English Chess Forum

Please post here if your club is re-opening : hopefully there will be a deluge !

Perhaps you could list the club name and the physical venue...

Hi John,

No official news yet on Edinburgh.

I was there today on an Aitken book hunt but it's not officially opened.
I do not know of any club in the Edinburgh area that has re-opened but the season runs from September to May so a lot will remain shut.

Has your club re-opened yet?

Horsham is planning to open on 21st June, provided the proposed further easing of restrictions happens by then. The club intends to meet weekly throughout the summer rather than taking its usual 2 months break during July and August. Full club details can be found at http://www.horshamchessclub.org.uk/

Bedford's venue is an upstairs room in a Social Club (until recently called a Working Men's Club). Reopening date was May 17th and chess club members will be permitted to have a drink and play casual chess in the ground floor bar on Thursdays. The Rule of Six precludes using our usual upstairs room - we decided not to try a legal bend of the regulations.

From June 24th we hope to run as normal, but so much depends on government legislation and guidance nearer the time. I would hope that the sanitising of equipment may be seen as unnecessary, but decisions will have to be made about masks and distancing. Currently Bedford is making national headlines over the Indian variant.

Ideally we hope to resume the 2019-20 club championship (two all-play-all divisions). If these can be completed by the end of October it should be possible to run the 2021-22 season through to August 2022, though it would normally finish by the end of June.

This leaves enough time for hesitant returners to make up their minds. Ultimately we would apply the usual rule of defaulting any who have completed fewer than 50%of their games.

For the Bedfordshire League season starting in October there are some question marks about the venues and even the existence of some other clubs, but it is far too soon to say what will be viable.

As previously related, Barrow chess club has reopened this week.

There will be "special" Covid rules in place until at least the advertised lifting of restrictions next month.

Harrogate have resumed informal meetings at the Cricket Club on St George's Road. We are aiming to reopen our main club night as and when the rule of six is relaxed.

Harrogate Youth Chess Club, for players aged 11-18, resumes at the same venue tomorrow.

Adult section of Watford Chess Club still closed but juniors have been back in action, albeit at a temporary venue, for several weeks.

Poulton-le-Fylde Chess Club is still closed. We have no set date of when we are reopening.
There are more clubs reopening than you think.
I've found quite a few that are reopening on my travels around the country.

Simon Rogers wrote: ↑

Fri May 21, 2021 6:12 pm

I've found quite a few that are reopening on my travels around the country.

Perhaps you could report on these?

John Upham wrote: ↑

Fri May 21, 2021 6:46 pm

Simon Rogers wrote: ↑

Fri May 21, 2021 6:12 pm

I've found quite a few that are reopening on my travels around the country.

Perhaps you could report on these?

Here is the first one:
This is from the West Midlands.
Sutton Coldfield Chess Club
"Minworth Social Club reopens indoors."
"The Minworth Social Club will reopen indoors from 17th May, which means that chess players can start to attend again on Monday and Thursday nights. Certain restrictions will still apply, e.g. patrons will be expected to wear masks when not seated.."
It was posted on their website on 16th May.
They have a new website.
Here it is:
www.suttonchess.wordpress.com
The information is under the News section in the Menu.
The club has also tweeted about it.

Andrew Zigmond wrote: ↑

Wed May 19, 2021 11:48 pm

Harrogate have resumed informal meetings at the Cricket Club on St George's Road. We are aiming to reopen our main club night as and when the rule of six is relaxed.

Harrogate Youth Chess Club, for players aged 11-18, resumes at the same venue tomorrow.

At the adult club we attracted three new players, all aged 20-30.

At the youth chess club we had five new players, four boys and one girl with two of the boys (friends who came together) currently in year 11 which is the hardest academic year to attract.

John Upham wrote: ↑

Fri May 21, 2021 6:46 pm

Simon Rogers wrote: ↑

Fri May 21, 2021 6:12 pm

I've found quite a few that are reopening on my travels around the country.

Perhaps you could report on these?

Here is the next one:
This was posted on the Hastings & St. Leonards Chess Club website on 13th May under 'Recent Posts'.
"May 17 The Club will now partially reopen"
"Following the government announcement of the lifting of some restrictions of May 17. The club will now partially reopen, any member wishing to visit the club should do so on request to the chairman. "
"Legally we are still restricted to six people from two households, therefore the club will remain locked unless there is a request to open. It is hoped that the club will fully reopen on June 21, following the final lifting of restrictions. "
www.hastingschess.club

John Upham wrote: ↑

Fri May 21, 2021 6:46 pm

Simon Rogers wrote: ↑

Fri May 21, 2021 6:12 pm

I've found quite a few that are reopening on my travels around the country.

Perhaps you could report on these?

Here is another one:
Charlton Chess Club
Mycenae House, Blackheath, London.

This was posted on their website in the News section:

"Adult and Junior Clubs Restarting on Monday 17th May"
"In line with the easing of government restrictions the chess club is resuming physical meetings at Mycenae House on 17th May, using two adjacent rooms. "
"The junior chess class is from 6.30pm to 7.30pm, the adult chess club is from 7.00pm to 10.00pm.
For the adult club, the rule of six adults in each room applies and facemasks should be worn."

On the homepage, it says the next club night is 24th May.
Nice website, lots of information.
Here it is:
www.charltonchess.org.uk

John Upham wrote: ↑

Fri May 21, 2021 6:46 pm

Simon Rogers wrote: ↑

Fri May 21, 2021 6:12 pm

I've found quite a few that are reopening on my travels around the country.

Perhaps you could report on these?

Get ready for this one.
Here it is:
This was posted in the News Section and Homepage on the Bournemouth Chess Club website.

"We can announce our return to playing at the Winton Liberal Club. Starting Wednesday 19th May from 7pm."
"Please can you email the club if you wish to play, as we need to confirm numbers. Looking forward to seeing new and old members."
www.bournemouthchessclub.org.uk

Coulsdon in Surrey CCF Reopened on Monday 17th Sept every Monday eve 7.30 until 11.30/12pm