English Chess Forum

Well good luck with your travels Tim. Don’t forget to pack your water wings! You’re our pathfinder. We’re looking to you to apprise those of us who will follow in your footsteps in October how to avoid any elephant traps. It’s a shame that registrations are small due to the COVID restrictions, but it’s still chess and there appears to be a workable number in your section. Please pass on my regards to Falko and Tobias.

Thanks David. I haven't got off to a good start by getting rather badly sunburned on my nose this morning, and that was walking from Finchley back to my home in Spitalfields. I will have to slap on the suncream in large does in Crete

Is the ACO congress in Crete actually in progress now? Who is playing? Is there a website with results and games?

Meanwhile the plot thickens over possible FIDE senior events later this year.

The formerly announced European Senior Team Championship, which didn't make much sense (Poland in August), now looks doubtful.

The ECU board meeting last week awarded Italy rights to hold individual European Senior Championships but details are not out yet.

The Italian organisers arcoworldchess have on their website new dates in November for the World Senior Championships but no further information.

The FIDE Calendar listing of Senior events for 2021 looks out of date and unreliable.
It also says the World Seniors 2022 will be in Sochi, Russia (no dates yet but November is the usual timeframe.)

For the latest that I have been able to discover see:
http://www.chessmail.com/seniors/Seniors-news.html

Tim Spanton > I will have to slap on the suncream in large does in Crete<
Be careful of the deer, TIM S.
Do please keep us up to date on the Crete event.
Tim Harding - thank you for your work keeping abreast of things.

I have been covering my participation in the tournament, in quite some detail, starting with https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/06/ ... -word.html

Several of us traveling to Crete in October have been following Tim’s Crete adventure on his excellent blog. He’s given us lessons in how to get through Greek customs and, today, how to get a Covid test for traveling back to the UK. We have also been getting daily weigh-ins and he’s reported putting on just one pound since his arrival - a record low for the Fodele Resort’s desserts! Mind you it seems he may have walked the equivalent of two-and-a-half laps of the island and most of that up-hill! We also found out that masks are not required during play, but must be worn when players get up from their board.

Some good news is that the Greek infections have been coming steadily down from more than 2000 daily in mid-May to around 500 daily currently. What’s more, the FCDO is not discouraging visits to the islands of Rhodes, Kos, Zakynthos, Corfu and Crete. Maybe they’ll be moved on to the Green List shortly?

While I’m here the list of registrations for the October 2021 Seniors (also at the Fodele Resort in Crete) hasn’t been updated while the organising team are in Crete, but it presently stands at 211 and I know a strong (2215) London-based Bermudian joined the ranks a few days ago. Are we there yet?

Tim Harding wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 17, 2021 10:26 am

Is the ACO congress in Crete actually in progress now? Who is playing? Is there a website with results and games?

A quick Google search took me to their website: https://amateurchess.com/ which shows both events scheduled for this months as being postponed.

LawrenceCooper wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 17, 2021 10:13 pm

A quick Google search took me to their website: https://amateurchess.com/ which shows both events scheduled for this months as being postponed.

They were postponed from 2020 and are happening now.

NickFaulks wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 17, 2021 10:19 pm

LawrenceCooper wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 17, 2021 10:13 pm

A quick Google search took me to their website: https://amateurchess.com/ which shows both events scheduled for this months as being postponed.

They were postponed from 2020 and are happening now.

Ah yes, sorry. That is clear enough from the top of the page but less so from my quick glance further down.

The ECU has now announced that the EU Senior Team Championship is postponed (hardly surprising) but added a venue for the European Individual Championship: Baia di Porto Conte (northern Sardinia). As yet there are no details but that event might actually happen.

For the latest I have been able to discover see http://www.chessmail.com/seniors/Seniors-news.html

EUROPEAN SENIOR TEAM CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2021
29th August – 8th September 2021, Don Giovanni Hotel in Prague

Details here ESTCC2021.NET (but only from 5th July)

Tim Harding wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 22, 2021 12:49 pm

The ECU has now announced that the EU Senior Team Championship is postponed (hardly surprising) but added a venue for the European Individual Championship: Baia di Porto Conte (northern Sardinia). As yet there are no details but that event might actually happen.

For the latest I have been able to discover see http://www.chessmail.com/seniors/Seniors-news.html

Full regulations for this event are now available and can be downloaded from http://www.chessmail.com/seniors/Seniors-calendar.html but the Sardinian venue seems to be different from the one first announced. However i am not familiar with the geography of that island so cannot advise.

Getting the numbers for teams (4+1 optional reserve) for the tournaments in Prague may be problematic?

Budoni appears to be about 16 miles from Olbia airport; you'd want to avoid flying to Cagliari if possible

When I went to Sardinia a few years ago, we flew from Manchester to Olbia

Sardinia was very nice

The situation with FIDE's senior (50+ and 65+) events is now mostly clarified.
For details see my senior pages at www.chessmail.com but to summarise:

European Senior Teams Championships: Prague, 29 Aug-4 Sept. 9 rounds. National, regional or club teams (4 + optional reserve). All players must belong to the same federation and enter through their federation.

European Senior (individual) Championships: Budoni, Sardinia, 25 Sept-5 October. 9 rounds. Separate women's events if sufficient entries, otherwise female prizes in the open for their age group.

World Senior (individual) Championships: 2021 are OFF.
This Was to have been Assisi, Italy, Nov 2020, then Nov 2021 but now the FIDE calendar says Nov 2022 and Sochi in 2023.

World Senior Team Championships: May 2022 in Acqui Terme, Italy. I have played twice in Acqui Terme in world individuals (2015 and 2018) and don't want to go there again. (Except maybe as an arbiter if they pay me.)
Frankly I don't see how the hotels there can cope if there is a large entry but maybe they reckon the entry will be smallish and evidently the organisers arcoworldchess (not to be confused with ACO) have a cosy relationship with the town.

Nothing has yet been announced for the 2022 European events. Presumably the Poles, who had to postpone both events from last year, will be asked whether they want to take up the option again.
If they don't want the teams, I predict the Germans will run it in Dresden mid-summer as they originally had the 2021 option.
Or maybe Greece will bid for one of the events.

I'm not sure how FIDE can complain if players go to ACO events this year, since they haven't offered much themselves.

Budoni looks attractive, but I'm not European,