(Chess) Life Returning To Normal

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Wadih Khoury
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Re: (Chess) Life Returning To Normal

Post by Wadih Khoury » Sun Feb 28, 2021 4:10 pm

Adam Raoof wrote:
Sun Feb 28, 2021 3:43 pm
Golders Green FIDE Rapid Chess will be back in July and August (4 dates booked!) - https://chesscircuit.substack.com/ for news
Any luck with the venue at Hampstead?

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Adam Raoof
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Re: (Chess) Life Returning To Normal

Post by Adam Raoof » Sun Feb 28, 2021 4:22 pm

Wadih Khoury wrote:
Sun Feb 28, 2021 4:10 pm
Adam Raoof wrote:
Sun Feb 28, 2021 3:43 pm
Golders Green FIDE Rapid Chess will be back in July and August (4 dates booked!) - https://chesscircuit.substack.com/ for news
Any luck with the venue at Hampstead?
I haven't asked... but I suspect I know the answer. However I may have a smaller but more convenient venue for small FIDE events in Hendon. Just a question of whether anyone will travel. Not just across international borders, but also just across London!
Adam Raoof IA, IO
Chess England Events - https://chessengland.com/
The Chess Circuit - https://chesscircuit.substack.com/
Don’t stop playing chess!

NickFaulks
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Re: (Chess) Life Returning To Normal

Post by NickFaulks » Sun Feb 28, 2021 5:00 pm

Adam Raoof wrote:
Sun Feb 28, 2021 4:22 pm
Just a question of whether anyone will travel. Not just across international borders, but also just across London!
I haven't noticed any roadblocks yet, although nothing would surprise me.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a QR code stamped on a human face — forever.

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Adam Raoof
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Re: (Chess) Life Returning To Normal

Post by Adam Raoof » Sun Feb 28, 2021 6:57 pm

NickFaulks wrote:
Sun Feb 28, 2021 5:00 pm
Adam Raoof wrote:
Sun Feb 28, 2021 4:22 pm
Just a question of whether anyone will travel. Not just across international borders, but also just across London!
I haven't noticed any roadblocks yet, although nothing would surprise me.
Some of the biggest obstacles may be psychological.
Adam Raoof IA, IO
Chess England Events - https://chessengland.com/
The Chess Circuit - https://chesscircuit.substack.com/
Don’t stop playing chess!

Simon Rogers
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Re: (Chess) Life Returning To Normal

Post by Simon Rogers » Mon Mar 01, 2021 9:41 am

Paul Bloom wrote:
Sat Feb 27, 2021 1:16 pm
NickFaulks wrote:
Fri Feb 26, 2021 6:52 pm
Tim Spanton wrote:
Fri Feb 26, 2021 5:48 pm
Just received from the 4NCL:

I’m very pleased to say that we’ve booked 4-star conference centre hotel Woodland Grange in Leamington Spa for our 25th 4NCL Congress on 9-11 July 2021. This will be our first OTB 4NCL congress since the start of 2020 if restrictions are indeed lifted on 21 June as we all hope.
Great news. Assuming this really is allowed to go ahead when the time comes, I expect a rush for places.
Great news Shame there are no rooms left for those dates just tried to Book
Hi Paul. Good to see you back on the forum, not heard from you for a while.
I'm sure there are plenty of decent Hotels, Guest Houses and Bed & Breakfasts nearby. It might be worth you sending a PM to Ben Graff. He lives near to the venue and is chairman of the Leamington League. I'm sure he can recommend somewhere decent.

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Re: (Chess) Life Returning To Normal

Post by Simon Rogers » Mon Mar 01, 2021 9:46 am

Adam Raoof wrote:
Sun Feb 28, 2021 3:43 pm
Golders Green FIDE Rapid Chess will be back in July and August (4 dates booked!) - https://chesscircuit.substack.com/ for news
This is terrific news Adam, with plenty of advertising I'm sure you will receive record entries.
In New Zealand after lockdown tournaments received record entries and chess clubs had lots of new members.
People are desperate to play OTB Chess and there is a huge amount of new interest due to the Queen's Gambit Netflix series.

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Adam Raoof
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Re: (Chess) Life Returning To Normal

Post by Adam Raoof » Mon Mar 01, 2021 10:03 am

Simon Rogers wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 9:46 am
Adam Raoof wrote:
Sun Feb 28, 2021 3:43 pm
Golders Green FIDE Rapid Chess will be back in July and August (4 dates booked!) - https://chesscircuit.substack.com/ for news
This is terrific news Adam, with plenty of advertising I'm sure you will receive record entries.
In New Zealand after lockdown tournaments received record entries and chess clubs had lots of new members.
People are desperate to play OTB Chess and there is a huge amount of new interest due to the Queen's Gambit Netflix series.
Absolutely! However with some sponsorship and for safety I will probably lean towards 4 events of 60 players each, rather than going back to larger events - at least at first. A long way for the government to go yet. I would say the chances of any OTB chess happening during summer are now 60%?
Adam Raoof IA, IO
Chess England Events - https://chessengland.com/
The Chess Circuit - https://chesscircuit.substack.com/
Don’t stop playing chess!

Wadih Khoury
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Re: (Chess) Life Returning To Normal

Post by Wadih Khoury » Mon Mar 01, 2021 11:42 am

Adam Raoof wrote:
Sun Feb 28, 2021 4:22 pm
Wadih Khoury wrote:
Sun Feb 28, 2021 4:10 pm
Adam Raoof wrote:
Sun Feb 28, 2021 3:43 pm
Golders Green FIDE Rapid Chess will be back in July and August (4 dates booked!) - https://chesscircuit.substack.com/ for news
Any luck with the venue at Hampstead?
I haven't asked... but I suspect I know the answer. However I may have a smaller but more convenient venue for small FIDE events in Hendon. Just a question of whether anyone will travel. Not just across international borders, but also just across London!
If you don't ask, you don't get! :mrgreen:

More seriously, given the profile of the people living at the venue, I wouldn't be surprised if they and their carers will all be vaccinated (including second dose) in the next couple of months. If they are indeed vaccinated, a chess tournament will present no risk to them.

Ian Thompson
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Re: (Chess) Life Returning To Normal

Post by Ian Thompson » Mon Mar 01, 2021 11:57 am

Wadih Khoury wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 11:42 am
More seriously, given the profile of the people living at the venue, I wouldn't be surprised if they and their carers will all be vaccinated (including second dose) in the next couple of months. If they are indeed vaccinated, a chess tournament will present no risk to them.
That's not correct because the vaccine isn't 100% effective at preventing someone catching coronavirus.

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Adam Raoof
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Re: (Chess) Life Returning To Normal

Post by Adam Raoof » Mon Mar 01, 2021 11:59 am

Wadih Khoury wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 11:42 am
Adam Raoof wrote:
Sun Feb 28, 2021 4:22 pm
Wadih Khoury wrote:
Sun Feb 28, 2021 4:10 pm


Any luck with the venue at Hampstead?
I haven't asked... but I suspect I know the answer. However I may have a smaller but more convenient venue for small FIDE events in Hendon. Just a question of whether anyone will travel. Not just across international borders, but also just across London!
If you don't ask, you don't get! :mrgreen:

More seriously, given the profile of the people living at the venue, I wouldn't be surprised if they and their carers will all be vaccinated (including second dose) in the next couple of months. If they are indeed vaccinated, a chess tournament will present no risk to them.
To be fair it is more to do with the cost of the venue vs the size of the tournament you could hold under social distancing - it probably wouldn't work until things are literally back to normal. I don't believe this will happen soon, so I have a smaller venue in mind for at most 20 people.
Adam Raoof IA, IO
Chess England Events - https://chessengland.com/
The Chess Circuit - https://chesscircuit.substack.com/
Don’t stop playing chess!

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: (Chess) Life Returning To Normal

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Mon Mar 01, 2021 3:08 pm

Ian Thompson wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 11:57 am
Wadih Khoury wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 11:42 am
More seriously, given the profile of the people living at the venue, I wouldn't be surprised if they and their carers will all be vaccinated (including second dose) in the next couple of months. If they are indeed vaccinated, a chess tournament will present no risk to them.
That's not correct because the vaccine isn't 100% effective at preventing someone catching coronavirus.
It is close to 100% as far as serious illness/death is concerned.

Arguably it should be up to individuals to decide whether they think the small remaining risk is worth it or not.
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

Matt Bridgeman
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Re: (Chess) Life Returning To Normal

Post by Matt Bridgeman » Mon Mar 01, 2021 3:47 pm

It does feel more generally positive for chess. There is the odd troublesome story still here and there. The resurgence of Covid-19 in Manaus, Brazil being one of them. A steep rise in hospital admissions despite an estimated 76% of the population having had Covid-19 antibodies in their systems. Various theories put forward in The Lancet, one being that immunity waned after 7-8 months. Perhaps the first clear sign we might all need a second round of vaccines as early as Christmas, but who knows?
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanc ... 5/fulltext

Ian Thompson
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Re: (Chess) Life Returning To Normal

Post by Ian Thompson » Mon Mar 01, 2021 4:26 pm

Matt Mackenzie wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 3:08 pm
Ian Thompson wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 11:57 am
Wadih Khoury wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 11:42 am
More seriously, given the profile of the people living at the venue, I wouldn't be surprised if they and their carers will all be vaccinated (including second dose) in the next couple of months. If they are indeed vaccinated, a chess tournament will present no risk to them.
That's not correct because the vaccine isn't 100% effective at preventing someone catching coronavirus.
It is close to 100% as far as serious illness/death is concerned.
But what's the risk of suffering from long term effects that shorten life expectancy or the quality of life, particularly if the patient isn't in the best of health to start with?

Matt Bridgeman
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Re: (Chess) Life Returning To Normal

Post by Matt Bridgeman » Mon Mar 01, 2021 4:39 pm

Ian Thompson wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 4:26 pm
Matt Mackenzie wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 3:08 pm
Ian Thompson wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 11:57 am

That's not correct because the vaccine isn't 100% effective at preventing someone catching coronavirus.
It is close to 100% as far as serious illness/death is concerned.
But what's the risk of suffering from long term effects that shorten life expectancy or the quality of life, particularly if the patient isn't in the best of health to start with?
Yes that's definitely a big one. Long Covid is still not being discussed very much. The potential damage it can unleash on the lungs is quite frightening. Touch wood the vaccines will give protection against the prospect of that.

Nick Grey
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Re: (Chess) Life Returning To Normal

Post by Nick Grey » Mon Mar 01, 2021 10:46 pm

I think I may play a London Congress before going back to the office to work. 3 days wfh. 2 half days off peak in office and hope we can improve internet speed and security. up to 18 on our work chess club so a short TQG golden globes for 7am. Touch plastic surely...

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