Where are the chess sets?

Discussions regarding the 70,000 Free Chess Sets for Schools in England.
benedgell
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Re: Where are the chess sets?

Post by benedgell » Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:38 pm

Ernie, is this the project you mentioned?

http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1269

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Carl Hibbard
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Re: Where are the chess sets?

Post by Carl Hibbard » Fri Dec 04, 2009 3:31 pm

Ernie Lazenby wrote:Application to Phase One of the project is now closed, but you can still apply to Phase Two and will receive your free chess sets in the 2010-2011 academic year.

The above is from the Holloid web site.
That is correct Ernie and covers applications once the delivery of the 8,000 schools in phase one is complete :?
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Phil Neatherway
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Re: Where are the chess sets?

Post by Phil Neatherway » Fri Dec 11, 2009 3:21 pm


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John Upham
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Re: Where are the chess sets?

Post by John Upham » Fri Dec 11, 2009 3:30 pm

...the "boards" are printed on plastic sheeting of carrier bag thickness.(Priscilla Morris)
How long will these last I wonder? I know that the advice is to stick them to some thing stiffer. Will schools bother doing this?
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Carl Hibbard
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Re: Where are the chess sets?

Post by Carl Hibbard » Fri Dec 11, 2009 7:07 pm

Phil Neatherway wrote:Update from Oxfordshire:-

http://www.oca.oxfordfusion.com/GetNews.cfm
I still fail to see why there is a total lack of publicity follow up from both Holloid and the ECF to be honest, it gives the impression (with the total silence...) then you just hope it will all go away?

Any publicity would breathe a little life back into the project :?
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benedgell
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Re: Where are the chess sets?

Post by benedgell » Fri Dec 11, 2009 7:39 pm

My understanding of it is that Holloid have their own pr company for this project, so it's entirely up to them as to how they publicise the production/ distribution of the sets, boards etc. My assumption would be that they're trying to work out the best method for distribution before making any big public announcements, but that's only speculation. I can tell you that both Stewart Reuben and my fellow Publicity Officer Mark Rivlin are working on publicity for the COM scheme.

benedgell
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Re: Where are the chess sets?

Post by benedgell » Fri Dec 11, 2009 7:44 pm

I know, and entirely understand, that there is a great deal of disappointment at how this project has got to this point, but it is making progress now. If we can get chess sets/ boards into a large number of schools, along with the COM materials, then there is still the potential for this to be a success.

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Re: Where are the chess sets?

Post by Neill Cooper » Sun Dec 13, 2009 8:31 pm

Phil Neatherway wrote:Update from Oxfordshire:-

http://www.oca.oxfordfusion.com/GetNews.cfm
Great to hear that Holloid are getting the sets out to the regions. Do we have any indication of how many sets were collected, as well as the 72 waiting to be collected?

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Re: Where are the chess sets?

Post by Sean Hewitt » Mon Dec 14, 2009 8:15 am

Neill Cooper wrote:
Phil Neatherway wrote:Update from Oxfordshire:-

http://www.oca.oxfordfusion.com/GetNews.cfm
Great to hear that Holloid are getting the sets out to the regions. Do we have any indication of how many sets were collected, as well as the 72 waiting to be collected?
I thought that the interesting stat was 72 boxes (=720 sets) still awaiting collection on the last day that they were supposed to be collected.

There could be any number of reasons for this but, taken with the the number of non-attendees at the collection event earlier in the year, one must be that there really isn't that much interest in using 10 free chess sets which is sad. That being the case, I hope the financial numbers still stack up on the ancillary projects.

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Re: Where are the chess sets?

Post by Matthew Turner » Mon Dec 14, 2009 8:47 am

Neill,
I believe that Stewart Reuben commented that 107 sets had gone to Evan Harris' Office. That implies that 35 sets had been collected. This is about what I would expect, one third of Schools collecting their sets. Presumably these sets are for the whole of Oxford, so some Schools will have quite a distance to travel, some schools will have bought sets already, some will just not be bothered and some will just be too busy at this time of year. I hope that all the Schools knew about the collection, but you also wonder about how effectively the information got out to the Schools. What will happen to the remaining sets is another interesting question.

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Re: Where are the chess sets?

Post by Angus French » Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:38 pm

Sean Hewitt wrote:
Neill Cooper wrote:
Phil Neatherway wrote:Update from Oxfordshire:-

http://www.oca.oxfordfusion.com/GetNews.cfm
Great to hear that Holloid are getting the sets out to the regions. Do we have any indication of how many sets were collected, as well as the 72 waiting to be collected?
I thought that the interesting stat was 72 boxes (=720 sets) still awaiting collection on the last day that they were supposed to be collected.

There could be any number of reasons for this but, taken with the the number of non-attendees at the collection event earlier in the year, one must be that there really isn't that much interest in using 10 free chess sets which is sad. That being the case, I hope the financial numbers still stack up on the ancillary projects.
How about contacting the schools to ask why they've not collected their sets? Presumably someone is responsible for the delivery of sets in Oxfordshire and has already thought to do this. I'd posit that the value of the sets to the schools doesn't merit the cost/effort to collect. Wasn't there a marketing opportunity to be had here? Couldn't the delivery of sets have been combined with the distribution/sale of John Upham's CoM software and other materials? What is the status of the CoM project? Isn't it time the President and CEO of the ECF stepped in, either to ensure things get done or to disassociate the ECF from the Chess for Schools scheme?

Leonard Barden
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Re: Where are the chess sets?

Post by Leonard Barden » Wed Dec 16, 2009 5:28 pm

A contributor to the London Classic thread on http://www.chessgames.com writes

I've been spending some time delivering chess sets round schools in the wilds of Derbyshire. Somehow this got me into a room where I was sat next to Korchnoi as he debated the Short-Carlsen game with John Nunn and Jonathan Speelman...Nakamura and Kramnik discussed their game at a table right in front of me. Sorry to sound like a groupie, but it was about as good as it gets for a chess fan.

Apart from those distrbuted to a local school of Gerry Walsh, is this the first indication that Holloid are delivering sets outside the South of England? Or is it to do with Charles W Wood? I would guess that the second possibility is more likely.

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John Upham
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Re: Where are the chess sets?

Post by John Upham » Wed Dec 16, 2009 5:41 pm

Leonard Barden wrote:
Apart from those distrbuted to a local school of Gerry Walsh, is this the first indication that Holloid are delivering sets outside the South of England? Or is it to do with Charles W Wood? I would guess that the second possibility is more likely.
Leonard,

See http://www.2seeitlive.com/derbyschools/ which should help.

I'd be curious to compare the relative qualities of the sets and "boards" from the two offerings. Will the Derbyshire boards be better than the HP ones?
Last edited by John Upham on Wed Dec 16, 2009 6:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Carl Hibbard
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Re: Where are the chess sets?

Post by Carl Hibbard » Wed Dec 16, 2009 6:13 pm

Leonard Barden wrote:Apart from those distrbuted to a local school of Gerry Walsh, is this the first indication that Holloid are delivering sets outside the South of England? Or is it to do with Charles W Wood? I would guess that the second possibility is more likely.
As John has pointed out, it does look like a David Bentley drive and nothing to do with CFS I am sorry to say :(
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Carl Hibbard
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Re: Where are the chess sets?

Post by Carl Hibbard » Mon Dec 21, 2009 6:13 pm

Phase two seems now to have been extended to a deadline of 2012 here:

Holloid is manufacturing and distributing 80,000 free, quality chess sets to 8,000 schools by July 2010. We aim to reach the rest of the 25,000 schools in England by July 2012.

Or in the PDF here:

Our target for 2009-12 is to manufacture and distribute a plastic box containing 10 free chess sets to every school in England.
Last edited by Carl Hibbard on Mon Dec 21, 2009 6:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: That is in fact rather OLD news, sorry!
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