(Chess) Life Returning To Normal

[Matt Bridgeman]

...you know, humour? (Do we have to explain this one?!)
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define. ... ick%20burn

[Nick Grey]

I wish Northumberland well. I hope my Great North run happens in 2021.

[Chris Goodall]

As soon as the Department for Health and Social Care announce the local lockdown for North Tyneside and other North East council areas tomorrow morning, the Northumberland Congress will have to be cancelled. It is a great shame as clearly they put a huge amount of work into it.

As breathless as everyone is at this development, can I ask whether you're party to some information that has evaded all the national media?

[Matt Mackenzie]

I think the debate has been very polarised here.
Some want chess to go on what-the-heck; others want chess shut down for months to come.
People with in-between views are either very few or don't feel motivated to get involved.

I'm basically in between

Short of a second full lockdown, we should try to keep at least a minimal amount of OTB chess going.

[Matt Bridgeman]

As soon as the Department for Health and Social Care announce the local lockdown for North Tyneside and other North East council areas tomorrow morning, the Northumberland Congress will have to be cancelled. It is a great shame as clearly they put a huge amount of work into it.

As breathless as everyone is at this development, can I ask whether you're party to some information that has evaded all the national media?

I think that's an old edit that's not there anymore, but you can now piece together online there's going to be temporary restrictions announced by Matt Hancock at 11am tomorrow morning which will include a restriction not to mix with other households. Although it's still unclear if North Tyneside will be on the immediate list. Most news outlets are going with it's likely they will be included.

BBC; https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-54166256
Sky News; https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus- ... y-12073640

[Chris Goodall]

I'll re-post what I said in the Northumberland Congress thread:

We are at the point now where nothing at all rides on what the restrictions say; it is 100% down to whether the council and the police make a decision to stop the event happening. They have been watching the CoViD statistics like hawks, and indeed took the initiative to write to Matt Hancock and request tighter restrictions, at the same time that they were strongly encouraging us to carry on with the event.

The organisers have always been clear that the event is going ahead in the absence of a local lockdown. This is not a local lockdown. In the words of the leader of Newcastle council, "No we're not. Some additional, temporary restrictions are being planned to prevent another full lockdown."

Everything is fine.

[Paul Cooksey]

Notable that the Bundasliga is playing a sort of mid year event, rather than resuming its main season. An absolute top level seven round OTB event which started yesterday in Kahlsruhe.

Baden-Baden put out a full strength team with Caruana, MVL and Aronian. Mickey Adams won a nice positional game against Keymer on board 6 against Deizisau.

Baden-Baden are clearly the Bayern Munich of German chess, which is slightly confusing because there is a Bayern Munich team in the event.

[John Moore]

...you know, humour? (Do we have to explain this one?!)
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define. ... ick%20burn

Matt, I'm glad you did explain it. We are not all "down with the kids" or whatever and sick burns is not something I'd come across before.

[Matt Bridgeman]

...you know, humour? (Do we have to explain this one?!)
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define. ... ick%20burn

Matt, I'm glad you did explain it. We are not all "down with the kids" or whatever and sick burns is not something I'd come across before.

Boris getting down with the youth too today with his don’t snitch on the neighbours unless they have ‘huge Animal House’ style parties. (That was a film from the 70’s with a big party in it.)

[Simon Rogers]

That just leaves Noel's, Harrogate Chess Congress 23-25 Oct.

... but only for those graded no more than 170. Is there really nothing at all for those over 170?

If there is, Simon will find it!

I've been visiting various chess websites and collecting information.
I'll report back soon to the forum when I've finished the first part of my travels.

[Tim Spanton]

This PR release I received today gives an interesting slant on how life has changed from the norm:

London, 17 September 2020 – The PPE industry has grown so rapidly it’s now bigger than sandwiches with annual UK revenues exceeding £8.7bn1, analysis by PPE manufacturer ViraxCare reveals.
The sandwich industry was worth £8bn2 a year in Britain before the pandemic struck. Overtaking a mainstay of British working life puts the scale of the sector’s growth in stark relief.

[Matt Bridgeman]

That just leaves Noel's, Harrogate Chess Congress 23-25 Oct.

... but only for those graded no more than 170. Is there really nothing at all for those over 170?

The curse of the chess congress.

A lift from a national news agency;

‘MAJOR INCIDENT' DECLARED IN NORTH YORKSHIRE
A “major incident” has been declared by officials in North Yorkshire following a “surge” in coronavirus cases in the past fortnight, according to the BBC.

North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum (NYLRF) said it was reinstating “full emergency mode”.

The body, which is made up of representatives from the police and local authorities, said Harrogate and Selby were of particular concern.

Parts of Craven and Scarborough have also seen a sharp rise in cases.

Dr Lincoln Sargeant, the county's director of public health, said there were one to two new cases per day at the end of July, but he told a meeting there were now about 20 new cases per day.‘

[Matt Bridgeman]

Hancock’s announcement didn’t seem to allow any wiggle room so to speak.

[Chris Goodall]

Hancock’s announcement didn’t seem to allow any wiggle room so to speak.

Without claiming to speak for or on behalf of the organiser, I think it's safe to say that that's up to the council and the police to decide.

[Tim Spanton]

From the BBC:

From midnight, people in seven council areas "should not socialise" with people outside of their household or support bubble, he told the House of Commons.
Pubs and restaurants must offer table service only and all "leisure and entertainment venues" must be closed between 22:00 and 05:00.

It still seems to leave a lot for interpretation. You can go to the pub or a restaurant and not be socialising; ditto for leisure and entertainment venues. As usual, chess tournaments don't get a mention ...