National Junior Squad Coaching 2023

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 2023 and beyond. The selection report is published below.

GM Alex Baburin, IM David Fitzsimons ,IM Mark Quinn, FM Killian Delany and WFM Ioana Miller will lead the National Junior Squad Coaching based in Dublin. (Munster region coaching program in Ennis (West county hotel ) starts from 12th Feb 2023. Please drop a note to [email protected] and [email protected].

National Junior Squad Coaching schedule :

Sunday 12th Feb 2023 - Coláiste Éanna, Hillside Park, Ballyroan, Rathfarnham, D16E248

Sunday 26th Mar 2023 - Coláiste Éanna, Hillside Park, Ballyroan, Rathfarnham, D16E248

Sunday 7th May 2023 - Coláiste Éanna, Hillside Park, Ballyroan, Rathfarnham, D16E248

Sunday 21st May 2023 - Coláiste Éanna, Hillside Park, Ballyroan, Rathfarnham, D16E248

Sunday 11th Jun 2023 - Coláiste Éanna, Hillside Park, Ballyroan, Rathfarnham, D16E248

All sessions run from 11am - 5pm (1hr lunch) for a total of 25 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 Sunday January 22nd.

The ICU has requested a contribution of €180 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: