Women at chess clubs

[David Pardoe]

A lot of very good points made..
Firstly, clubs and leagues and county bodies depend very much on volunteers.

The AGM season is upon us, so I`d urge players to get along and fill those posts.
Too many players just turn up expecting it all to happen, and when AGMs come along, they just sit and watch/listen.
We need to move from being a spectator society, to being an active participating society. Its the TV mentality of just sitting being served up junk at the switch of a button.
So...dont just sit there...do something to help..is the message I`d send to all club players.

In most cases, it just requires a willing pair of hands...there is usually plenty of people who are willing to assist, should help be needed.

Next point...publicity. Our local and regional Press need to give better coverage and publicity (preferably free of charge), to local chess events....more publicity officers needed, to send out the messages to alert joe public to the fact that chess does go on in many of our local communities. Club secretaries, league secretaries, and others...get those messages out to local communities. Its not enough to hope that people will spot things on websites. And clear messages, welcoming players of all ages and standards, including internet players, would help, I`m sure.
I`d urge some of our stronger players to consider submitting commentries/stories, and game/ league updates/chess news..etc.. to there local Press.
We need more new clubs and new members to bring fresh blood to the party.

Did you know that the iconic culture city of northern England currently has no chess club....what madness.
Yes, I refer to non other than Sunderland. The venerable Bede would be horrified by this huge cultural gap. There used to be a thriving club at Sunderland YMCA, so I guess the equipment still lerks there to re-establish a base.
Durham University also used to run strong college teams, and I`m sure has many strong players..lets urge these centres of culture to step up to the plate, join the party, and help bring about a revival. I`d urge local league secretaries or county officers to do what they can to welcome back some of these communities..
Incidentally, I was looking at the Durham County website recently, and noticed they held there AGM not long ago, and need a Secretary...come on lads (and lasses..).. And also a vacant posts of County Captain...?? So, an opportunity for someone to start to pull things together, create some county teams, and put Durham back on the chess map..
Maybe starting with a Minor Counties team and perhaps a U 140 team. Surely something can be done to move things forward in the land of Prince Bishops...
Next point...we need our clubs to have a more friendly welcoming demeaner..
To do this..better premises would help...which might mean an increase in subs...but its a price worth paying. We should stop being so penny pinching.
Ideally, clubs need a separate club night and match night. A club social night would greatly help to improve communications and allow players to chat during the evening. But its very important that clubs run informal `all play all` competitions, particularly for novice and inexperienced players. Throw in some informal coaching and before you know it, players are starting to show marked improvement. If local leagues also set up novice sections, perhaps restricted to players graded U90, that can also help..
I`m a great believer in junior chess clubs, or clubs with separate junior sections.

[Mike Truran]

David, why don't you do some of the work yourself instead of sitting on the sidelines and telling other people what they should be doing?

[David Pardoe]

Mike,
As I have said before, these forums are here for people to put forward there views and ideas, and to contribute to the discussions.
If you have some contributions to make, then feel free to add your ideas.

Meanwhile, I`ll just say that your comments about me just sitting on the sidelines is somewhat off the mark. I`m active in various ways, and have held various posts in club, league, county and Union chess in the past.
I`ve also helped with promotional work in many areas and to try to encourage greater participation in the 4NCL Northern league, where the team numbers have shot up from just 8 teams to 14 last season...and hopefully this will continue to grow further in coming years.
I`ve made my comments on how things might be taken forward in future years, and hopefully we`ll see some positive changes that help the Northern 4NCL league (..and other divisions), to progress and develop. See my comments on the 4NCL thread, under `Future options`, which I`d be happy to discuss.
Far from just sitting on the sidelines, I am also active in supporting the Manchester 4NCL teams.

[Louise Sinclair]

I am aware of the potential of making our chess club seem like a "dating agency." I do not intend to do that, but of course I am aware of the social side of it.

I didn't mean that. I meant that if you make chess clubs more attractive, more people will join. And that whatever is stopping more female players from joining is probably also stopping more male people from joining.

I smiled when I saw the reference to 'dating agency' as I found my husband at the local chess club. It was hate at first sight.
On a serious note though - more women would join and remain at clubs if they were not treated with sneering disdain by a proportion of established members.
Women are always assumed to be weaker players and fit only for fifth reserve on bottom board so we defect to internet chess.
Organisation - I do my share of that but do not like the idea of a women's director - we should make it under our own steam.
Louise

[Francis Fields]

The question I always ask is What do chess clubs offer?

If you are 'new' to chess then the opportunity to learn or the opportunity to play simliar strength 'new players' should obviously be on the cards.

[Louise Sinclair]

Francis
That would be pleasant but not always feasable. In my case I had the club champion kindly taking an interest - Harry Wolverton was an old school gentleman and always decent to new untried members. All clubs really need is a couple of decent established members who are happy to put new people at ease.
Louise