A Swiss swiss

I MENTIONED yesterday I have entered the Basel schachfestival, which is being held from Saturday 17 to Tuesday 20 at the Landgasthof Riehen.

I was too late to book accommodation at the venue, which is four miles from Basel's main train station, so I am staying in town at an Ibis Budget.

If it is anything like the Ibis Budget at Bradford, West Yorks, it will be good value for money, especially as my stay apparently comes with a pass for free public transport in the area.

The congress is being run as one big swiss, with a 4pm round on the Saturday, 9.30am and 3pm rounds on the Sunday and Monday, and a 9.30am round on the Tuesday (prize-giving, should it prove relevant, is 2.30pm on Tuesday).

The time control is 40 moves in 90 minutes, then a 15-minute 'windback', with a 30-second increment from move one.

So far there are 138 entries, which is fairly near the venue's maximum of 150, and there are plenty of countries represented by a lone soul.

1		AUT	Austria	4
2		BEL	Belgium	1
3		ENG	England	1
4		ESP	Spain	1
5		FID	FIDE	1
6		FRA	France	6
7		GER	Germany	32
8		HUN	Hungary	1
9		IND	India	2
10		IRL	Ireland	1
11		ITA	Italy	1
12		JPN	Japan	1
13		KGZ	Kyrgyzstan	2
14		LIE	Liechtenstein	2
15		MDA	Moldova	1
16		NED	Netherlands	8
17		POR	Portugal	1
18		SLO	Slovenia	1
19		SRB	Serbia	1
20		SUI	Switzerland	68
21		UKR	Ukraine	2

Here is a selection of interesting rules and observations:

Before going to the tournament venue, please remember to bring at least 5 (1 per round) protective masks (certified surgical masks, nowadays also available in supermarkets), or a visor, and a personal pen to fill out the Contact Tracing Form and note your moves on the game forms.

- A lateral, front and rear distance between the chessboards of at least 1,5 m will be ensured

- The tournament room will be regularly aired

- Chessboards and pieces will be disinfected after each round or completed game

- A bottle of hand disinfectant will be available at the entrance to the room

- There will be a waste container for used masks at the exit of the game room

- The tournament director will measure the body temperature of the participants before checking in. Unfortunately, people with a body temperature of over 37,4 ° C will not be admitted to participate in the tournament.

This is one of the first tournament since the Covid-19 emergency. Together, we will succeed it if everyone does his/her part. So that we can finally continue to play real tournaments and opponents "in person" in the future.

Have fun and a "virtual hug"!