Historical cross-tables archive at CFC site now seems complete back to 1996!

[Kerry Liles]

When you get to the Julius Caesar Ides of March level of the last election, friction is an understatement. The executive were going to make a decision which he did not agree with. That led to his resignation.

Well thanks for that tidbit.
I was not following the election (the CFC one I presume) and indeed perhaps there was no way to follow the internal going on...
Best of luck to everyone on the CFC Executive. It is a hard and thankless job requiring inordinate amounts of time, patience, and
negotiation - sometimes with people who may not be rational.

I admire the considerable work that Hal did over the years and I have no doubt that he used a lot of his own time (and money)
to represent Canada well.

[Don Parakin]

Michael von Keitz will get in touch with you when the covid will retreat.

Michael and I have already been in contact. Once the lockdown is over, we plan to meet for coffee and a handover of his electronic files. He says he has "approximately 4,500 files (primarily PDFs) taking up about 10 GB of space". Sounds like most of that is newsletters, pubs, docs, etc but includes some cross-tables (probably for national events only). I'll see when I get 'em.

[Bob Gillanders]

Well thanks for that tidbit.
I was not following the election (the CFC one I presume) and indeed perhaps there was no way to follow the internal going on...
Best of luck to everyone on the CFC Executive. It is a hard and thankless job requiring inordinate amounts of time, patience, and
negotiation - sometimes with people who may not be rational.

I admire the considerable work that Hal did over the years and I have no doubt that he used a lot of his own time (and money)
to represent Canada well.

Well said Kerry.

Let me take this opportunity to thank Hal for his decades of service to the Canadian Chess community. It has been a honour working with him in various capacities over the years. Despite the current difficulties inside the CFC, I hope he remains a valued member of the Canadian chess community. Once this whole pandemic thing is behind us, I look forward to playing again in Guelph at his wonderful ProAm events.

[Fred McKim]

Michael and I have already been in contact. Once the lockdown is over, we plan to meet for coffee and a handover of his electronic files. He says he has "approximately 4,500 files (primarily PDFs) taking up about 10 GB of space". Sounds like most of that is newsletters, pubs, docs, etc but includes some cross-tables (probably for national events only). I'll see when I get 'em.

Don.

All Canadian Championship Crosstables are already on the old CFC website, and I can show you where, but this is a separate issue from going back with "general" ratings and crosstables, any further than May 1996, when the existing database was put into place.

One of the former CFC Executive Directors sent many CFC records (ie including crosstables of all rated events going back into the 70's) to the National Archives. They have to be ordered ahead of time, but about 10 years ago, I was in Ottawa and spent hours going through them (for my own purposes). I would assume no digital copies exist any more.

[Aris Marghetis]

Well said Kerry.

Let me take this opportunity to thank Hal for his decades of service to the Canadian Chess community. It has been a honour working with him in various capacities over the years. Despite the current difficulties inside the CFC, I hope he remains a valued member of the Canadian chess community. Once this whole pandemic thing is behind us, I look forward to playing again in Guelph at his wonderful ProAm events.

And I hope to finally play you there (as White lol)

[Frank Dixon]

Thanks so much to everyone who has posted on this thread. I didn't expect such a wide-ranging and informative discussion, from across the Canadian chess community. It is important; I know that everyone is dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, and, make no mistake about it, this has to take a very high priority.

The thing that has impressed me so much is Don's work, which has been achieved DURING the peak COVID period. Truly, one of the most outstanding efforts in the history of Canadian chess!!!

I find Fred McKim's post potentially the most useful, from a chess historian's standpoint. Until his post, I did not know that the National Archives has a repository of Canadian chess material, and I suspect that few others knew either. Sending that information there at that juncture was a '!!' move.

I know also that the BC Chess Federation's website has a significant database of historical cross-tables for important events, not just those held in BC.

Now, one more question, and I don't see it as a high priority for immediate answer: regarding the potential apparent disposal of historical chess records -- was the CFC Executive and Governors group in the loop on this discussion, and / or were they informed at the time, or shortly thereafter? Just wondering if sending that material to the National Archives at that stage was ever part of the discussion -- that is, following up on the earlier effort in that regard?

Chess clubs, provincial associations, and some organizers may also have significant resources concerning historical records. As an organizer since the late 1980s, I am currently organizing my own archive of games, cross-tables, reports, and so forth, but a high proportion of what I have for cross-tables is now on the rebuilt CFC site. I do have some that are not, and will certainly be saving those.

[Hugh Brodie]

The FQE has crosstables (at least on paper) of every tournament rated by them since 1979. I was their statistician from 1979 to 1985.

[Stephen Wright]

I know also that the BC Chess Federation's website has a significant database of historical cross-tables for important events, not just those held in BC.

The site you refer to, http://bcchesshistory.com/, is distinct from the BCCF website.

[Hans Jung]

The site you refer to, http://bcchesshistory.com/, is distinct from the BCCF website.

Ive used that site many times, so a belated thanks.