Major investment to transform future of English chess announced

[Angus French]

Somerset Council's mismanagement has been so great that they appear to be bankrupt...

It's becoming quite common for local authorities, of all colours, to find themselves a £billion or so in debt and bankrupt.

[Phil Neatherway]

A major factor local government organisations is that the grants from central government (which form the major part of their income) keep being cut. So some sympathy for Somerset from me.

[John Townsend]

While acknowledging Somerset's pecuniary difficulties and passing round the cup, it is hard to see why they can't run to a chess table.

[Mick Norris]

A major factor local government organisations is that the grants from central government (which form the major part of their income) keep being cut. So some sympathy for Somerset from me.

It's not just that, the Levelling Up rubbish led Bolton (Tory) Council to spend quite a bit of money bidding for things they didn't get

I'd be interested to know how the ECF handled the chess tables, in terms of communication with the Unions, Counties, Leagues, Clubs etc

Chorlton (Manchester) were interested, but the park they use is over the border in Trafford, and didn't qualify

[Kevin Thurlow]

The council may have felt that if they are seen to spend money (even somebody else's) on a chess table, it looks bad, and the residents will be too stupid to understand that the money was a gift for that specific purpose.

[David Williams]

Apologies that I probably haven't read enough to understand what's going on, but do you have to bring your own pieces? I can understand that you would bring your own tennis racquet and balls to play on a council tennis court, but if you've got your own chess pieces you've probably got a board as well. Why not play at home? Or is the idea that an individual brings a set and sits there waiting to tempt some passing stranger. What could possibly go wrong?

[John Townsend]

You may not have access to opponents at home. In the park, you can also kibitz other people's games. You have to imagine the weather being a bit better than it is now.

[Joey Stewart]

Or is the idea that an individual brings a set and sits there waiting to tempt some passing stranger. What could possibly go wrong?

I think it is like a lot of similarly hare brained schemes involving chess- the "ideas man" thinks how fun and erudite it looks to have people playing chess in a park, allocates a woefully insufficient amount of money to the project and then just sits back and hopes that it will sort itself out ...somehow

[David Williams]

There will need to be policing to stop people playing draughts, of course.

[LawrenceCooper]

Or is the idea that an individual brings a set and sits there waiting to tempt some passing stranger. What could possibly go wrong?

I think it is like a lot of similarly hare brained schemes involving chess- the "ideas man" thinks how fun and erudite it looks to have people playing chess in a park, allocates a woefully insufficient amount of money to the project and then just sits back and hopes that it will sort itself out ...somehow

That's not a description of Malcolm that I recognise.

[Matt Mackenzie]

It does sound very like our current PM, though.

[John Clarke]

Somerset Council's mismanagement has been so great that they appear to be bankrupt...

It's becoming quite common for local authorities, of all colours, to find themselves a £billion or so in debt and bankrupt.

Same where I live. Right-wing governments hand out tax cuts as the universal panacea ("you keep more of what you earn!"), but the shortfall in revenue has to be made up somehow, often by cutting government services and starving local authorities of funds. Aforesaid LAs have to make up their shortfalls either by bumping up rates to unacceptable levels, cutting services (e.g. libraries), charging for services and facilities that used to be subsidised or free, or going into debt, which just transfers the burden to future generations. You might get a few extra quid in your pocket for a microsecond or two, but it very soon goes flying out again. Some LAs might mismanage, but most if not all are facing near-impossible difficulties.

[John Clarke]

There will need to be policing to stop people playing draughts, of course.

Or Othello.

[Dragoljub Sudar]

My city is getting two of them at a cost of £2500 each.

They will be situated in 2 different parks, one in a small inner city park about 15 minutes walk away from our congress venue, and one in a larger park not far from me. I guess the latter will get a lot of use by the ducks from the pond.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I see an opportunity here for a Twitter-based project to track the usage and ongoing state of these chess tables...

It needs locals willing to take a few pictures and videos throughout the year (once installed, which I am guessing may not be soon?), both au natrel (ducks or otherwise) and in their functioning state (with people playing chess). Might go viral! (Hopefully for the right reasons.)

Maybe if there will be one near you, plan to organise a regular or one-off event there? Would probably need to make it very informal and more a 'find out about chess' sort of thing, unless the resources are there for more ambitious chess table-centred events.