2023 Zonal speculation

[RiverHollow]

Are there any ideas where and when the next zonal could be?

[lost]

Are there any ideas where and when the next zonal could be?

Hi RiverHollow,

Likely to be in Palau depending on certain conditions and entry protocols into the country.

lost

[Andy009]

Hi RiverHollow,

Likely to be in Palau depending on certain conditions and entry protocols into the country.

lost

Travelling can be hard. Why consider such remote locations when most players are located in Australia and Newzealand?

[Craig_Hall]

Travelling can be hard. Why consider such remote locations when most players are located in Australia and Newzealand?

It's the Oceania Zonal, not the Australasian Zonal. The goal of a Zonal isn't maximizing entries, it's a FIDE event to find the (sub)zone's world championship qualifiers.

[Andy009]

So if only 2 players play in the zonal because others couldn't travel, is that ok?!

Defeats the purpose of conducting a zonal

Australian and Newzealand players are highly rated and Australia has GMs too

So if they cant afford to go to remote locations to play the zonal and hence miss out on playing world championship, for a 1600 rated player who could visit and play, how is that fair

We need practical approach to ensure that there are more players and not the current chess unfriendly approach of trying to find the remotest location for zonal

[MichaelBaron]

Are there any ideas where and when the next zonal could be?

I like the word ''speculation'' in the thread title... It really belongs there!

[MichaelBaron]

It's the Oceania Zonal, not the Australasian Zonal. The goal of a Zonal isn't maximizing entries, it's a FIDE event to find the (sub)zone's world championship qualifiers.

We may once again get Shaun Press to represent us in world cup .

[Andrew Hardegen]

It's the Oceania Zonal, not the Australasian Zonal. The goal of a Zonal isn't maximizing entries, it's a FIDE event to find the (sub)zone's world championship qualifiers.

The 2021 Oceania Zonal was expected to be held over-the-board in Melbourne, but due to events beyond CV's control, the event was recast as a hybrid event, with 1 player from each federation participating (2 from Australia).

Because of this, there ought to be some sympathy for the Melburnians, and I suggest that they be given an opportunity to host the tournament over-the-board in 2023, should they be interested in doing so.

[Frank]

We may once again ...

An unpleasant remark not at all representative of this usually urbane commentator.

[ER]

This is a topic in which both sides of the argument have very valid points.
The Palau possibility as it has been referred to by Lost who has done so much about development and promotion of chess
in that minute island country applies to the sentimental side of giving the small guy a fair go.
On the other hand Andy009's pragmatic approach contains all the difficulties associated with travelling to such a remote place just to play chess.
ed. I removed a non chess related reference here.

[Garvinator]

Travelling can be hard. Why consider such remote locations when most players are located in Australia and Newzealand?

It has been shown by Andrew Hardegen that for 2023 that Melbourne probably has the strongest case, considering it seems that they were going to be hosts in 2021. But for any Australian venue, a lot of depend on the conditions for international travel. Most of the world has or is moving on and is only now that Australia and New Zealand are starting to move forward. Therefore, based on what has occurred with State borders, it would not be a surprise if there were a few hiccups along the way when international borders re-open.

Please note that my comments above are only restricted to where the 2023 Oceania Zonal may or could be held and offers little to no commentary on any of the wider topics that are covered in other non chess threads.

Andy009 - My question to you is - Is there ever a situation where you would support a Oceania Zonal being held outside of Australia/New Zealand/Fiji?

You should also carefully note that we are Oceania Zonal. We are lucky to be Oceania Zonal and not part of the 'Asia Zone', where our players could have to go to some far flung Asian Federation to qualify.

[Andy009]

It has been shown by Andrew Hardegen that for 2023 that Melbourne probably has the strongest case, considering it seems that they were going to be hosts in 2021. But for any Australian venue, a lot of depend on the conditions for international travel. Most of the world has or is moving on and is only now that Australia and New Zealand are starting to move forward. Therefore, based on what has occurred with State borders, it would not be a surprise if there were a few hiccups along the way when international borders re-open.

Please note that my comments above are only restricted to where the 2023 Oceania Zonal may or could be held and offers little to no commentary on any of the wider topics that are covered in other non chess threads.

Andy009 - My question to you is - Is there ever a situation where you would support a Oceania Zonal being held outside of Australia/New Zealand/Fiji?

You should also carefully note that we are Oceania Zonal. We are lucky to be Oceania Zonal and not part of the 'Asia Zone', where our players could have to go to some far flung Asian Federation to qualify.

Australian won Asian online Championship last year and we do have a strong team that can compete in Asia zone
Further it is much easier and affordable to travel to asian countries

Oceania zone is unique but remoteness of countries and high costs are not ideal.may be if FIDE can cover all travel and accommodation costs of all players to promote Oceania, then it is acceptable

So a possible solution is if a selected country is unable to attract atleast 50 players and all GMs, then they should organise the zonal in Australian or New Zealand venue only with the title of the tournament being Palau zonal or Fiji zonal etc. This is a win win

[MichaelBaron]

An unpleasant remark not at all representative of this usually urbane commentator.

Not aimed at the individual who qualified that time (after Max who was the only strong participant at that zonal did not take his spot) but at the fact that U2000 players will be heading towards the world cup from a region that is home to many strong players now.

[Lekko]

At what point do the details get finalised? Would be good to know how much annual leave I need to save for work and by what point as well as dates and how much money I'll be spending on the tournament/trip.

[Afitz]

At what point do the details get finalised? Would be good to know how much annual leave I need to save for work and by what point as well as dates and how much money I'll be spending on the tournament/trip.

If you get 6-9 months of lead time you will be doing well Perhaps contact the OCF and they may have information on whether bids have been made and what is looking likely. You also need to remember that at the moment borders for Australia haven't fully opened up to tourism so it's a bit early for speculation IMO.