Just Ask Bob - Zoom meetings

[Bob Gillanders]

Good News & Bad News!!

The good news is our tremendous growth in recent years. Memberships are 5,000 +, new clubs, new organizers, lots of rookie arbiters, new tournaments.

The bad news is our tremendous growth in recent years has created a huge knowledge deficit. This manifests itself in numerous ways:

An increased level of general inquiries from new and old members. Inquiries come via direct email and our website contact feature. I find myself answering the same questions repeatedly even though most answers can be found on the website somewhere. But to be fair, the CFC is a complex mix of rules for memberships, ratings, titles, governance, and everything else.

Our new JustGo online membership system, introduced in 2020 during the COVID shutdown, has been both a blessing and a curse. In hindsight, a very necessary step in our evolution, but if only we could turn back the clock and have a do over. Lessons learned. We need to seek greater acceptance and understanding of our online membership system.

We have too many deficiencies in reporting tournament results and collection of membership dues. Lots of new arbiters, TD’s, club officials on a learning curve, but also veterans struggling with our new online memberships.


To tackle this knowledge deficit, I propose regular zoom meetings.

Topics include:

CFC memberships – options, rates, regulations.
Online membership system – new, username, duplicate accounts, family
Reporting results – how to, common problems, deadlines, etc.
Pairing software – SwissSys, Swiss Manager, others.
Online events – cheating
Titles – players, arbiters, FIDE vs CFC
Ratings – formulas, provisional, unrated, foreign.

I will host. But also invite co-hosts when appropriate.
The target audience is club officials, TD’s, arbiters, volunteers.

The first zoom meeting will be Monday, May 6, 7pm (Ontario)
I will start with 15 minutes of me speaking.
Then we’ll open the floor for general inquiries.

If you wish to attend, please email the office.

[Kevin Pacey]

Not exactly related, but maybe a good spot here to ask if CFC Class/Master+ Certificates are still being given out. I haven't gotten my National Masters' Certificate since I asked by email on the CFC site last year (iirc). Am I still in the queue for that?

KP

[Riley Khan]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to post the notes of the meeting tonight, answers are in bold text:

Meeting notes:

- Requirements for CM, NM (what are the requirements and is / will this be on CFC's website?). This is already on CFC's website, under the CFC 2014 handbook located here

- Will an FAQ tab / section be posted on CFC's website at some point in time (for frequently asked questions)? Potentially at some point in the future. However, for now an issue that remains is documenting common questions, and feedback and then having someone write the answer to the questions. Additionally, it would take some time to have the website updated with the info even after it's all been written.

- Requirements for reporting individual matches (between 2 players only)? Matches don't need to be entered in Swiss Manager or SwissSys. Results of matches can be sent directly to admin@chess.ca to have the games / matches rated. The following information is required to have a match be rated: 1) CFC IDs of players 2) Result of game 3) Number of games 4) If the game will be FIDE rated, include the FIDE ID 5) Rating fee associated with individual games (rating fees can be found here)

- Does it matter what format results are sent in Swiss Manager /SwissSys? SwissSys is currently preferred, however Swiss Manager files are accepted

- How to have CFC events online? The biggest issue with having online events is currently cheating. CFC relies on the anti-cheat detection system used on the online website utilized to play the chess games. If a player is caught or banned for cheating, CFC can issue a ban for over the board play. It is up to the discretion of CFC whether the offense committed by a player warrants a ban.

- Are you allowed to put players in sections based on foreign ratings that are more current than CFC / FIDE ratings? Yes, the organizer can decide what rating to use for a foreign player.

- Duplicate accounts issue - if a player / parent cannot access their CFC account on JustGo and they are using the reset password functionality but they are not receiving emails; this means that they don't have an email in the system. Subsequently, the player / parent should contact CFC to update their information.

- Username issue - if a player / parent cannot access their CFC account on JustGo and they don't know their username / if the username is not working; The player / parent should try using their CFC ID as a username to login.

- When registering for a JustGo account, it's preferable to have a distinct and unique email for each player. If a parent wants to use 1 email address for multiple kids, they will need to contact admin@chess.ca to assist them.

-How can I find my initial rating after my first tournament?

For previously unrated and provisionally rated players, the performance rating is:

Rp = Rc + 400 (W - L) / N

where Rp is the performance rating, Rc is the average rating of the player’s opponents, W is the number of wins, L is the number of losses, N is the total number of games played.



The following are outstanding questions

- When does the CFC website get updated (titled player section, arbiters section, CFC members database, ratings updates, chess club list, tournaments / events list)
- Is there an unrated CFC calculator? Are there any plans to have an initial CFC rating calculator similar to the CFC calculator located here?

[Bob Gillanders]

Thank you Riley for that summary of our first zoom meeting.

Just one minor correction: CFC rated online events where cheating violations are detected by platform anti-cheat programs, any related CFC ban is for future online CFC rated events only. The ban does not extend to over the board events.

Thanks again.

Just Ask Bob zoom meeting # 2 is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, May 16, 10 pm (Ontario)

We are staggering days and time to accommodate all. The late time is for benefit of BC organizers.

Let me know if you would like an invite.

[Bob Gillanders]

I just sent out the invites for Just Ask Bob # 2 for tomorrow evening.
If I missed you, oops, just let me know.
We are keeping it to small groups so we can address everyone individual questions.
But we do have a few empty seats available.