(Chess) Life Returning To Normal

[Tim Spanton]

Yep, chess congresses from June 22 (but this could be put back). However, chess in beer gardens from April 12: https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/02/ ... chess.html

[Ian Thompson]

Yep, chess congresses from June 22 (but this could be put back). However, chess in beer gardens from April 12: https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/02/ ... chess.html

The Telegraph says going abroad much before June to play won't be possible.

Foreign holidays will not be allowed until May 17 at the earliest as a review is conducted into the safety of reopening borders.

[Paul Robert Jackson]

Yep, chess congresses from June 22 (but this could be put back). However, chess in beer gardens from April 12: https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/02/ ... chess.html

Hopefully we will see some OTB Chess Congresses in the UK towards the end of the year.

[Matt Bridgeman]

The vaccine roll out seems to be going quick. Lancaster is up to cohort 6 already and I've just been told I'm getting my jab on Wednesday.

[Wadih Khoury]

No doubt only pencilled in, but all legal limits on social contact in England set to be removed on the 21st June. Presumably chess congresses will be free to spring back into life after this date. Fingers crossed!

Maybe smaller ones in groups of 6 before:

Indoor mixing will be allowed, up to six people or, if it is more people, two households.

Possibly from May 17th.

But Easter holidays seems lost for tournaments. Maybe if the weather is exceptional, someone could try an outdoor tournament.

[Roger de Coverly]

From the report on the bbc site

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-52530518

Stage four

No earlier than 21 June:

All legal limits on social contact will be removed
No legal limits on the number of people who can attend weddings, funerals and other life events. From April, the government will run pilots for events such as large weddings, festivals and work conferences. This will help to determine how measures such as enhanced testing might allow large groups to attend without social distancing

Any hope for a chess "pilot"?

[Nick Grey]

We should be ok from JULY 21 AS 2 WEEKS from 21 June? Why hope for a chess "pilot"?

[Mick Norris]

Israel is a number of weeks ahead of us in vaccinations.
It was announced that they are lifting a number of restrictions. Not sure if that applies to International air travel yet but we might see some OTB tournaments being announced over there in the not to distant future.

40th Israel Championships starts 7 March in Jerusalem

[John Upham]

Any hope for a chess "pilot"?

Yes, I have one here :

30595778559.jpg

[Joseph Conlon]

With luck, children's chess can start again on 12th April with step 2 of the government roadmap:

Screenshot 2021-02-23 at 18.41.09.png

That's not so long - time for me to start planning again.....

[Ian Thompson]

The Telegraph says going abroad much before June to play won't be possible.

Foreign holidays will not be allowed until May 17 at the earliest as a review is conducted into the safety of reopening borders.

Anyone wondering whether or not to risk booking a trip to Reykjavik on 22 May needn't bother any more. The event was postponed to August or September yesterday.

[Paul Cooksey]

I am hoping that we will have some weekend tournaments over the summer, in which case I will be making an effort to enter one or two. Alex Macfarlane's post on Scarborough - that venues might have higher priorities in their queues than chess - makes sense. But still, I am hopeful that June, July and August will months when we can play OTB.

I am a bit cautious about the autumn and winter. I don't share Nick Faulk's level of suspicion of government motives. But I can imagine things going wrong that would put pressure on the NHS. If anything is impacted, gatherings of vulnerable people in indoor venues seem to me likely to be disrupted.

Still, I am optimistic there will be some opportunities to play while the sun shines this summer.

[MartinCarpenter]

I am a bit cautious about the autumn and winter. I don't share Nick Faulk's level of suspicion of government motives. But I can imagine things going wrong that would put pressure on the NHS. If anything is impacted, gatherings of vulnerable people in indoor venues seem to me likely to be disrupted.

Yes and no. Obviously things might well go wrong to some degree, but the vaccines do seem to offer very strong protection against hospitalisation. Unless that gets broken by a variant I doubt if it'll get bad enough for a lockdown to make sense.

[Adam Raoof]

I am booking some dates in July and August for events at Golders Green, with the proviso that the government's plans need to go without a hitch to get us there safely!

[David Sedgwick]

I am booking some dates in July and August for events at Golders Green, with the proviso that the government's plans need to go without a hitch to get us there safely!

Keep us posted please. I don't see any relevant dates in your calendar as yet.