Reeves makes her move on chess fund

[Paul Heaton]

Headline in Times today, with a story underneath the gist of which that the unspent money the previous government set aside for chess (ie Sunak’s £2m, 2 year scheme) is to be pulled with nothing in its place.

[MJMcCready]

Do we know how much has been invested so far?

[NickFaulks]

Does anyone know what the article actually says?

[Paul Heaton]

Does anyone know what the article actually says?

Several meaningful references to Reeves chess background along with a photo and references to the £1m scheme, but the key paragraphs are:
“Treasury sources told The Times that the scheme was one of those for which the government was poised to remove any unspent funding. The figure is small in comparison with the vast sums Reeves says she will bring in through a combination of tax rises, spending cuts and measures to reduce the welfare bill”

And (this time from a DCMS source) : “The message is, low hanging fruit tastes just as good as the fruit at the top of the tree.”

[NickFaulks]

And (this time from a DCMS source) : “The message is, low hanging fruit tastes just as good as the fruit at the top of the tree.”

Thanks, although I cannot decode that!

[Joey Stewart]

At least the money would have made very little difference to the chess community, we'd have got a few park tables dotted around here and there with 90% of it hoovered up by corruption so in a way I'm glad the parasites lost their share.

[Paul Heaton]

At least the money would have made very little difference to the chess community, we'd have got a few park tables dotted around here and there with 90% of it hoovered up by corruption so in a way I'm glad the parasites lost their share.

I think it was used to “fund” Vitiugov - “first fruit of the new government funding”. He was smart not to move here (with no positive sightings of him ever outside London, I take reports of him recently moving to Anglia with a pinch of salt).

[Leonard Barden]

The £500k has also been used to fund the England team's recent pre-Olympiad match with another strong chess nation, a training camp for the England women's team, and several round robin tournaments with GM and/or IM and WIM norms.

The loss of the £500k for elite chess will therefore be a heavy blow, leaving aside the wasteful amounts spent on park tables. Chess did better in the 1970s when there was a modest amount of government support arranged by Milner-Barry, plus larger and well targeted amounts from the Slater Foundation and Lloyds Bank, which all continued for many years, supported a large number of young talents, and sparked the English Chess Explosion.

Unlike what is happening now, these funds were maintained and honoured despite the 1970s being a time of national economic turmoil arguably worse than the 2020s.

[LawrenceCooper]

The £500k has also been used to fund the England team's recent pre-Olympiad match with another strong chess nation, a training camp for the England women's team, and several round robin tournaments with GM and/or IM and WIM norms.

The loss of the £500k for elite chess will therefore be a heavy blow, leaving aside the wasteful amounts spent on park tables. Chess did better in the 1970s when there was a modest amount of government support arranged by Milner-Barry, plus larger and well targeted amounts from the Slater Foundation and Lloyds Bank, which all continued for many years, supported a large number of young talents, and sparked the English Chess Explosion.

Unlike what is happening now, these funds were maintained and honoured despite the 1970s being a time of national economic turmoil arguably worse than the 2020s.

There is still the John Robinson Youth Chess Trust and The Chess Trust even if the DCMS money dries up.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

A good summary by Leonard. A great pity that the rest of the money will not now be available.

It is a bit shocking that we are almost halfway through the 2020s. It seem like this decade is going by quite quickly. I wonder if it felt like that in the 1970s or the 1930s?

[John Townsend]

Christopher,

Eheu, fugaces labuntur anni.

Moreover, as you get older, time seems to pass more quickly!

[Joey Stewart]

A good summary by Leonard. A great pity that the rest of the money will not now be available.

It is a bit shocking that we are almost halfway through the 2020s. It seem like this decade is going by quite quickly. I wonder if it felt like that in the 1970s or the 1930s?

I imagine the 1930s was a lot more grim then the 2020s though the rampant threat of AI job replacement and potential world war might mean the 2030s could be even worse

[Matt Mackenzie]

its not like we had to worry about "potential world war" in the 1930s is it....

[Jonathan Rogers]

The £500k has also been used to fund the England team's recent pre-Olympiad match with another strong chess nation, a training camp for the England women's team, and several round robin tournaments with GM and/or IM and WIM norms.

The loss of the £500k for elite chess will therefore be a heavy blow, leaving aside the wasteful amounts spent on park tables. Chess did better in the 1970s when there was a modest amount of government support arranged by Milner-Barry, plus larger and well targeted amounts from the Slater Foundation and Lloyds Bank, which all continued for many years, supported a large number of young talents, and sparked the English Chess Explosion.

Unlike what is happening now, these funds were maintained and honoured despite the 1970s being a time of national economic turmoil arguably worse than the 2020s.

I only just saw this thread. The pre-Olympiad match sounds like a good idea; has this been a private affair with no published games?

It seems to me that it is really private sponsorship (as opposed to government funding) which is missing now, in comparison to the 1970s. In fact it has been like this since the early 1990s, but it feels more frustrating now because there really are lot of youngsters playing chess now. I don't mean child prodigies, or children under 11, but maturing adolescents who have never played seriously but know about chess and who do not deride it, as would previous generations. Indeed they might well ask someone who says they play chess whether they have a rating on chess.com. It feels as though this ought to be a major step forward.

[LawrenceCooper]

I only just saw this thread. The pre-Olympiad match sounds like a good idea; has this been a private affair with no published games?

Yes. I only got to know about it because a player posted photos on Facebook about it.