That is likely to be from June in England, and maybe in the rest of the UK too.
In Europe the situation is more complicated - some countries may see a semblance of chess normality as early as May, while other places may be behind Britain.
Some people think a big increase in online chess is here to stay, and this view seems particularly common among those who have been organising and/or competing online.
It is interesting, therefore, to read the views of Arkady Dvorkovich, the Russian president of the world chess federation Fide.
He is quoted in the latest issue of British Chess Magazine as saying: "Hopefully, we’re not going to have any long-lasting effect of the coronavirus on chess.
"We are hopeful that strict lockdown measures won’t be around for much longer as the vaccination will improve the situation globally.
"However, it would be naive to say that we’re not going to see the long-lasting effects in terms of the share of online chess.
"However, it would be naive to say that we’re not going to see the long-lasting effects in terms of the share of online chess.
"There will also probably be a more-cautious attitude towards mass tournaments in terms of precautionary health measures.
"The biggest thing is online chess. It provides better access to millions of people; it provides access to training, watching and playing chess, which is crucially important for growing the chess audience.
"The biggest thing is online chess. It provides better access to millions of people; it provides access to training, watching and playing chess, which is crucially important for growing the chess audience.
"Also, it’s fun to connect to people all over the world without the need to spend money on travelling.
"For the lovers of mass chess events, coronavirus will have a big consequence. But online is in no way a substitute [for] over-the-board chess - that’s the point I’d like to stress.
"As soon as the restrictions are lifted, we will see a big return to OTB tournaments, especially when it comes to major events.
"For the lovers of mass chess events, coronavirus will have a big consequence. But online is in no way a substitute [for] over-the-board chess - that’s the point I’d like to stress.
"As soon as the restrictions are lifted, we will see a big return to OTB tournaments, especially when it comes to major events.
"But for other levels of events – student festivals, corporate tournaments and similar - they will be mostly online.
"OTB will come back but it doesn’t mean that online will go away. I estimate the ratio between the two to be 70-30 in favour of OTB.
"That’s why it’s important to think of some balance of OTB and online events at the top level."
Asked about cheating online, he replied: "We already have algorithms that give you a reasonable degree of certainty that there is cheating. We are confident that we can improve that with the help of AI companies."
Asked about cheating online, he replied: "We already have algorithms that give you a reasonable degree of certainty that there is cheating. We are confident that we can improve that with the help of AI companies."
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