Government funding for chess

[Matt Mackenzie]

The current government does tend to think throwing small amounts of money at something will fix all problems.

There, fixed for you.

[NickFaulks]

The current government does tend to think throwing small amounts of money at something will fix all problems.

There, fixed for you.

No, that's just wrong. They throw untold billions at, for instance, the NHS, but the problem is that a year later all they know is that the money has gone - it doesn't even seem to be anyone's job to know where it has gone.

If the ECF is able to get hold of this money and target it properly, it could make a world of difference. By the way, I do not accept that English chess is at present suffering horribly from a lack of money, I think it is doing ok, but there are certainly unfulfilled opportunities.

[LawrenceCooper]

The current government does tend to think throwing small amounts of money at something will fix all problems.

There, fixed for you.

No, that's just wrong. They throw untold billions at, for instance, the NHS, but the problem is that a year later all they know is that the money has gone - it doesn't even seem to be anyone's job to know where it has gone.

If the ECF is able to get hold of this money and target it properly, it could make a world of difference. By the way, I do not accept that English chess is at present suffering horribly from a lack of money, I think it is doing ok, but there are certainly unfulfilled opportunities.

The Welsh, Scots and Irish would certainly love to have even a small percentage of the funds in English chess.

[John Upham]

The current government does tend to think throwing small amounts of money at something will fix all problems.

There, fixed for you.

Since we are talking specifics, suggest an amount of funds that you would approve and think was adequate.

I've spoken with many so-called "grass roots" chess players and asked them what they would want from their governing body. They are excellent at letting me know what they don't want (they don't want funding for International chess) however, they are completely unable to say what they do want. The usual grumpy response is "I suppose a grade every year would be good".

[Reg Clucas]

Many clubs struggle to afford a decent venue, so funding for this would be useful.

[John Upham]

Many clubs struggle to afford a decent venue, so funding for this would be useful.

Precedents have been set for other sports in that their NGB has part funded either a new venue or improvement of an existing one. Usually this is coupled with lottery funding and / or local government funding. One of the conditions for funding quite often is that that venue make their facilities available for the local community. Typically a table tennis club will allow schools use at off peak times.

How this could be translated for chess is less clear but if it were a Mind Sport type venue (chess, bridge, poker, backgammon, board games, scrabble etc) then this might be possible.

[Roger de Coverly]

We don't know when or whether this is going to happen and to what extent.

The Scottish federation are alarmed that it might cause a brain drain if they cannot get similar support from the devolved government.
https://www.chessscotland.com/news/emer ... e-meeting/

Mention REAL risk of some of the most promising transferring to England. Others losing motivation.

On the other hand if a player has ambitions to play at Olympiads or Euro team championships, being eligible for SCO, WLS, IRL, GCI or JCI can lower the necessary standard down to CM or below instead of the GM standard or better needed for selection for ENG.

[John Upham]

If I was a promising Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish player (and of course I am none of these) then I'd rather play on a high board for one of these nations than a low board or not at all for England.

I find it all rather curious that MBPs efforts on behalf of ENG should (apparently) jump start SCOs efforts to replicate. Did SCO wish to separate itself from the BCF or is my memory clouded? Did they hitherto think seeking funding was pointless?

Obviously, I hope that ALL the home nations rack-up their funding but to call an emergency meeting seems rather like over kill to me. Of course this may be clever strategy from CS to leverage funding. I hope it is and good luck to them: the best of British!

I really cannot imagine Frederick Waldhausen Gordon becoming English in the same way that Matthew Turner became Scottish. I hope Freddy will agree with me.

[Ian Jamieson]

If I was a promising Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish player (and of course I am none of these) then I'd rather play on a high board for one of these nations than a low board or not at all for England.

I find it all rather curious that MBPs efforts on behalf of ENG should (apparently) jump start SCOs efforts to replicate. Did SCO wish to separate itself from the BCF or is my memory clouded? Did they hitherto think seeking funding was pointless?

Obviously, I hope that ALL the home nations rack-up their funding but to call an emergency meeting seems rather like over kill to me. Of course this may be clever strategy from CS to leverage funding. I hope it is and good luck to them: the best of British!

I really cannot imagine Frederick Waldhausen Gordon becoming English in the same way that Matthew Turner became Scottish. I hope Freddy will agree with me.

They almost certainly hitherto thought seeking funding was pointless.

I thought the Barnett formula meant that any extra government spending in England meant a pro-rata increase in the budget / money transfer to the other home nations. This begs the question therefore whether any money given to the ECF is additional spending or whether it will be found by reducing grants given to (other) sports / activities. Something to watch out for when more details are available.

Given his surname I would have thought there is more chance of Freddy becoming Austrian (or German) than English - Waldhausen is a place in Austria although I don’t know if this is where that part of his name derives from.

[Roger de Coverly]

Did they hitherto think seeking funding was pointless?

The ECF lost its funding in 2010 with the "austerity" introduced by the coalition government. I think that since then both the Welsh and Scottish Olympiad teams may have received modest funding from the devolved administrations. Reminding the world of the separate existence of Wales and Scotland is sometimes a motivation that appeals to nationalist minded politicians.

[Ian Jamieson]

Did they hitherto think seeking funding was pointless?

The ECF lost its funding in 2010 with the "austerity" introduced by the coalition government. I think that since then both the Welsh and Scottish Olympiad teams may have received modest funding from the devolved administrations. Reminding the world of the separate existence of Wales and Scotland is sometimes a motivation that appeals to nationalist minded politicians.

I don’t know whether they have received funding or not - I’ve lived in England for the last 20 years. Maybe the two devolved governments/administrations decided, unlike the UK government, that chess was a worthwhile expenditure.

[Matthew Turner]

Government funding of the ECF is great news for Scottish Chess. One only need look at the recent Wood Green International which featured 4 English players and three Scottish ones. More opportunities in England, mean more opportunities for Scottish players.

I think one also needs to recognise that government funding hasn't come out of thin air, but is the result of much hard work over many years. I think Chess Scotland can learn a lot from England's success and I hope we will.

[Mike Gunn]

With this money apparently earmarked for international teams this immediately raises the question of what the ECF should do with the money saved from the current budget? One possibility would be to fund the FIDE rating of local leagues (which would have to adopt an U2400 rule to make 3 hour games FIDE legal). This would have the advantage of unblocking England's current problem with inaccurate FIDE ratings for most of our players because they simply don't get enough FIDE rated games.

[NickFaulks]

(which would have to adopt an U2400 rule to make 3 hour games FIDE legal)

Not at all. Any evening games involving 2400+ players would simply not be submitted for FIDE rating - which I believe most of those players would prefer anyway.

[Mick Norris]

(which would have to adopt an U2400 rule to make 3 hour games FIDE legal)

Not at all. Any evening games involving 2400+ players would simply not be submitted for FIDE rating - which I believe most of those players would prefer anyway.

Would the players all have to be Gold ECF members?