National Junior Squad Coaching 2022
The ICU junior selection committee (JSC) has been requested by the ICU executive to select a group of juniors for coaching with a view to enhancing the prospects for Irish juniors in the forthcoming junior international competitions during 2022 and beyond. The selection report is published below.
GM Alex Baburin, IM David Fitzsimons and WFM Ioana Miller will lead the National Junior Squad Coaching based in Dublin. (ICU regional junior coaching may be organized in due course but is NOT the subject of this article).\
National Junior Squad Coaching schedule :
- Sun Feb 20th - Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan, Co Dublin
- Sun Mar 6th - Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan, Co Dublin
- Sun Apr 3rd - Coláiste Éanna, Hillside Park, Ballyroan, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16. D16 E248
- Sun May 8th - Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan, Co Dublin
- Sun May 22nd - Coláiste Éanna, Hillside Park, Ballyroan, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16. D16 E248
- Sun Jun 12th - Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan, Co Dublin
- Sun Jul 3rd - Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan, Co Dublin
All sessions run from 11am - 5pm (1hr lunch) for a total of 35 hours of coaching for the program.
All selected juniors must be paid up members of the ICU and should contact ICU Junior Officer, at [email protected] to confirm their participation or otherwise by Thursday February 17th.
The ICU has requested a contribution of €240 from each participant for this training payable via the ICU Shop payable in advance.
Following the successful use of material from the Yusapov series in the past four years, as part of the course and included in the contribution above, the ICU will provide each participant with a copy of the first book in the series Build up your chess 1. For those players who already have this book, the ICU will instead provide the next book in the series that the player does not already have.
The skill and practice of annotating one's own games is essential to progressing one's chess. To encourage and develop this practice, selected juniors are required to provide at least one self-annotated game from a recent tournament at least seven days before each session. The first self-annotated game is due to [email protected] no later than Friday Feb 18th. For a sample annotation see Ioana Gelip vs Tom O'Gorman Game Annotation.
Juniors are reminded that training squad selection does not guarantee any selection for Irish junior teams or events. But also, participation in training is NOT a criteria for such selections.
Congratulations to all those selected. Enjoy and make the most of the coaching!
Report of the Junior Selection Committee:
U18 Open selection for training
U14 Open selection for training
U12 Open selection for training
The above selection is based on the ICU Live ratings of 12th February
Further selections may be made in due course, depending on course capacities, player performance and other factors.
Note: players who are not paid up for 2021/22 ICU Membership before Dec 31 may not show on lists for selection.