Tuesday 23 June 2020

To Biel Or Not To Biel?

THE Prime Minister is due to announce today the lifting of some lockdown restrictions.
Since his announcement has been much heralded, it is very likely there will be relatively major changes announced, even if they will not be implemented immediately
Relaxing the two-metre social-distancing guideline and giving pubs and restaurants reopening dates (those with outdoor areas first?) are being widely tipped.
I am hoping we will also get an idea of when foreign travel will get back to something approaching normality.
In particular I am eyeing a tournament in Switzerland due to start on July 20 as part of the Biel chess festival: https://www.bielchessfestival.ch/Homepage.html
The "Special Corona Amateur Tournament" will feature some interesting extra rules:
*Each player plays with his own board and his own set of pieces.
*Before the tournament, each player will be given a fully disinfected set of pieces by the organizer, which he will not return until the last round has been completed.
*Two boards and sets of pieces are therefore used per game. The players do not sit directly opposite each other but staggered to keep the distance of 2 meters.
*Each player must replay the moves of the opponent who makes them on his board. During this catch-up his time is running on the clock.
*Before the round, the players are obliged to place their pieces independently on the boards provided for this purpose. If they arrive late in the tournament hall, they must do so on their own time before making the first move.
*Therefore, after each round, only the empty boards and the clocks are cleaned and disinfected.
It looks like it will be many weeks before over-the-board chess is played again in Britain, so Biel may be my best chance of some OTB action this summer.

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