English Chess Forum

I'm so impressed with this website, that I'm posting a new thread about it:

http://mjh.orpheusweb.co.uk/chingland/cframe.htm

What I find so impressive is that the website author has done maps for each region of the country, and put the chess clubs on those maps, and carefully indicated which leagues they play in. An invaluable resource for anyone wanting to know which clubs are near them and where they play, and also for those wanting to get an overview of where different clubs are. I also like the way clubs outside a region, but playing within the region, are shown as well.

The thoughts on chess club websites are worth reading as well:

http://mjh.orpheusweb.co.uk/chingland/cframe.htm

I don't know if the author of the website posts here, but I'm going to do the courtesy of e-mailing him and pointing out this thread. As for the maps, they are different to the ones John Upham is generating, but I suspect the author of that website will have a list of postcodes (his maps were probably generated using some mapping program or website) that could possibly be passed to John to generate Google Maps links (not sure which mapping website is best for this - it is probably best to actually provide people with a choice, rather than tie them into Google).

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:I don't know if the author of the website posts here.

He does. Martyn Harris.

Sean Hewitt wrote:

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:I don't know if the author of the website posts here.

He does. Martyn Harris.

OK, thanks. I hope he doesn't mind me getting all excited about his website. I should probably explain that I had been looking at John Upham's Google-generated maps and thinking "I would love something cleaner and more schematic than this", and then while doing another web search, I stumbled on the Chingland website and my jaw literally dropped. Exactly what I'd been looking for was there on the screen in front of me.

There are stats as well!

http://mjh.orpheusweb.co.uk/chingland/snap10.htm

It seems that in 2009-10, the biggest leagues were Birmingham (74 teams), Kent (65 teams) and London (58 teams). That doesn't tell you how many games are contested in each league (going by board counts), but you can't have everything, I suppose. The information on number of boards and teams in division 1 of each league (where known) is invaluable in giving an idea of the size of various leagues. It might not tell you how many players there are (as some players will play in several different leagues, but it does give you some idea of the differences in size between various leagues.

it is a shame that the google clubs maps on the ecf misses whole regions such as the North Essex Chess Clubs. I have emailed about this but the donkey work entailed was too much (which I kind of understand), but a half finished job looks a bit odd.

Gavin Strachan wrote:it is a shame that the google clubs maps on the ecf misses whole regions such as the North Essex Chess Clubs. I have emailed about this but the donkey work entailed was too much (which I kind of understand), but a half finished job looks a bit odd.

Can you link to these "google clubs maps on the ecf" that miss whole regions? Are you referring to the ECF website? I sometimes try and find stuff on the ECF website, but I find the navigation is difficult.

get ready for the longest url ever:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF ... 876709&z=7

it is on the ecf homepage about halfway down on the right.

Gavin Strachan wrote:it is a shame that the google clubs maps on the ecf misses whole regions such as the North Essex Chess Clubs. I have emailed about this but the donkey work entailed was too much (which I kind of understand), but a half finished job looks a bit odd.

If any of the chess clubs in North Essex want to appear on that list, then the following link may be useful:

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/?page_id=2823

It's on the ECF home page, directly below the previously posted link.