(Chess) Life Returning To Normal

[John Sellen]

From this mornings Guardian website


09:36
The wearing of face masks inside buildings across the Czech Republic will be mandatory from Thursday.

Health minister Adam Vojtěch said the government had made the decision following a spike in new infections in the country.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Seems the hope for a start of the season is now lost:

gatherings of more than six to be banned in England

So that means chess clubs can still meet as long as there are no more than six people in any one place?

(and yes, there are other interpretations as already pointed out - but this is going on the most "restrictive" one)

[Tim Spanton]

Are you able to go by train instead?

I have entered and am proposing to fly to Prague and travel on by train, which looks very simple. However, I am awaiting confirmation that masks will not be mandatory before finalising my plans.

Masks extremely unlikely as it is part of the CzecTour (I played at Prague last month) - BUT Czech government is under pressure from WHO to do more, so I guess the organisers could be forced to change their policies

[Chris Goodall]

Not if the venue has CoViD-19 Secure status.

How is that defined?

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... 230720.pdf

It does refer very specifically to workplace so the Northumberland Open might be stretching it....

I had the same thought, sir. It is certainly a workplace from the point of view of the leisure centre employees. We have to take the council at face value when they say that inviting guests into that CoViD-19 Secure workplace doesn't make it less CoViD-19 Secure. Provided the guests sanitise, wear a mask, fill in the Track&Trace and aren't running a temperature. Which is as much as they can ask of their employees.

[Tim Spanton]

Are you able to go by train instead?

I have entered and am proposing to fly to Prague and travel on by train, which looks very simple. However, I am awaiting confirmation that masks will not be mandatory before finalising my plans.

Masks extremely unlikely as it is part of the CzecTour (I played at Prague last month) - BUT Czech government is under pressure from WHO to do more, so I guess the organisers could be forced to change their policies

Whoops - have just seen John Sellen's post above!

[Tim Spanton]

How is that defined?

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... 230720.pdf

It does refer very specifically to workplace so the Northumberland Open might be stretching it....

I had the same thought, sir. It is certainly a workplace from the point of view of the leisure centre employees. We have to take the council at face value when they say that inviting guests into that CoViD-19 Secure workplace doesn't make it less CoViD-19 Secure. Provided the guests sanitise, wear a mask, fill in the Track&Trace and aren't running a temperature. Which is as much as they can ask of their employees.

Actually, isn't that more than they can ask of their employees - staff do not by law have to wear masks surely?

[Wadih Khoury]

Reading through this article; it says it was an extensive study, but they didn’t ask the patients concern whether or not they had a pre-existing lung condition.

I would have thought that would have been the first thing to ask.

They also ignored the huge question of whether the long term damage was caused by the virus itself or the intrusive methods used to treat it.

There are unfortunately significant number of people with medium to long term consequences that only had mild symptoms, let alone intubation.

[Simon Rogers]

I received a phone call mid morning today, from Noel Boustred, the organiser of the Harrogate Chess Congress.
He has asked to post this:
The Harrogate Chess Congress was postponed from 25-27th September to 23rd- 25th October, not cancelled as I originally stated.
Also the Congress is STILL going ahead as planned.

[Tim Spanton]

It seems chess may be OK under the new rules as a chess tournament is not a "social gathering" but, arguably, a sports event (make it a team one by arbitrarily placing entrants in teams split across sections so team members do not play each other - prizes strictly honorary)

[Chris Goodall]

Seems the hope for a start of the season is now lost:

gatherings of more than six to be banned in England

So that means chess clubs can still meet as long as there are no more than six people in any one place?

(and yes, there are other interpretations as already pointed out - but this is going on the most "restrictive" one)

Like all "compliance" rackets, the basic idea is that everything you might want to do is illegal, but the enforcers have limited resources. So if they see that you've appointed someone to think hard about the rules, they will feel flattered, and will go and bother someone else. In this case they're targeting outdoor parties, so I'd be surprised if the organisers of indoor events notice any change.

It seems chess may be OK under the new rules as a chess tournament is not a "social gathering" but, arguably, a sports event (make it a team one by arbitrarily placing entrants in teams split across sections so team members do not play each other - prizes strictly honorary)

It's not a social gathering provided every person in the room actively dislikes 51% of the others. So chess events have nothing to worry about

[Ian Thompson]

It seems chess may be OK under the new rules as a chess tournament is not a "social gathering" but, arguably, a sports event (make it a team one by arbitrarily placing entrants in teams split across sections so team members do not play each other - prizes strictly honorary)

Only if the definition of a gathering no longer includes "... or to undertake any other activity with each other", which would be surprising.

[NickFaulks]

Masks extremely unlikely as it is part of the CzecTour (I played at Prague last month) - BUT Czech government is under pressure from WHO to do more, so I guess the organisers could be forced to change their policies

I have just received an email from the organisers assuring me that masks will not be required.

[Tim Spanton]

Masks extremely unlikely as it is part of the CzecTour (I played at Prague last month) - BUT Czech government is under pressure from WHO to do more, so I guess the organisers could be forced to change their policies

I have just received an email from the organisers assuring me that masks will not be required.

!!

[Tim Spanton]

It seems chess may be OK under the new rules as a chess tournament is not a "social gathering" but, arguably, a sports event (make it a team one by arbitrarily placing entrants in teams split across sections so team members do not play each other - prizes strictly honorary)

Only if the definition of a gathering no longer includes "... or to undertake any other activity with each other", which would be surprising.

Well, you would only be undertaking an activity with 6 each others, or maybe just five, in a weekend tournament

[NickFaulks]

My opinion of the generally sensible Czech government took a hit this morning, but has been revived.

‘I’ve just read what the WHO have issued. That’s the same WHO which wasn’t recommending face masks, and didn’t even know this was a pandemic. In my opinion they should keep their mouths shut.’

     – Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis responds to the World Health Organisation after the agency criticised Prague’s public health authorities for considering reducing contact tracing and testing, amid a spike in mostly asymptomatic cases.