Membership Services

[Eric Gardiner]

I joined the ECF as a Standard Member in 2011 for 3 years. I understand this has been transferred to Gold Membership but apart from the initial letter with my membership card I haven't received any communications either by post or email from the ECF. Is that because I joined under the old scheme? I would like to receive communications from the ECF and wouldn't regard them as spam.

[Roger de Coverly]

I bought a gold membership and it cost me less than the cost of playing in one weekend tournament.

Apologies for repeating the same point, but if you only had the time or inclination to enter a single tournament and that was the extent of your chess ambition for the year, then being required to purchase a Gold membership as a condition of play would almost double the direct cost of entering that tournament. Equally if you enter half a dozen, having the organisers add £ 3 (as it was) to each entry fee still doesn't add up to that much in comparison to the aggregate expenditure in travel and accommodation.

[Roger de Coverly]

Is that because I joined under the old scheme? I would like to receive communications from the ECF and wouldn't regard them as spam.

Presumably you aren't getting ChessMoves. It's likely the silence from the ECF is because they haven't got a valid email address. I don't think the systems are set up to contact you until 2014, when then will write to ask for more money.

[Eric Gardiner]

Is that because I joined under the old scheme? I would like to receive communications from the ECF and wouldn't regard them as spam.

Presumably you aren't getting ChessMoves. It's likely the silence from the ECF is because they haven't got a valid email address. I don't think the systems are set up to contact you until 2014, when then will write to ask for more money.

No I don't get ChessMoves (sent to me). I applied for membership by post and I think I would have supplied an email address if it had been asked for but I can't prove that. And yes, I am expecting to be contacted again when my membership is due for renewal

[Andrew Zigmond]

I'm a bit late joining this debate (I've been in Blackpool actually playing some chess for once) but I'd like to thank Sean for the work he's been doing behind the scenes to arrange these discounts. For those people moaning about spam, if your email is anything like mine you're probably inundated with the stuff. If the occasionally update about ECF benefits offends you so much just set your bulk mail folder to exclusive and delete it unread.

[David Gilbert]

I bought a gold membership and it cost me less than the cost of playing in one weekend tournament. I'm getting 40 or 50 games graded, participation in the County Championships, the right to enter an event at the British Championships and now even the possibility of discounts. Keep up the good work I say. Things are definitely moving in the right direction.

Well done Michele. I've got Gold membership too. I shall be playing in Delph over Easter and will ask for those games to be graded - Isn't that wonderful! And I've played 25 graded games for my Club and 7 for my County saving them about £18 on what they would previously have paid in game fee. It's like dropping money in a stranger's pocket when they are not looking.

[Roger de Coverly]

I shall be playing in Delph over Easter and will ask for those games to be graded - Isn't that wonderful!

Delft presumably this one
http://www.delftseschaaksite.nl/toernoo ... le&id=2040

It doesn't appear to be internationally rated. I'd assume you aren't required to be a member of the KNSB, not being Dutch, or have to pay a "pay to play" fee of 7 or 8 Euros ?

[David Gilbert]

I shall be playing in Delph over Easter and will ask for those games to be graded - Isn't that wonderful!

Delft presumably this one
http://www.delftseschaaksite.nl/toernoo ... le&id=2040

It doesn't appear to be internationally rated. I'd assume you aren't required to be a member of the KNSB, not being Dutch, or have to pay a "pay to play" fee of 7 or 8 Euros ?

Delft, rather than Delph! Did you know that Kolff developed the first haemodialysis machine using sausage skins during the German occupation in the 2nd World War. We don't have to pay 7 or 8 euros. I did notice the cost of the return ticket to Rotterdam was about £30 and the tax £100!

[Roger de Coverly]

I did notice the cost of the return ticket to Rotterdam was about £30 and the tax £100!

Simpler to drive or use the train with the overnight ferry from Harwich, I would think.

[David Gilbert]

I did notice the cost of the return ticket to Rotterdam was about £30 and the tax £100!

Simpler to drive or use the train with the overnight ferry from Harwich, I would think.

Amazingly, door-to-door the journey takes a little more than two hours. If you subtract waiting times, bus, DLR, flight and taxi takes an hour and 15 minutes from my home to the hotel in Delft.

[Ian Thompson]

I did notice the cost of the return ticket to Rotterdam was about £30 and the tax £100!

If you look at the breakdown of the 'tax' I suspect you would find that 30-40% of it is not tax at all. It's the airline making discretionary charges that it's trying to hide by lumping it in with the tax (e.g. BA London to Rotterdam charges £103.40 in taxes and fees of which £66.40 is tax and airport charges and £37 is an airline charge).

[Andrew Bak]

I'm glad that Sean and the ECF did send the email. It's good to see that they are at least trying to do something constructive in communicating what the ECF will be doing and providing some tangible benefits for members.

If you feel that passionately about not wanting to receive emails, it's very easy to put the ECF address on your blacklist which will automatically send them to spam!

[Matthew Turner]

The latest E-mail from the ECF says a number of things

1. It passes on a deal from a seemingly fairly dubious business without first checking it out
2. It promises future benefits for members, but there is nothing actually there at present
3. It celebrates the fact that they have signed up 9000 members, i.e. they have taken a lot of money out of chess, but there is no talk of any chess actually being organised.

This is hardly a new approach from the ECF

[Sean Hewitt ECF DoMM]

I joined the ECF as a Standard Member in 2011 for 3 years. I understand this has been transferred to Gold Membership but apart from the initial letter with my membership card I haven't received any communications either by post or email from the ECF. Is that because I joined under the old scheme? I would like to receive communications from the ECF and wouldn't regard them as spam.

Hi Eric - I can see that the ECF do have an email address for you. Could you PM me your email address so that I can verify it is correct?

[Sean Hewitt ECF DoMM]

The latest E-mail from the ECF says a number of things

1. It passes on a deal from a seemingly fairly dubious business without first checking it out

Could you quote that bit of the email, as I must have missed the bit where the email says that.

Or do you actually mean to say that this is simply your assumption without having checked your facts first?

3. It celebrates the fact that they have signed up 9000 members, i.e. they have taken a lot of money out of chess, but there is no talk of any chess actually being organised.

Do ECF members want the ECF to be organising chess?