16-01-2015, 01:54 AM
Jonathan Livingstone Wrote:Who knows what is next to go, but it is no secret the fantastic Edinburgh Congress that is FIDE rated is making losses for some years and at serious risk of being the next casualty.
That will be news to Chess Edinburgh, Jonathan! The congress did make a small loss when it moved out of the city centre last year, due to a drop off in numbers, but it is back in an excellently located central venue this April - St Thomas of Aquin's high school, very close to Heriots which hosted the event for a number of years.
Major pressures facing the Edinburgh events are, I gather, similar to those facing the rest of the country, i.e:
- Finding suitable venues at an acceptable cost,
- Perhaps most significant: finding enough volunteers to help organise and run weekend events.
Merely bemoaning the lack of events and calling on others to set up working parties/whatever will have no effect. Helping to organise an event will have a positive impact. And if you pick your role wisely you might even still get to play in your brand new/resurrected weekender. Arrange a venue, book the arbiters, put out chairs/tables/sets. It's a lot of work for one person but not so much for a team.