |
Surrey 15½ (to Grand Final) Middlesex 7 (to Minor Final) Sussex 4½ |
Coulsdon, Surrey |
Sat. 21 September 2002 |
1 |
1 |
|
Beginners |
No takers |
|
|
- |
- |
|
Minor Counties Final |
|
Open University Milton Keynes |
Sat 28 June 2003 |
- |
Max 6 |
|
Grand Final |
|
Open University Milton Keynes |
Sat 28 June 2003 |
Max 4 |
- |
|
*The letters G and P
refer to the number of places allocated for that Region to the Grand and
Minor Finals, respectively. These numbers
are provisional and may alter if the number of teams competing changes. |
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|
Any new Counties
wishing to join the ECGCF competition are welcome to do so. They can compete in the Beginner’s Region
in their first Season. Please email sgcl@clara.net
as soon as possible if you wish to take part. |
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|
The above information
refers to season 2003. The 2004
Prospectus will be published in August 2003. |
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TROPHIES
All
teams which win their Regional event will receive a Trophy. There a four Regional Trophies for the
Southern, Western, Eastern and Northern Regions. These were won in 2001-2 by Surrey, Wiltshire, Norfolk and
Staffordshire respectively.
All team members, whether winning or not, will
receive a Certificate, and an ECGCF County badge.
The winners of the Minor Counties final will
receive the Petit Coup, a silver cup, matching but larger than the Regional
Trophies.
The winners of the Grand Final receive the Grand
Cup, a large silver cup, which matches the other Trophies but is larger in
size. These trophies are held until the
corresponding event the following year.
ENTRY FEE
There
is no entry fee to the ECGCF as such, but when you play in your Regional event,
you will probably be asked for £6 (per whole team) towards the Venue
costs. The balance is met by ECGCF
central funds. The £6 per team will
also apply in the Minor and Grand Finals