English Chess Forum

Are members who pay their membership fees via their clubs, renewing their memberships for 2020 - 2021?
I presume these will be mainly Bronze Members who play mainly local league & club chess.

How clubs reopen & start OTB play will vary considerably throughout the country.
Venues interpretation of the government guidelines, if the venue is licensed, reduced opening hours, if the venue is a "members only club", all playing a factor in chess clubs holding matches & club nights.

My chess club has reopened, and yes I will be paying for Bronze membership with my other fees.

I reopened my club last night. It was a slightly muted occasion but some stalwart members are away. Apart from playing with masks everything proceeded mostly as normal.

Matt Mackenzie wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 08, 2020 1:18 pm

My chess club has reopened, and yes I will be paying for Bronze membership with my other fees.

I noticed Barrow Chess Club had reopened.

http://www.cumbriachess.com/index.html

On the Northumbria Chess Association website, there are pictures of Gosforth Chess Club. Players were wearing masks and visors. The club opened back in July.
It was mentioned on another thread a while back that Surbiton Chess Club has reopened.
As regards to membership fees, only 4 members including myself have renewed our ECF membership from Poulton le Fylde Chess Club.
I've not checked the other clubs in our league yet.

Simon Rogers wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 08, 2020 2:28 pm

As regards to membership fees, only 4 members including myself have renewed our ECF membership from Poulton le Fylde Chess Club.
I've not checked the other clubs in our league yet.

Uptake of membership in the Lancashire area looks very poor at the moment.
Does the Blackpool & Fylde League plan to run a 2020 -2021 season?

Cumbria Chess
Returning to Barrow Chess Club, I notice the:
Commencement of the 2020-21 season is therefore delayed until further notice

I was on the Blackpool & Fylde League website last night.
They are planning to run an online league on alternative Tuesdays so it doesn't clash with 4NCL online.
There was a pre season friendly between Poulton and Preston. Poulton won 2 and a half to half.

Simon Rogers wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 08, 2020 3:13 pm

I was on the Blackpool & Fylde League website last night.
They are planning to run an online league on alternative Tuesdays so it doesn't clash with 4NCL online.
There was a pre season friendly between Poulton and Preston. Poulton won 2 and a half to half.

Simon.
I was hoping you would have more information about OTB Chess & Clubs reopening.
Online Chess is not for everybody & prone to controversy, even at the highest level (Recent Olympiad).
A couple of Blackpool & Fylde League players have informed me they do not plan to play competitive online chess, althought they do play online for fun, practice etc.

Is Poulton Chess Club & Lytham St Annes Chess Club opening?
Are you allowed to use the venue's?
Booth's Café in the Teanlowe Centre, Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, FY6 7DF
Booth’s Café, 62 Heyhouses Lane, Lytham St. Annes, FY8 3RW

If I'm expected to wear a mask, I'm not playing chess.

But horses for courses.

Well with the announcement tonight it's looking like clubs will be closing as soon as they re-opened.

There may be a get out clause in that people can still meet indoors in bubbles which might allow chess clubs to open provided players stay in their bubble for the night. But it's not looking good.

Nick Ivell wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 08, 2020 6:06 pm

If I'm expected to wear a mask, I'm not playing chess.

Me neither, and I suspect there are a lot of us. I play chess for fun, and for me playing in an uncomfortable, insanitary and useless mask is not fun.

I shall instead spend more time in pubs and restaurants, where "risks" are at least as great but masks are not a requirement.

I really do not want chess to die in this country, so If others are willing to play in masks, good luck to them. As we used to say in a bygone era, it's a free country.

I’ve had to wear a mask once for an extended time - during the rather bonkers but interesting Tenet at the cinema. I was quite aware of the mask for the first ten minutes, but with a decent distraction and some nice air conditioning, I did forget about it after that. I probably had it on for 2 and a half hours. The paper based surgical masks are lighter and nicer to wear I think. Although technically I think probably all masks lose their actual effectiveness after 30 minutes, but that’s another story

The Chessbase site has photos of players in the Spanish Championships wearing masks but with bottles of water next to their boards. Presumably the players are allowed to remove masks to drink water? If so, I wonder how often they are allowed to do this. I'm not very keen on having to frequently remove a mask, sip water and replace the mask if I'm short of time in a serious standardplay game. However I think I could manage to survive without water during a rapidplay game.

NickFaulks wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 09, 2020 11:25 am

Nick Ivell wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 08, 2020 6:06 pm

If I'm expected to wear a mask, I'm not playing chess.

Me neither, and I suspect there are a lot of us. I play chess for fun, and for me playing in an uncomfortable, insanitary and useless mask is not fun.

Having played in a mask, with a couple of games lasting almost 5 hours, I don't agree. While concentrating on the game the mask was forgotten about. The only real inconvenience was not being able to drink at the board. Having to leave the playing room to do that was tolerable.

I would suggest using a comfortable, breathable, cloth mask though. A disposable polypropylene mask would not be very pleasant.

Andrew Zigmond wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 08, 2020 11:53 pm

Well with the announcement tonight it's looking like clubs will be closing as soon as they re-opened.

There may be a get out clause in that people can still meet indoors in bubbles which might allow chess clubs to open provided players stay in their bubble for the night. But it's not looking good.

Many clubs don't have attendances much higher than six people on many occasions anyway?

The real point about these new rules is that they are basically unenforceable, and any serious attempt to do so is likely to cause unrest. Its a bit of chest beating by the government to show that they are "doing something" (whilst simultaneously, of course, demanding that EVERYBODY must now do the commute to their offices EVERY DAY)