English Chess Forum

Mmm I have given you what is clearly labelled as my opinion. What is your opinion that the minimum population size should be?

Ahem. You're not that far from Yorkshire, Michael. The long established Bradford Congress takes place in September, normally on the third weekend. The 4NCL are bringing an event to Doncaster following previous September events in Wakefield and Bolton. Hold On Andrew. I have had enough problems in m...

I run the Manchester congress. Which used to be held the weekend after August Bank holiday and straddles the membership year. When the current rules were introduced it was held the last weekend of the old membership year. Then as the calendar moved it entered a period when it was the first weekend o...

It is with great sadness that I report the death of Martin Regan. Martin died on the 5 April aged 54. Further details are available at

https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/2017/04 ... tin-regan/


Harry Lamb

Edit. Date of death corrected from 6 April to 5 April

Sometime in the 1980’s the scenario described by Joey happened to me. I played in a Greater Manchester Congress at Wigan and achieved the amazing feat of losing my first-round game in the Open then went on to win the tournament with a 100% score. The event was a standard weekend tournament starting ...

I walked into Bolton Chess Club for the first time in 1953 at the age of 11. In 1963 I became President. I have been a member and President ever since. Which makes me a member for 63 years and President for 53 years. I have also been involved in the Bolton Easter congress and its predecessors as a p...

since we don't have sufficient turnover to be VAT registered we can't claim it back VAT on room hire is complicated. In principle It is VAT exempt. But it is easy to make it VAT liable by offering a service. If catering is offered in the room (For example at a wedding) the total bill may then be va...

IUPAC = International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. I thought everyone knew that

Harry Lamb.
Analytical Chemist

We have had a go at introducing something in Manchester, but it isn't easy The home team shall provide reasonable playing conditions and set up the venue, equipment, etc., before the starting time. There should be sufficient sets, boards and clocks of appropriate design. Tables and chairs should be...

Just out of curiosity, who gets to vote at these meetings? It is interesting to compare the voting rights at the ECF AGM with the FFE AGM. I think only clubs have voting rights at the French AGM. At the ECF AGM clubs are not allowed to vote. But the proxy situation seems similar at both AGMs. The G...

Just out of curiosity, who gets to vote at these meetings? It is interesting to compare the voting rights at the ECF AGM with the FFE AGM. I think only clubs have voting rights at the French AGM. At the ECF AGM clubs are not allowed to vote. But the proxy situation seems similar at both AGM. The Ge...

Always give your source Hmm I thought journalists went to jail rather than reveal their sources. I did say "Report compiled from various sources" My prime source was the President of a French Regional Chess Federation. I then looked on the internet for comments. Found several. The one I published w...

The General Assembly of the French Chess Federation held on 26th March voted to remove Diego Salazar from the post of the President. First the President’s report was rejected with 635 votes against, 290 for and 57 abstentions. The financial report was rejected with similar majority 656 against, 173 ...

In Northwest longplays, up to about ten years ago the Minor was usually the biggest tournament and often had more entries than the Open and Major combined. Over the last ten years it has swung. The trend is Open numbers have increased even though they are still the lowest section. Major players have...

A very interesting post Harry. Thank you. Earlier in the thread there was a specific query about prize levels, which you have not commented on. Anything to add? Thank you Michael for your kind comments. Here are my views and some facts on entry fees and prize levels. This is a long thread. So I hop...