I want to start with a bit of history – the year is 1816. It was the year without a Summer, massive crop failure, hunger, riots and rampant disease – all caused by a massive volcanic eruption on the island of Sumbawa in Indonesia that happened the previous year. It was a very, very dark time.
Fast forward 200 plus years to 2019, when humanity has suffered another catastrophic event despite its massive progress in technology, housing, medicine and institutions. The Covid-19 pandemic has affected all of us. It has taken away lives, businesses, jobs, our family and social circles, and for the sake of this article, our wonderful game of chess in the over-the-board format.
On top of that the social side of chess has been put in cold storage, and has put severe pressure on the very survival of chess clubs – the bedrock of chess in the community.
A truly difficult situation.
What have we been doing at Hammersmith Chess Club to keep going and engage with our members?
The Hammersmith Committee has worked around the clock to provide online lessons, events and tournaments to fill this void. Two particular heroes have been our online mentor Christof, and Club Secretary Adam.
Most of these initiatives have been down to these two Hammers and a supporting cast, and we want to put on record our tremendous Thanks them for some truly herculean efforts.
None of this would have happened without them – thank you, gents!
Membership Update
We would also like to thank all members who have paid their subs for the 2020-2021 season – your commitment and dedication keeps us going, and has really helped secure the future of the club.
At our last Committee Meeting in December 2020 we discussed the likely total absence of Over-the-Board chess this season.
In light of this, it was agreed that all membership fees paid for the 2020-2021 season would instead count towards membership for the 2021-2022 season, when we hope to see the return of OTB chess.
Thus – if you have paid your subs for this season, you will not have to pay subs again next season.
This also means that anyone wishing to join the club right now will only have to pay a single fee to participate in all our membership activities for the remainder of the 2020-2021 season, and the full 2021-2022 season!
There really has never been a better time to sign up! Drop us a line if you’d like to join.
Thanks again to everyone for your support, and we look forward to seeing a return to OTB chess later this year!
The Committee.
