This email to club secs and so on was sent out today (a rare East of Scotland event!)...
Dear All,
We'd like to invite your clubs and their members to an exciting Chess tournament taking place in Edinburgh on Saturday 5th November! All the details can be found at <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.2020chess.com">www.2020chess.com</a><!-- w --> , and I've attached a poster to use at your disposal. You can either enter your team via the website or email back directly, along with any questions you may have.
Look forward to hearing from you!
Peter Hornsby
Founder and Director of 2020 Chess
<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.2020chess.com">www.2020chess.com</a><!-- w -->
Someone has pointed out there is a date clash on the other side of the country - the Prestwick Charity Allegro.
The date has now been moved to Sat 22nd Oct for this. I am not the Team Captain for our club, but we entered a team of good playing strength when it was scheduled for the 5th Nov. The new date now clashes with Scarborough and we have lost 1 player at least due to that. It is also during the October school holidays, resulting in a loss of 3 more players for us. Seems almost certain we now have to withdraw due to the changed date.
None of our players even considered playing in the other event in the West of the country on the same date. With the new clashes it seems inevitable the Team Allegro in Edinburgh is going to be diluted in terms of entry/quality.
All very regrettable really. We seem to have endless calendar issues and clashes with something or other be it Junior/Home/other territory events. The Team Allegro was something worthwhile, particularly for the East where we seem to have clearly established is in a bad state for weekend events. I appreciate the organisers have tried to be 'PC' about things here, but I am not convinced they needed to be or have done the right thing.
The East and the West are so far apart for most chess players, impact is often minimal and this is a disappointing chain of events.
With all these clashes of event dates, Scottish chess must be in a pretty healthy state.
Alan Jelfs Wrote:With all these clashes of event dates, Scottish chess must be in a pretty healthy state.
Number of events or any single measure to assess the state of Scottish Chess is not a true overall reflection?
Depends where you live somewhat also. To be squeezed out of yet another rare East (and quality) event is frustrating.
They've also managed to host the Leeds qualifier on the same weekend as the British rapidplay in Leeds.
Is there an entry list anywhere? Can't see one.
Not knowing all the facts, that is quite a different scenario, hosting those 2 events in the same City on the same day.
At least one, maybe two members at my club are at Scarborough Congress. Another one is in Denmark. Others are away for the October school holiday week. Clashes are just something that is going to happen on a "crowded" (as often referred to on here), local, Scottish, UK, European chess calendar. I think organisers should be sensitive, and aware - but not feel the need to be to PC about scheduling.
Any hoo... turns out I will be playing on Saturday now with my 2nd club and looking forward to it. No idea of entrants but you can email the organiser at <!-- e --><a href="mailto:director@2020chess.com">director@2020chess.com</a><!-- e --> if you want to.
I suppose they are aimed at different groups but even still..
Emailed the guy but no response yet.
I received the this today.
Peter Hornsby Wrote:Next weekend there is a rapid play team tournament taking place at Edinburgh university. We currently have 10 sides taking part from various universities including Edinburgh, Heriot Watt, Aberdeen, Durham, Strathclyde and St. Andrews so it looks set to be an exciting event!
Word on chess street is that this event is low numbers and not very strong. There is now no prize money given the numbers, so a heavy loss is not made. Very disappointing but not entirely surprising given the needless (IMHO) switch of dates.
Would anyone else's club have been entering a team had the 5th Nov date been retained I wonder? Ed West, Edinburgh CC, BB, BOS, Bon Accord, perhaps?
WD and Dunbar are the only clubs I am aware of who were confirmed for entering on the more sensible 5th Nov date.