Getting to the Olympiad

The recently completed selections for the Australian Olympiad Team have resulted in a fair bit of comment on one of the local bulletin boards. The major point of debate seems to be the low ranking of IM Gary Lane on the Open team (10th of 10), and the ranking of Biljana Dekic on the Women's team (ranked 6).
Now while I personally think Gary Lane should not have been ranked so low (1 loss in 18 games at the Doeberl/SIO against very strong fields should mean something), I also understand that selections can be a difficult exercise (As an aside, I was briefly a selector in Australia, until some noticed I was registered with PNG and ratted me out to the ACF). In fact the selection mechanism used by the ACF is as much to blame for the debate as anything, as each selector (there are 5) simply rank players from 1 to n, and the player with the lowest total is No.1, the next lowest is No. 2 etc The two problems with this system is firstly a player might be ranked at 5 by 4 selectors and 10 by another, and finish behind a player ranked 6-6-6-6-5. Secondly, as this ranking also determines board order, the option to reorganise the order of the team to maximise potential results is not available. In the specific case of this years selections, there is no indication about how close each player was to the one above him (or her), so ranking may have simply been the case of finishing down 1 or 2 votes at most.
Of course there are other ways to get to the Olympiad. In my case, being born in another country was a stroke of fortune I still thank my parents for. But if that option is not available, applying for the position of team captain might help. In Gary's case, his theoretical knowledge in the opening would probably be an asset for the selected members. (NB This observation also applies to the 2010 Captain FM Manuel Weeks). The other option is to be appointed as a countries FIDE delegate. Of course you have to attend meetings and such, but at least you still get to be involved in some way. In Australia's case the FIDE delegates position is re-appointed every year, by the ACF after the 1st of July. There is also provision in the ACF budget to cover travel expenses (a recent change in policy), making this route even more attractive. The only difficulty I see with this one is that the ACF seems fairly reticent about advertising this position. Of course this does not mean they are not accepting applications, so it might be worthwhile contacting the ACF Secretary to find out if they are.

Out and Proud

The 2011 British Championship ended in a blaze of publicity, with the issue of the ECF Presidents T-Shirt being te main topic of discussion. ECF President CJ de Mooi was planning to present the tournament prizes in a shirt that read "Some people are gay. Get over it!". The tournament arbiter, Lara Barnes, queried the appropriateness of the shirt and the fun started from there.
I've shared a few beers with de Mooi (at the 2010 Olympiad) and he was a nice, and passionate guy. Both about chess, and about gay rights. The debate about this issue seems to be either (a) he shouldn't be promoting another agenda at an ECF event or (b) he should have worn a suit and tie to present the prizes (and of course the position he should be allowed to wear what he likes)
As it is a developing story, I'll give you two links. The first is to the proper news story (in The Observer) while the second is to the debate about the issue (at the ECF forum)