News from 2021-22 for Oxfordshire Chess

British Junior Champions 2021-22

The recent in-person British Junior Championships has seen Oxfordshire Juniors take titles in two sections:
Jan Murawski - British Under 10 champion;
Kenneth Hobson - British Under 12 champion.

Oxfordshire Juniors came close in both the Under 16 and Under 14 sections as well, with Adam Sieczowski as runner-up in the former and Dimitrios Zakarian in fourth place in the latter. Congratulations to all for excellent performances.

ODCL Fixtures for 2021-22 have been amended

Please take a look at the fixtures list - last updated 30/9/21

Updated Guidance for Clubs and Captains

With many thanks to Gerard O'Reilly, the latest version of the OCA's guidance for clubs and team captains has now been published. The Guidance has been simplified following the Rule changes agreed at the 2021 AGM, particularly incremental time limits, and now includes an appendix on COVID-19 precautions.

It's worth printing this out and having it available on match nights, along with a copy of the updated Rules.

Covid-19 Precautions

As advised in a recent email to clubs, we are collecting and publishing any conditions required at home venues.

• Abingdon School tba
• Banbury Social distancing is to be practiced as far as possible, with specific one-way systems marked and the taking of turns to use confined spaces eg. the toilets. Please use the hand sanitiser provided upon entry and after touching face, nose or eyes. If a participant, or anyone within their household, has COVID-19 symptoms they should not enter the venue. Should a participant develop COVID-19 symptoms within 7 days of the match, they should please alert both the hall's Bookings Manager on 01235 253329 and the organiser of the match.
• Bicester (withdrawn from ODCL for 2021-22)
• Cowley Players who are able to wear face coverings are strongly urged to do so. If there are players who will not be wearing a face covering in a match, their captain is asked to inform the opposing captain in advance. Spectating is not permitted at matches, except by the captains acting in their official capacity. Visitors are to sanitise hands upon arrival. Visitors are invited to provide contact information for the club's Track and Trace system, which is optional.
• Cumnor Sanitiser available for all. If an opponent prefers you to wear a mask then politely do so.
• Didcot All players and others attending the chess club are asked to use the hand gel provided when entering or re-entering the club room (i.e. upstairs at the Marlborough Club).
• Oxford Brookes tba
• Oxford City Only 1 home league match played per evening with open windows for ventilation. Hand gel and cleaning spray will be provided. Individuals should not attend if they are exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. Other measures (eg. masks) are at the discretion of the participant.
• University of Oxford: Uni 1 (Wadham) tba, Uni 2 (St John's) tba, Uni 3 (Lady Margaret Hall) tba
• Wantage Participants are expected to have accepted COVID-19 vaccinations available to them. Participants should sanitise their hands upon arrival and whenever changing to a different chess set. Participants are also strongly encouraged to wear face masks and respect social distancing.
• Witney Participants are kindly requested to wear masks in the playing area and also sanitise their hands whenever they enter the playing area.

Updated ODCL Rules

The AGM held on 16 Sep 2021 agreed several amendments to the League Rules. There are a few 'tidying-up' changes resulting from the ECF's move to 4-digit ratings and to monthly publcation of rating lists. The following changes are more substantial:

• three divisions
• incremental time limits for all divisions
• numerical limits on grading differences when setting board order
• for 2021-22 only, the number of starred players is reduced from four to three
• for 2021-22 only, Rule 2.4.1 is suspended. Unstarred players may play unlimited times for higher teams without affecting eligibility to play for lower teams.

ODCL Fixtures for 2021-22 released

Please spread the news far and wide: The fixtures for 2021-22 have been released - Please let me know if there are any issues.

The three league divisions have also been set up, but can I please urge all club and team captains to check and update the information contained on the site.

Oxfordshire County Chess

With the gradual resumption of OTB chess, I am interested in gauging the interest in resuming the County Chess teams (Open and Minor). If you play for a team in the Oxfordshire League or live in Oxfordshire and would like to play please email me (stephen.rumsby@maidford.plus.com). I would also like to know whether players are interested in playing online County Chess.

OCA Annual General Meeting - 7.30pm Thursday 16th September

The AGM of the Oxfordshire Chess Association will take place in person at 19:30 on Thursday 16 September at the Rose Hill Methodist Church (Cowley Chess Clubs venue). To provide extra space and ventilation we intend to use the main hall, downstairs. Relevant documents, including the agenda and the proposed rule changes,can be found under the "Admin Documents" link at the left hand side of this page, or below.

OCA Guidance for OTB Play During The COVID-19 Pandemic

The OCA committee has been asked if it can provide guidance to clubs on what measures should be taken to mitigate the risk of COVID when over the board chess is restarted this season. Please see the link below for an initial draft of this guidance which will be discussed at the AGM on Thursday 16th Sept.

Note the only requirement we have placed on the clubs is to keep the OCA informed of any COVID mitigation steps in place at their venue so visiting teams can know what to expect; the committee strongly believes each club will have its own unique set of circumstances, and so is the best organisation to identify appropriate steps to reduce risk at their venue. That said we have provided a number of what we hope are useful and practical recommendations.

Witney Rapidplay Online Congress

The Witney Rapidplay Online Congress will take place on Sunday 19th September 2021. It consists of 6 rounds, starting at 10.00am in the morning with a 20 minutes + 10 second increment time control. For more details see the link below

Second Draft ODCL Fixtures 2021-22

The second draft of the fixture list for the coming season can be found at the link below. As before please provide any feedback to the Fixtures Secretary, Asif Hameed.