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We have with great regret
decided not to proceed with
weekends 4 and 5 of this
season's 4NCL, which we had
hoped could be held in August
and September. Given the
continuing uncertainty caused by
the prevailing Covid-19
pandemic, in our view the
financial and operational risks
both to the 4NCL and to
Guaranteed Events are just too
big to run the risk of
proceeding at this stage.
We will be actively looking at
two options for the future:
-
If over the board chess
resumes in an orderly manner
and in a way which makes
running 4NCL weekends viable
by late 2020 we will
consider starting the
2020/21 season in
November/December 2020 and
continuing as normal in
2021. In this event the
2019/20 season would
effectively be abandoned (so
there would be no promotions
or relegations).
-
If over the board chess does
not resume in an orderly
manner and in a way which
makes running 4NCL weekends
viable until 2021 we will
consider holding the final
two weekends of the 2019/20
season in March-May 2021,
effectively 'losing' a
season - assuming, that is,
that a return to orderly
over the board chess is
possible even then. Please
note that FIDE has given the
option for leagues to extend
beyond a year, and so any
title norm opportunities
would still be available in
the event of option 2.
If there is a suitable gap in
the calendar under option 2, we
may look at holding a separate
one-off weekend team event at
some point.
We apologise for the continuing
lack of clarity over future
plans (other than the clarity
that the 4NCL will not now
resume until November/December
2020 at the earliest), but the
4NCL Board hopes that 4NCL
captains and players will
understand the difficulties that
we face at present in making
anything like informed decisions
that do not entail significant
risk at a time of such
uncertainty.
Kind regards,
Mike Truran |
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Coronavirus
(COVID-19)
Cancelled:
Easter Congress
(9-13 Apr),
Women's League
(25-26 Apr), 3rd Spring
BHol
Congress (22-25
May) &
Crewe Congress (10-12
July).
Postponed:
Weekend 4 (28-29
Mar & 4-5 Apr)
and Weekend 5
(8-10 May).
Entry forms for
the three
cancelled
congresses and
the cancelled
Women's League
have been
withdrawn, and
these events
will not be
taking place as
planned given
the current
pandemic. |
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16.3.20 - I
can now confirm that in light of the current
coronavirus position and the Prime Minister's
latest announcements we've decided to postpone
weekends 4 and 5 of the 4NCL.
Some more background/detail:
-
We considered simply cancelling the rest of
the season. That was not an acceptable
option given that our partners at Bridge
Overseas/Guaranteed Events (BO/GE) would
have remained financially liable for the
cancelled bedroom allocations (around £50k
for the final two weekends). We also
considered holding the weekends as planned.
That would have in our view presented an
entirely unacceptable health risk to the
players, arbiters and other attendees; in
any event, the likely number of team and
player withdrawals would probably make the
weekends unviable as well as leaving BO/GE
again with a substantial financial liability
for bedroom cancellations. It appears that
in many cases hotels will only consider
waiving contracted-for charges if events are
rescheduled to a later date with them.
-
We have already confirmed WE4 for Divisions
1 and 2 as taking place on the weekend of
29-31 August at Mercure Telford Central
Hotel (so the same venue as WE5 would have
been played). Please note that this is the
late summer bank holiday weekend, so three
rounds will be played.
-
BO/GE are in the course of negotiating the
other dates and venues we need with the
hotels; I hope to hear back from them later
this week. At the moment we're hoping to get
dates in August and in October/November,
with the 2020/21 season starting in January
next year, but all of that is of course
subject both to what BO/GE can find for us
and to the coronavirus situation as it
develops.
-
I also expect to hear later this week on
whether bedroom bookings will be transferred
across 'en bloc', or whether they will need
to be cancelled and rebooked.
-
The 4NCL will consider reimbursing
non-refundable travel arrangements that have
already been made. That said (and so as to
avoid draining the 4NCL's meagre coffers if
at all possible), could I please ask teams
and players before they approach the 4NCL to
check first whether if at all possible
flights, train journeys etc that have
already been booked can be transferred to
later weekends once those weekends are
confirmed? I'm afraid that the 4NCL won't be
able to reimburse non-refundable hotel
bookings.
-
As well as helping with non-refundable
travel costs we have also agreed to help
Bridge Overseas with any unavoidable costs
that they may incur during the process (for
example non-refundable room hire charges).
So, and with many apologies, we will
therefore be applying some if not all of the
2019/20 prize fund to fund these costs. It
is not what we would have wanted to do, but
the 4NCL essentially runs on a not for
profit basis and has no significant reserves
to cope with situations such as this.
Perhaps we should have, but that's one for
another day.
-
If we have to play Division 3 South on a 2 +
2 days basis rather than a 2 + 3 days basis
(because the late summer bank holiday
weekend is not available) we will put in
place an appropriate workaround. Alex H and
Dave T already have some ideas on how this
might work. The Swiss-format divisions would
run as usual, but with 10 rather than 11
rounds.
-
I'll update you further as I receive more
information. In the meantime, could you
please share this information (and link)
with your players?
Many thanks for your patience and
understanding in these difficult times.
Kind regards,
Mike Truran
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