Chess once we restart over the board

[Ian Thompson]

maybe the ecf will give chess players an reduction on membership??

So far it's been a small cash generator as the 4NCL requires people playing for English teams in the 4NCL Online league to be at least ECF Supporter members.

It will probably be very damaging to ECF finances, or at least their short-term cash flow, come membership renewal time as no-one will have any reason to renew promptly if all chess is still suspended.

[Alan Kennedy]

Clubs rarely have natural coaches counted in their members, so we need to learn about these other ways of learning to direct others.

that is why chess is declining! It is not very difficult to coach chess. Get children doing puzzles, read the books by Tim Onions and explain it to the child and let them play games amongst friends.

[J T Melsom]

Alan, I've tried to coach but it really isn't that easy even if it is easier than some people think. We can all impart our experience and passion for the game, but coaching like teaching is a specific skill, especially if it is to be done effectively and we can debate what effectively means elsewhere. One of the local juniors that graduated to the adult league last year remembered me from my efforts at coaching which was nice, but it was hard work getting his contemporaries to show half as much interest. Chess clubs are often designed around match play and little else. Some barely have enough players to do that effectively. I sometimes wonder whether fewer clubs might mean better clubs, allowing those with energy and vision to get on with organising the other aspects of a healthy club.

[NickFaulks]

If I’m not likely to resume playing even when we are allowed to do so, studying the game will soon slip down my list of priorities. And it’s a vicious circle: if I’ve got rusty by the time there is a vaccine, that will itself make me less inclined to start playing again.

It sounds as though you have already made up your mind. Perhaps there will be many others who take your position, but we shall not know until we reopen, and in the meantime I'm not sure what we can do about it.

[J T Melsom]

Nick Faulks - are you seriously saying that clubs shouldn't start thinking about the future? It would be a relatively simple process to canvas views of existing members to ascertain the likelihood of them playing next year. As we are required to confirm the number of teams we wish to enter in our local league at the AGM each year, my club officers almost invariably seek to establish possible changes in circumstances, so we can plan for changes in our numbers. Its not a precise survey but in small clubs its quite important.

[Alan Kennedy]

Alan, I've tried to coach but it really isn't that easy even if it is easier than some people think. We can all impart our experience and passion for the game, but coaching like teaching is a specific skill, especially if it is to be done effectively and we can debate what effectively means elsewhere. One of the local juniors that graduated to the adult league last year remembered me from my efforts at coaching which was nice, but it was hard work getting his contemporaries to show half as much interest. Chess clubs are often designed around match play and little else. Some barely have enough players to do that effectively. I sometimes wonder whether fewer clubs might mean better clubs, allowing those with energy and vision to get on with organising the other aspects of a healthy club.

Thanks John - we started with juniors at Witney so we could attract parents who could help with the teaching. In a typrical chess club i find it hard to accept that there is not one personal who has successfully brought up children - the issue is one of motivation and management ie do you want the chess club to grow which i accept you do which is why you coached the children and can we pursuade people to help out. As regards whether chess clubs are largely based around match play - we took a decision that should not be true for Witney chess club. We had typically ten juniors and four adults playing chess in the upstairs room, regular simultaneous displays and coaching. More details can be read in our club of the year submission https://bit.ly/ecf2012coty

[J T Melsom]

I've read the Witney account on previous occasions and wondered what it might mean for my own club. I'm afraid the type of people with the energy and drive to deliver better chess clubs and to enthuse others to capture that vision are in short supply. And far too many clubs have officers doubling up in roles. Some local clubs experience growth because they have vision and the people with energy, others are falling below critical mass.

[Matt Mackenzie]

I agree that some of the pessimism in this thread may perhaps be unwarranted, IMO when this is over (or even when restrictions are eased to an extent) then many people will want to do the things they couldn't before - not least because they may now appreciate them even more.

And there's no reason why playing OTB chess can't be one of those things.

[JustinHorton]

Also, maybe when people have no money they'll be keen to play something that costs so little to play

[J T Melsom]

I will be resuming at the earliest opportunity, so I apologise if I sounded overly pessimistic. Justin makes a fair point, that whilst chess has always been affordable, interests which might reduce involvement in chess such as support for a local football team might now seem too expensive. In some cases there may not even be a team to support. I'd rather we talked about things as affordable rather than cheap, because trying to do things on the cheap is in my view a contributing factor in decline, as it often leads to uncomfortable venues etc.

[NickFaulks]

It would be a relatively simple process to canvas views of existing members to ascertain the likelihood of them playing next year.

I hope that I know our members, and indeed those of others clubs in my league, well enough to predict their responses with confidence. Most would be keen to resume as soon as they feel it safe to do so. Many are robust ( perhaps foolish? ) characters who would be continuing to play now if, as in Sweden, this were the norm.

The question is how many people will, when decision time arrives, decide that they feel safe enough to emerge from isolation. This will depend upon the timing and the circumstances, which we shall not know until it happens. I intend to be opening up the club on our first night back.

[J T Melsom]

Well yes - its no more than an assessment on the basis of knowledge at the time of responding, but some of us are aware of players who no longer drive to away fixtures, and in the same way as that has to be taken into account, there will be elderly vulnerable club members less likely to return post pandemic. One of my club members helps share the responsibility for opening up, if his circumstances change for any reason we'd have to make plans. I think that was the basis on which the thread was started, not when will the first night be, but what will it look like.

[NickFaulks]

I think that was the basis on which the thread was started, not when will the first night be, but what will it look like.

Predictions are futile, but I hope we can agree that we look forward to finding out.

[J T Melsom]

'Predictions are futile'. So there are no predictions from you on the 'worrying times' thread? You seem very engaged in this thread considering you dismissed its value in your opening post. The club I play for will resume when the government allows us to do so, but there are a lot of things to consider besides who opens up on the first evening. Fortunately the venue will still be there, the rates charged to the hirers of that venue will presumably be advised later in the summer. As the hall was already failing to generate significant trade from one-off events, there may be a greater increase in cost to be met by regular hirers and that's before a view is reached on costs of the current suspension.

[NickFaulks]

You seem very engaged in this thread considering you dismissed its value in your opening post.

I have never found it easy to ignore suggestions that club chess is about to die, which have been around for as long as I can remember. As I have said, I see no reason to worry about that in my neck of the woods and I sincerely hope that the same is true in yours.