English Chess Forum

Surrey u160s have not changed our minds. Half our team in the U140s. It will be nice to hear of plans in 6/8 weeks time.

we have not seen the draw yet? wonder what they are thinking from the ECF?

maybe they did the draw on ZOOM!!

John Reyes wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 15, 2020 7:55 pm

we have not seen the draw yet? wonder what they are thinking from the ECF?

There are no plans to do the draw yet. I did think that we might have seen a list of provisional nominations.

My understanding is that, if and when the ECF are in a position to announce a schedule for the competition, teams provisionally nominated will be asked whether or not they still wish to play. Only after that will the draw take place.

It's would be good to see the Nominations?

At least the ECF can put a list out?

Not sure about that; we have the MCCU nominations, and these could be published, but if a team/county subsequently decline to play, I'm not sure it serves any purpose to be able to highlight this

It will be interesting to see what appetite there is to travel for 16/12 board county matches when it is allegedly safe to do so; it might be an idea to think about whether we could at least cut down on the travel e.g. a G Man v Surrey match rather than being played at, say, Syston or Birmingham, could have G Man at a venue in Manchester with an arbiter present, and Surrey doing similar at their end?

That sort of largeish grouping of people will be one of the last things they 'release'.

One other thought - I wouldn't be surprised if the genuinely vulnerable age groups are kept in isolation for much longer than the rest of us. Is an U(60)70 (age wise) county championship actually feasible?

"One other thought - I wouldn't be surprised if the genuinely vulnerable age groups are kept in isolation for much longer than the rest of us. Is an U(60)70 (age wise) county championship actually feasible?"

A very good point - a KO final match postponed as the lockdown had started would probably have featured a top board pairing of me (under 70, and hopefully still under 70 when the lockdown ends...) against a player over 70, so it would hardly be fair to stage the match if the opposition lose their best player.

I don't recall county matches as particularly featuring hordes of young players.

MartinCarpenter wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 20, 2020 11:41 am

That sort of largeish grouping of people will be one of the last things they 'release'.

One other thought - I wouldn't be surprised if the genuinely vulnerable age groups are kept in isolation for much longer than the rest of us. Is an U(60)70 (age wise) county championship actually feasible?

Feasible, yes, but fair, no; I actually wonder if that's more of an issue with club chess, my club has 2 players over 80

Mick Norris wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 20, 2020 10:55 am

Not sure about that; we have the MCCU nominations, and these could be published, but if a team/county subsequently decline to play, I'm not sure it serves any purpose to be able to highlight this.

When Unions were asked to submit nominations, it was made very clear that they were entirely provisional and counties were completely free to drop out if and when the competition took place. It would be no reflection on any county if they did so.

What I would like to know is which teams that have qualified have already declined nomination. That might cause others also to withdraw.

If a number did so, that would strongly suggest that the most sensible option was the cleanest one: cancel the 2020 National Stages completely. If (and I accept it is an if) over the board chess can resume in the autumn, the 2020 - 2021 Union competitions will then be able to proceed without scheduling problems.

I haven't checked in detail, but the MCCU nominations looked comprehensive, with just 1 team needing to confirm, so provisionally, it looks that the MCCU would have 2 Open nominations plus 3 in the Minor, 1 in the u180, 2 in the u160, and 3 each in the u140,u120 and u100

i hope the County Championship should now be looked at now but the people from SCCU might suggest something, as I always see the NCCU (Lancashire always say that they are the only county that get to the national stages and that is wrong)

Mick Norris wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 20, 2020 12:20 pm

MartinCarpenter wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 20, 2020 11:41 am

That sort of largeish grouping of people will be one of the last things they 'release'.

One other thought - I wouldn't be surprised if the genuinely vulnerable age groups are kept in isolation for much longer than the rest of us. Is an U(60)70 (age wise) county championship actually feasible?

Feasible, yes, but fair, no; I actually wonder if that's more of an issue with club chess, my club has 2 players over 80

It might well be a huge problem for club chess all over the North at least, yes. Even a fair few of the 'younger' players are >50 and not precisely in great physical shape - firmly in the at risk category.

The West Country is the oldest part of the country by a fair margin (retirees). London the youngest so holding some kind of competition when older people might not want/be able to play ought to benefit the SCCU teams (and Manchester) at the expense of WECU one, which is probably only Devon. We'd cope (providing the final not to be held in Hull etc etc). Reducing the number of boards temporarily might be sensible though.

There is a proposal to play the outstanding National stages in the Autumn

Mick Norris wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 14, 2021 12:43 pm

There is a proposal to play the outstanding National stages in the Autumn

Can you give a link or quote another source for this? I cannot find any mention of this proposal on the ECF website.