Richmond B.C. Open

[Larry Bevand]

I just saw that this in person event attracted great numbers! Congrats! Paul Leblanc was the principal organzer...can you tell us more?

Larry

[Roger Patterson]

I just saw that this in person event attracted great numbers! Congrats! Paul Leblanc was the principal organzer...can you tell us more?

Larry

An event report is now posted on the event website. (will also appear eventually in the BCCF bulletin)

http://bcopenchess.pbworks.com/RichmondOpen

[Larry Bevand]

An event report is now posted on the event website. (will also appear eventually in the BCCF bulletin)

http://bcopenchess.pbworks.com/RichmondOpen

Hi Roger,

That is super impressive!

We are looking at over 140 players at an in-person event.

Care to share the details? Covid protocal etc.

Thanks,

Larry

[Roger Patterson]

Hi Roger,

That is super impressive!

We are looking at over 140 players at an in-person event.

Care to share the details? Covid protocal etc.

Thanks,

Larry

Attendance was limited by space. Could have had more :-)

vaccine mandatory for all (at least 1 shot for under 12), masks, negotiated a deal with the hotel for extra space so ran at 50% capacity. Wristbands to show that your vaccine status has been checked. QR codes posted to link to pairings.

I didn’t play - still too early for me.

did you notice the Jack Taylor in November? Also a big crowd for in person play.

BC open next month. Also looks like a big turnout.

[Paul Leblanc]

I was impressed that people were so eager to play chess that they endured such strict COVID conditions. Vaccine for everyone including kids under 12, masks worn 100% of the time, players remained seated except for trips to the bathroom, no mingling anywhere, no post-game analysis room, no communal water station. Yet 145 players showed up. The hotel gave us a huge ballroom in order to space people out. The rule in BC at the moment is 50% occupancy for seated events. We had lots of great volunteers to process vaccination checks, parking etc. The demographics have changed since 2 years ago - adults out-numbered kids. Lots of new unrated players graduated from chess.com to OTB chess.
The BC Open in February already has close to 200 signed up.

[Bob Armstrong]

Great organizing out there Paul..........congrats to all the teams!


Bob A

[Frank Dixon]

Wonderful work, Paul! It's great to see that in-person chess events can still happen. Thanks for sharing the details on protocols; this will help other Canadian organizers.