London Chess Classic

[Keith Arkell]

Technically it's not the English Rapidplay Championship, it's an invitation event which the organiser has decided to call; the 'English Rapidplay'.

It looks clear enough from the ECF website that this is an official ECF event.

If the official title was at stake then something isn't quite right. How can it be possible that as a GM and current online British Champion I have no way of playing for this title? There needs to be a qualifying route for all, or, in the absence of this, as the event was put together at the last minute, a transparent method of selection - eg a combination of FIDE title and FIDE Rapidplay rating.

[LawrenceCooper]

Technically it's not the English Rapidplay Championship, it's an invitation event which the organiser has decided to call; the 'English Rapidplay'.

It looks clear enough from the ECF website that this is an official ECF event.

If the official title was at stake then something isn't quite right. How can it be possible that as a GM and current online British Champion I have no way of playing for this title? There needs to be a qualifying route for all, or, in the absence of this, as the event was put together at the last minute, a transparent method of selection - eg a combination of FIDE title and FIDE Rapidplay rating.

The tournament doesn't appear on the drop down menu "ECF tournaments" which I would expect it to if it was an official event. It is advertised on the ECF website and is organised by an ECF director though.

[John Upham]

It looks clear enough from the ECF website that this is an official ECF event.

If the official title was at stake then something isn't quite right. How can it be possible that as a GM and current online British Champion I have no way of playing for this title? There needs to be a qualifying route for all, or, in the absence of this, as the event was put together at the last minute, a transparent method of selection - eg a combination of FIDE title and FIDE Rapidplay rating.

The tournament doesn't appear on the drop down menu "ECF tournaments" which I would expect it to if it was an official event. It is advertised on the ECF website and is organised by an ECF director though.

The President of the ECF attended the event and took part in the group photographs with the players and officials.

[NickFaulks]

The tournament doesn't appear on the drop down menu "ECF tournaments" which I would expect it to if it was an official event.

Yes it does, unless I am confusing it with something else.

[LawrenceCooper]

The tournament doesn't appear on the drop down menu "ECF tournaments" which I would expect it to if it was an official event.

Yes it does, unless I am confusing it with something else.

Odd, I don't see it on the list. For OTB The only "English" ones are Women's and Seniors albeit I'm not sure what the requirements are to be listed there.

[NickFaulks]

This is what I'm looking at. It is the top item.

https://www.englishchess.org.uk/event-c ... t_ids~365/

[Roger Lancaster]

Is the answer to Keith's point very simply that there's no copyright or equivalent on the use of words such as "English", "British" or "United Kingdom" when describing chess events so that, in the last analysis, any organiser can include these words? I'm not suggesting that's desirable, merely that it may be a matter of fact. If so, it seems invidious if the ECF decides which events organised by others are "official" and which not.

[Paul Cooksey]

Keith may have had a lucky escape

The Covid "body-count" at the London Chess Classic is starting to resemble the Battle of the Somme...

[Wadih Khoury]

Who is Nigel refering to?

[J T Melsom]

Not a fan of war analogies myself - this is a good example of how inappropriate they can be.

[Matt Bridgeman]

Is this an early demonstration that with this variant sitting across from a variety of relative strangers playing chess/commentating on chess for hours isn’t so low risk this time around?

7 out of 10 cats wish they’d worn a mask now!

[J T Melsom]

Not necessarily, but judging by some of the photos the Pro-Biz event would have involved four people in pretty close contact, and certainly less socially distanced than many club nights where one board and two people at a table have increasingly become the norm. And I'm guessing some hospitality functions would have involved close contact as well. But we don't know the identities of those concerned - their behaviour at the Classic might have increased risk but they might also have caught COVID shopping.

[John Upham]

Who is Nigel refering to?

I could tell you but since this is personal health information that you are requesting I will pass.

[Matt Bridgeman]

From the event Twitter page it looks very much like the only player wearing a mask was surprisingly ‘not the biggest mask fan’, Danny Gormally. So was 3 out of 10 being generous?

[David Sedgwick]

From the event Twitter page it looks very much like the only player wearing a mask was surprisingly ‘not the biggest mask fan’, Danny Gormally. So was 3 out of 10 being generous?

I wasn't there when those photographs were taken.

However, I think that it would be normal to remove a mask briefly when posing for a photograph taken by a photographer standing some distance away. i was asked to do so when I was photographed.