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From: Alistair Gilbert
Colour: Red
Date: 22 Mar 2010
Time: 11:46:03 -0000
Remote Name: 195.188.208.251
It seems to me that the debate about the venue, the cost of entering and the eligibility of players allowed to play in the League Congress is addressing the symptoms and not the causes of the problem – the decline of chess in Britain in general, and in Bristol in particular. The number of clubs, teams and players in the Bristol League is at an all-time low. My own club is teetering on the brink of extinction. Enthusiasm for the game has never been lower. The outlook for the foreseeable future, I would suggest, is not promising, given the small number of juniors playing chess in Bristol. Who will replace old codgers like me when I’ve pushed my last pawn? Is chess played in schools any more? OK, chess is just a board game and irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, but I find it a bit saddening that our game is doing so badly. Am I alone in thinking this?