Cancelled tournaments worldwide....

[Michael Yip]

The Budapest Spring Festival 2020 has been cancelled. I expect things to get worse before anything improves. It is hard to get news that makes sense here. I would not make travel plans for European tournaments and definitely not Hungary. I known one small out of town tournament has been cancelled(from a student of mine that was about to play in it. He arrived and then the tournament abruptly just did not start. No tournament is safe here. I would stay home. I don't even like going to the market now. Today I took the precaution of stockpiling non-perishable food, just in case store access and opening hrs are limited. Better to stockpile before everyone else gets the same idea. I expect close to 100% tournaments will be suspended or cancelled in Hungary pretty soon.

[Bob Armstrong]

Tonight (Thursday, March 12), Scarborough Chess Club ended the Winter Swiss with the Rd. 4 tonight.

It has suspended play for the next 3 consecutive weeks - COVID-19 (There were 47 byes tonight out of 122 registered players); the closing of some Ontario schools; the possibility of an inside workers strike, which would exclude us from the community centre during the strike.

Then the Executive will review the situation and see if the club can resume play on Thursday, April 9, with Rd. 1 of the new Club Championship tournament.

Bob A (Just an ordinary member)

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

They have closed all the schools in Ontario a few minutes ago for 3 weeks

I think that it a smart move: a lot of people will travel (even it is not recommended) during the break, then follows a 14-day forced quarantine.

[Larry Bevand]

They have closed all the schools in Ontario a few minutes ago for 3 weeks

[Vadim Tsypin]

"Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Department of Health Director, Amy Acton, MD, MPH, have signed an order banning large gatherings of 100 or more people. US Chess is waiting to get the official text of the order before announcing any changes to the National High School (K-12) Championship in Columbus, Ohio, currently scheduled for April 3-5.

We appreciate your patience as we await official language we can review."

https://new.uschess.org/administrati...nterim-update/

[Grey Guo]

In Toronto so far, the Annex Chess Club met Monday night, and tonight (Thursday) the Scarborough Chess Club will meet.

There is a small drop in the attendance of registered players, but most are coming out.

The shaking of hands has become optional, with the asking that players respect the concerns of those declining to shake hands.

Finally, although the number of cases in Ontario is rising, give the population of Toronto, the number of cases actually in Toronto is relatively small - though the precautions being taken elsewhere are in place in Toronto as well. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable on COVID-19 can advise if my observation on Toronto is correct.

Bob A

I observed people started to avoid to present in crowdy situation, including
- gym, 50% drop
- Go train, many my friends started to drive
- school, especially after March break, people started discussion on take two weeks off school and some private schools planned to do online class after March break in the fear of massive travel during March Break
- Work place, many companies started everyone work from home, my company is also under planning to let everyone work from home

[Vadim Tsypin]

Is it time for Canadian chess organizers to cancel all events, or would that be "overreacting"?

The Québec government has just prohibited any gatherings of 250 or more people in confined spaces and asked the organizers to cancel all such events.

https://www.lapresse.ca/covid-19/202...it-legault.php

[Bob Armstrong]

In Toronto so far, the Annex Chess Club met Monday night, and tonight (Thursday) the Scarborough Chess Club will meet.

There is a small drop in the attendance of registered players, but most are coming out.

The shaking of hands has become optional, with the asking that players respect the concerns of those declining to shake hands.

Finally, although the number of cases in Ontario is rising, give the population of Toronto, the number of cases actually in Toronto is relatively small - though the precautions being taken elsewhere are in place in Toronto as well. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable on COVID-19 can advise if my observation on Toronto is correct.

Bob A

[Fred McKim]

Is it time for Canadian chess organizers to cancel all events, or would that be "overreacting"?

I think there are two factors to consider here:

1) Size of the tournament or club
2) Presence of outbreak

While I'm sitting here listening to NHL news, fully expecting the season to be suspended today, I'm still thinking my two small chess tournaments (10-20 players in each) this weekend are safe, assuming PEI isn't hit by COVID-19, in the next 36 hours. I'd be concerned if I was in Toronto, Vancouver or other large centres.

[Grey Guo]

Is it time for Canadian chess organizers to cancel all events, or would that be "overreacting"?

Mississauga Chess Club is closed for 2 weeks or till further notice.

http://mississaugachessclub.ca/index.php?index.html

Markham Richmond Hill Club is closed till further notice.

https://mrhcc.ca/

Ontario U19 Girls cancelled

https://elevatemychess.com/ontariopolgar/

[Vadim Tsypin]

53rd annual New York State Scholastic Championships (Saratoga Springs, NY) - a thousand-plus event where the Chess 'n Math Association traditionally sent a large team from Quebec.

Most other events in the State of New York.

[Brad Thomson]

Is it time for Canadian chess organizers to cancel all events, or would that be "overreacting"?

[Vadim Tsypin]

European Senior and Russian Youth Championships.

A comprehensive announcement is about to be published later today.

[Vadim Tsypin]

Foreign teams' participation in the 2020 White Rook finals.

[Vadim Tsypin]

All events organized by the Asian Chess Federation, including the Asian Amateur Chess Ch. in Muscat.