16-08-2016, 09:14 PM
Jonathan Livingstone Wrote:The state of local club chess must also be used, and the membership numbers of these clubs as a whole. There is often a group of the same players playing in various events. You do also have to look at things on a regional basis also. So yes there are 1 or 2 regions with reasonable activity. But look at the East, and what little it has left in congress activity. The club scene in my council region of East Lothian is a bit grim. We are coming to that time of year where club secs receive their invitations to enter their club into Rich/Spens, or what is left of them (I don't want to give you a heart attack Ian, honestly )Yes I know chess is in decline in some areas- or at best stagnant. However it is thriving in other areas such as the SNCL and in online chess. The big question is how to address this especially in medium to strong chess players. There is not one easy answer to this or we would have found it by now. To me there are several areas to tackle
1. Bring the youth on to a reasonable standard. The primary school standard is getting better all the time. Unfortunately there is a major dip at the secondary school age. There are many reasons for this including lack of resources, lack of any communication between schools and local clubs, and a general lack of enthusiasm from schools and teachers. When we had the likes of John Connelly and John Banks and their ilk Chess was thriving. Of course we have the likes or Harry Marron and a few others working countless hours but we really need to bridge the gap between secondary schools and college\University and beyond. This will be on e of the tasks of the Youth Development officer which CS hopes to address this
2. Money. We need it and we at CS plan to get it, and once we've got it its a whole new ball game.
3. Challenges and incentives This is where the rewards come in such as (you knew I was coming to this) International selections, FIDE grades and money (SEE point 2 in a weird way) Once this is sorted the strong (Cream) will rise to the top and we will all benefit.
4. Online Chess. This is not a beast killing chess but chess in another form. Chess.com already has umpteen Scottish teams and leagues and the average woodshifter can easily play someone from the other side of the world. What OTB players can offer is the socialbility (I know that's not a word Phil) of meeting up for a club night even on a winter's night and have some fun with some juice or a coffee.
5. Co-operation. To paraphrase JFK "ask me not what chess does for me but what I can do for chess" He was thinking of Fischer at the tie. You get the idea. Don't chuck stones at the CS window. Each of us can play its part to promote chess in general and OTB specifically
I wont have a heart attack, its my father in law who had one last night, but he's OK