Meeting Chaired by Matthew Clark, SCA President
Minutes by Tony Preece, SCA Gen Secretary
Agenda
- To discuss policies for playing safe chess under current conditions
Minutes
The purpose of the meeting was to try and come up with a shared set of agreed measures that would be common to all clubs competing in Over The Board (OTB) chess in the Shropshire League this season. Some lengthy and wide ranging discussions ensued based around the following:
- wearing of masks – a near 50/50 split between those who agreed with a recommendation to wear masks and those who didn’t want to wear a mask at all
- provision and use of hand sanitiser – agreed that it should be provided so it could be used if desired
- distance between playing tables – agreed in principle but not always possible due to the constraints of particular venues
- ventilation – some debate over whether the players would prefer the room to be ventilated by leaving doors and windows open or left warm for comfort particularly during the colder months
- vaccinations – passports were briefly discussed but as the government had abandoned this idea it was felt that the committee should follow their lead
- LFT testing – agreed to a recommendation that an LFT test should be taken by anyone due to a play in an OTB chess match and should be conducted within the 24 hours prior to the match taking place
Different clubs seemed to have vastly differing opinions on many of these subjects and it proved particularly difficult to reach an agreement on the wearing of masks which led to MC suggesting an EGM be held.