(Chess) Life Returning To Normal

[Paul McKeown]

I have been wondering if running Round Robins rather than Swisses, with one section per room, might be a way of running tournaments in accordance with the new guidelines. So, very old style, six sections of ten players APA, say, and an accelerated game pace of 15 minutes per player plus 5 seconds per move, rather than 25 minutes per player plus 10 seconds. Thoughts?

[Paul McKeown]

Also, do open-sided tents (gazebos?) count as outdoors?

[Adam Raoof]

I have been wondering if running Round Robins rather than Swisses, with one section per room, might be a way of running tournaments in accordance with the new guidelines. So, very old style, six sections of ten players APA, say, and an accelerated game pace of 15 minutes per player plus 5 seconds per move, rather than 25 minutes per player plus 10 seconds. Thoughts?

Why would this be an improvement over a large swiss with fewer boards in each room?

[Angus French]

... One game per 6 ft table ...

A couple of questions, if I may, Adam:

1. I'm guessing 6ft is the length of the table and that players would be sitting opposite each other across the width. So: what would be the distance between opposing players?

2. I noticed no mention of ventilation and I wondered if there was provision for this?

I noticed also that the ECF's risk assessment questionnaire had no reference to - or tests for - ventilation. The European Chess Union, on the other hand, recommends efficient ventilation. Good ventilation may be needed to protect against transmission of the virus by aerosol (small particles which hang in - and float through - the air, possibly for long periods of time). Aerosol transmissions may explain the super-spreader events documented in Erin Bromage's piece and also, more recently, in meat-packing facilities. Here's a recent NY Times piece on aerosol transmission: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/04/heal ... borne.html. And here's a scientific paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7151430/.

[Paul McKeown]

I have been wondering if running Round Robins rather than Swisses, with one section per room, might be a way of running tournaments in accordance with the new guidelines. So, very old style, six sections of ten players APA, say, and an accelerated game pace of 15 minutes per player plus 5 seconds per move, rather than 25 minutes per player plus 10 seconds. Thoughts?

Why would this be an improvement over a large swiss with fewer boards in each room?

The players from the different sections stay exclusively in the room allotted to their section, so that mixing is very strictly limited. A Swiss would mean that players move from room to room as their fortunes vary through the tournament, and would involve much greater mixing.

[Adam Raoof]

Thanks Paul, that is an interesting idea, not suitable for a large hall of course - difficult to stop people moving around. Smaller rooms means other issues, see below.

The distance between players at Golders Green is 1m, and there is no problem with ventilation in a church hall.

[MartinCarpenter]

I did see the ECF bit about ventilation, think about most club venues, and start to wonder!

Also, do open-sided tents (gazebos?) count as outdoors?

Goodness knows formally. They probably shouldn't as they'll block the UV off - I think that's one of the really big difference between outdoors & indoors?

[Paul McKeown]

Thanks Paul, that is an interesting idea, not suitable for a large hall of course - difficult to stop people moving around. Smaller rooms means other issues, see below.

The distance between players at Golders Green is 1m, and there is no problem with ventilation in a church hall.

Of course, there is zero possibility of any meaningful event currently, but eventually the guidelines on social gatherings may loosen further (before in a year or two they are finally abolished), to a point where something like my suggestion may become possible.

I suppose the real question is if people would find such an old style event worth attending?

[Ian Thompson]

I suppose the real question is if people would find such an old style event worth attending?

If it's that or nothing, then I would have thought yes.

[Roger Lancaster]

I did see the ECF bit about ventilation, think about most club venues, and start to wonder!

Also, do open-sided tents (gazebos?) count as outdoors?

Goodness knows formally. They probably shouldn't as they'll block the UV off - I think that's one of the really big difference between outdoors & indoors?

Following the ultra-violet logic, you'd be indoors the moment it rained and you put up an umbrella. The essence of "indoors" seems to be inside a building although that shifts any ambiguity onto the word "building" - is my garden shed a "building" so that, once inside, you are indoors?

[Paul McKeown]

I did see the ECF bit about ventilation, think about most club venues, and start to wonder!

Also, do open-sided tents (gazebos?) count as outdoors?

Goodness knows formally. They probably shouldn't as they'll block the UV off - I think that's one of the really big difference between outdoors & indoors?

Following the ultra-violet logic, you'd be indoors the moment it rained and you put up an umbrella. The essence of "indoors" seems to be inside a building although that shifts any ambiguity onto the word "building" - is my garden shed a "building" so that, once inside, you are indoors?

Thank you for your reply - it has been very useful in drawing attention to an aspect that the government consider important.

UV is really quite penetrating. It would seem unlikely that unless specifically manufactured to do so, by incorporation of materials known to be UV opaque, that the fabric of an umbrella would seriously attenuate incumbent solar UV. The material of the gazebo, itself, ought to, as it normally would be manufactured with UV blockers to protect the fabric of the gazebo from UV damage, hence increasing its life-span. Just having a "roof" won't block all UV as a lot will be scattered to come in from the sides. Putting up the sides of the gazebo to make it into a tent to stop splashing would indeed be liable to make it UV opaque.

I suppose it come down to what one's insurers think.

I might ask them.

[Kevin Thurlow]

For gazebos etc., you could possibly ask a pub landlord (if you can find one), as due to the indoor smoking ban, some have provided outdoor shelters that are not categorized as "indoors", so patrons can smoke. They may be able to advise on the legal definition.

[MartinCarpenter]

The people I'd try and ask for anything that isn't obviously clear is your local public health team.

The legal definitions for these things aren't going to relate to what's actually safe/meaningful.

[NickFaulks]

The legal definitions for these things aren't going to relate to what's actually safe/meaningful.

Club organisers and their members are quite capable of deciding for themselves what actions are safe and meaningful. They need to know whether they are in danger of being arrested or sued for doing them.

[Angus French]

I did see the ECF bit about ventilation...

Ah yes, I now see that the risk template has "Ensuring playing venue is properly ventilated, with windows open and doors propped open" against hazard 2.5 "Players breathing on each other at the table"... Though I think this is misleading because, as I understand it, ventilation isn't really to help protect persons who are breathed on, it's to protect against exhaled aerosols which can travel within an enclosed space and hang in the air.