Actually, it wasn't. Mostly because when we put the dates in the diary, there was some doubt that Paignton would even go ahead this year; it being before news of the Wilson/Rudd takeover went public and ensured it would be going ahead.Keith Arkell wrote: ↑Mon Sep 10, 2018 3:55 amPaignton has taken place in the first week of September for 60+ consecutive years. It could therefore be hoped that the event qualified as fairly significant in dates to avoid clashing an important new event with.
In terms of dates:
- 1 September, English Women's Championship
- 8 September, Paignton possibly
- 15 September, UKCC Terafinal (so lots of strong children unavailable)
- 22 September, 29 September, 6 October, many of the people who might have run events are in Batumi at the Olympiad (Holowczak, McFarlane, Carr, Atkinson), and indeed many of the players (particularly in Cardiff) would be there too
- 13 October, many of the people who might be running events are at the ECF AGM (which I know may seem like a confusion of priorities, but staff availability is important)
- 20 October, 27 October, clashes with Isle of Man
- 4 November, clashes with the 4NCL International
- 11 November, 18 November, clashes with 4NCL (it's a split weekend)
- 25 November, clashes with the British Rapidplay
- 1 December, this is the date we're holding the Final!
- 8 December, the day before the London Chess Classic festival starts; at the time, we didn't know whether or not this date would be available
And that's just England, if we remember Isle of Man is in England for chess administration so far as FIDE were concerned. Of the various things it was going to clash with, Paignton was the only real option, on the grounds that at the time we didn't know whether or not it was going ahead.