English Chess Forum

Yes, apparently confusion reigns. 2017: https://www.liverpoolchessclub.co.uk/english-rapidplay-congress-liverpool-2324-september-2017/ September 2017 saw Liverpool Chess Club host the first English Rapidplay Championship 2014: https://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=6312 e2e4 Chess are pleas...

I am unsure how much of the Equality Act 2010 applies to amateur sport (some amateur sports have a well-funded professional body, others do not). The question of access (able to take part at all) as opposed to in-game adjustments is a helpful distinction, in my view. Medical timeouts would not be l...

" ... a tealady would come around and ask you what you wanted in terms of tea/coffee and biscuits." How could anyone object to that? If it's my turn to move and I've been sitting there for a few minutes thinking about which of two difficult choices I want to make, I don't want someone tapping me on...

I have no intention of dehydrating chess players. Off-topic: Read about the 1904 Olympic Marathon in St Louis. The organiser deliberately provided only one water station, halfway around the course, with the specific intention of dehydrating the runners as a test of their abilities. The race was run...

"On the contrary, there is no better way of dealing with a proposal that is quite evidently ridiculous." (Nick F.) Isn't it a bit early in the proceedings to pass such a judgement? Perhaps other players would like to have a say. Perhaps the way that this should work is that (other) players should h...

I am very surprised by the ECF's approach of ridicule which seems to be regarded as a legitimate way of dealing with the proposal. I wish to associate myself with the comments of my honourable friend: On the contrary, there is no better way of dealing with a proposal that is quite evidently ridicul...

There are genuine issues at play here around access and disability issues (some of the medical conditions that might require Reasonable Adjustments to be made also count as long-term disabilities - whether chess organisations have obligations under the various pieces of UK legislation is less clear...

I am not sure divulging the contents of such a chat in public is the best way forward here. Even if you have not named them, those arbiters posting there had a reasonable expectation that their comments would not be made public (some of the comments do not cast the aforesaid arbiters in a good ligh...

I wish to thank Barbara for advance sighting of the proposal - well, strictly, a very similar one. I sent this email back to her, and it appears that she did indeed wish to proceed with it. At least we already have significant input from arbiters. ***** I took the opportunity to share this proposal ...

England, and Europe more generally, isn't really the problem when it comes to the woes befalling the FIDE rating system. Globally, I've never said they are. There is a local problem with English players, notably juniors, having unreliable FIDE ratings because so few of their games are FIDE rated. T...

FIDE's regulations do a lot to stop it - lots of leagues have pet rules about how games can be played that would not be applied (phones, presence of licenced arbiters) But do they? These restrictions don't seem to trouble other federations, and my impression is that the issue here is not the FIDE r...

It is better in many ways: ... 5. The quality of the ratings themselves is much higher as a comparison in ability between two players; geography is not a factor Has that been shown to be true now? I think it was generally accepted in the past that it was not; there were regional variations due to f...

I don’t speak for the ECF any more, but on my watch at least the belief was that the FIDE rating system was inferior to the ECF rating system; and the position was that the ECF rating system would never be discontinued. I'm not sure I can speak for the ECF, but I have not detected any change in tha...

Did they accidentally forget to mention the inquorate thing, or does the term "formally supported" assume in the reader an understanding that it may not mean what it says? There is currently a debate online where one very respected delegate attending the meeting believes the meeting was inquorate a...

The issue isn’t simply whether someone 60–70 rating points stronger has been overlooked. It’s whether the process is transparent, consistent and demonstrably based on merit. But this isn't the issue, is it? As a detached observer from everything Seniors chess, it appears to me that the point is tha...