(Chess) Life Returning To Normal

[Stewart Reuben]

David Williams > You'd shake hands with a coughing stranger before and after a game and take his pieces without a care in the world.<
I raised this matter with Dr Jana Bellin about 5 years ago, when she was chairman of the FIDE Medical Commission. She dismissed it, saying there
was more risk travelling on the underground. She may have been right at that time.
I have not bothered to ask her in the last year.
In my youth we did not shake hands before the game. We learnt that etiquette from foreigners.

[NickFaulks]

She dismissed it, saying there was more risk travelling on the underground.

That sets the bar very low. I'm sure we all understand that travelling on the Northern Line during rush hours is the best way of spreading germs ever devised by mankind.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"I'm sure we all understand that travelling on the Northern Line during rush hours is the best way of spreading germs ever devised by mankind."

Well, yes...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... fghanistan

[Stewart Reuben]

One year, at Hastings during the congress, it was lie Ravel's Bolero. First day - a few coughs. Next - rather more. And gradually the noise grew, but
I don't remember when it reached its crescendo.
Personally, I shall not be flying before December at the earliest. Quite apart from Covid, I frequently get infections whn doing so.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Personally, I shall not be flying before December at the earliest. Quite apart from Covid, I frequently get infections whn doing so."

Probably due to poor air-quality. The ban on smoking on commercial flights encouraged the airlines to reduce air-circulation to save money.

[NickFaulks]

Probably due to poor air-quality. The ban on smoking on commercial flights encouraged the airlines to reduce air-circulation to save money.

As it happens, I remember discussing this with Stewart some years ago, over a very enjoyable dinner somewhere abroad. Why is it that so many people with an enhanced risk of blood clots suffer them on airline flights, which are supposed to be fully pressurised? It must have something to do with money.

[Stewart Reuben]

Nick >It must have something to do with money.<
I seldom eat money. I have better uses for it.
One reason people suffer from blood clots on planes is that they sit cooped up for long periods. I try to exercise every hour.

[NickFaulks]

One reason people suffer from blood clots on planes is that they sit cooped up for long periods. I try to exercise every hour.

Yes, but I am sure people spend more than an hour watching a film, at home or in a cinema, without taking exercise. There is a reason why planes are different. The next time I am permitted to travel by air ( if that ever happens ) I shall carry a barometer.

[Roger de Coverly]

Yes, but I am sure people spend more than an hour watching a film, at home or in a cinema, without taking exercise.

Also there would be players who do not leave the board for the entire duration of a classical time limit game of chess and that's never been flagged as a health hazard.

[Stewart Reuben]

It is partly the restriction in space that causes the problem. At the chessboard or sleeping in bed, you have more room to adjust your body. I am often advised not to sit too long staring at a computer screen. I do leave the chessboard during a longer game.

[John Upham]

She dismissed it, saying there was more risk travelling on the underground.

That sets the bar very low. I'm sure we all understand that travelling on the Northern Line during rush hours is the best way of spreading germs ever devised by mankind.

Having used the City Line whilst working as an IT consultant I'd say that line was a much more successful method of spreading infection.

Being sandwiched between undesirable merchant bankers and the like to and from Waterloo on a daily basis was so unpleasant that I changed to walking every day to and from Cannon Street. Never again!

[NickFaulks]

Having used the City Line whilst working as an IT consultant I'd say that line was a much more successful method of spreading infection.

I used The Drain when it was open, but always against the flow. It didn't look much fun going the other way.

[E Michael White]

….. And gradually the noise grew, but
I don't remember when it reached its crescendo.

I guess that bit needs to go into the pedants thread !

[Tim Spanton]

….. And gradually the noise grew, but
I don't remember when it reached its crescendo.

I guess that bit needs to go into the pedants thread !

Do you mean the pedants' thread?

Anyway, I am not sure I get your point:
crescendo
/krɪˈʃɛndəʊ/
noun
1.
the loudest point reached in a gradually increasing sound.
"the port engine's sound rose to a crescendo"
2.
the highest point reached in a progressive increase of intensity.
"the hysteria reached a crescendo around the spring festival"
adverb music
with a gradual increase in loudness.
"in the upper three parts there are groups of longer notes played crescendo"
adjective music
gradually increasing in loudness.
"a short crescendo kettledrum roll"
verb
increase in loudness or intensity.
"the reluctant cheers began to crescendo"
Definitions from Oxford Languages

[Simon Rogers]

I am still annoyed by the government's wording of phase 2, in particular the following 2 sentences:

All children’s activities, indoor parent & child groups (up to 15 parents).

All children will be able to attend any indoor children’s activity, including sport, regardless of circumstance. Parent and child groups of up to 15 people (not counting children aged under five years old) can restart indoors.

I can see the following interpretations:

1. Only a total of 15 individuals (parents + children are allowed), excluding under 5s
2. Only 15 households are allowed, with no limit of children
3. An unlimited number of children is allowed, and only 15 adults

Points 1 and 2 would allow small tournaments, while 3 would allow large scale junior tournaments (with autonomous juniors who do not require parents around).
The main issues I have is the difference between "up to 15 parents" and "up to 15 people" (are children "people" from a government jargon point of view???), as well as the string "parent and child group": is it "parent" and "child group" or "parent and child" "group"?

My reading of this is that these are two separate types of event; first, general children's activities, where children are in social contact but not their parents, and second, the 'parent and toddler' type of group where the parents are socially mixing as well. I take the 'up to 15 parents' as an indication that the second clause is indeed referring to parent and toddler groups where all the children are tiny.

There's somewhere else in the document where children's activities and 'Parent and child group' are under separate bullet points, which supports the notion that these are separate types of event.

Separately, HMG guidance on education and youth activities during the pandemic (when we were in the tier system) had earlier said that groups should not be larger than 15. I haven't checked whether this is still operational, but do think it good practice to keep the size of child 'bubbles' as quite small and under 15.

Good luck with your OTB junior tournament in Oxford on 12th April, Joseph.
32 entries for the first of hopefully many events is terrific.