English Chess Forum

Has the Kidlington Congress been scheduled for the same weekend as 4NCL Div 3?

How many entries do they hope to achieve?

Has the Kidlington Congress been scheduled for the same weekend as 4NCL Div 3?

Well as it's the 32nd Kidlington and it's been in the first weekend of February slot for as long as I can remember, it's probably more a case of the 4NCL scheduling a clash with Kidlington.

Long running congresses have a loyal following and it might be the 4NCL which suffers. That said, the regulars in the top section are mostly div 1/2 people and the regulars in the bottom (U-125) section don't play 4NCL anyway.

John Upham wrote:How many entries do they hope to achieve?

Me for one, back playing chess after a few years "off" so to speak so lookout for me in the U170 might be a bunny or a shark?

Roger is right - it's the 4NCL clashing with Kidlington, not the other way around.

To be fair, that's not really their fault either. They are dictated to by the hotels availability and they can't really give practical consideration to who they clash with.

Thats one of the reasons why, as a congress organiser, I welcome their decision not to have split weekends next year. It means there are only 4 weekend which might clash with you, rather than 8 (given that the 5th weekend is always a May bank holiday).

Sean is right. I try to avoid clashes where I can, but I am usually significantly limited by the dates that the venues are able/willing to offer me. I therefore try to focus (within the constraints of venue availability) on avoiding clashes with significant European events (eg European Clubs Championship), those British Isles or similar events which are FIDE rated (Gibraltar, Guernsey, Blackpool etc) and those events which specifically ask me to try to avoid a clash (eg British Rapidplay). I used to try to avoid clashes with the main European leagues a few years back, but that reduced the number of available weekends to such a degree that I gave up trying.

Once things settle down with Barcelo and I am happy we have a reasonable chance of a good and sustainable longer term relationship with them I will probably try to book the weekends earlier than I have been doing - probably around mid-year rather than the end of the year. This should hopefully increase availability at the various venues and give other events even more chance of rescheduling if they want to avoid the clashes that will inevitably still arise.

In 2010 there should be no clash with Kidlington assuming they keep to their first weekend in February pattern.

Mike

Carl Hibbard wrote:

John Upham wrote:How many entries do they hope to achieve?

Me for one, back playing chess after a few years "off" so to speak so lookout for me in the U170 might be a bunny or a shark?

So, I am a rabbit then