Chess predictions for 2021

[Kevin Pacey]

Here are my chess related predictions for 2021:

1. Vlad Drkulec will continue to be president of the CFC after the 2021 CFC AGM;
2. Over-the-board CFC-rated chess will be played somewhere in Canada by the end of 2021;
3. There will be at least one more hit chess related TV show shown in North America, besides Queen's Gambit, by the end of 2021;
4. At least one chess variant game will be widely sold in Canadian stores by the end of 2021 (possibly including a regional game, such as Japanese Chess [shogi]);
5. GM Kevin Spraggett will not do a long-promised expose of the CFC on his blog by the end of 2021.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

On number 1, I will probably run but what happens will be up to the voting members. My last opponent didn't appear to show up for the last voting members meeting just concluded a week or so ago.

On number 2, I suspect you are correct.

On number 3, I would suspect that the timeline would be too tight if it is not already in production.

On number 4, aren't you already correct?

On number 5, I doubt that there is much to expose.

[Kevin Pacey]

On number 4, I don't count orthodox chess itself as a chess variant (though it is counted that way by at least chessvariants.com). Otherwise, I know Chinese Chess would be fairly popular in Canada (more than shogi, for example), but was unaware of it being what I might consider to be widely sold in Canada's stores (a good indicator would be if such a chess variant as Chinese Chess were sold at many Walmart stores in Canada).

Another way of looking at things would be to say orthodox chess set(s) could be used to play chess variants on, if the equipment is deemed okay to use (such as for bughouse or chess960), but chess sets are not marketed for that purpose, at least. :) Seirawan Chess, on the other hand, takes 4 more pieces/objects to place on an orthodox chess set, and pieces could be bought for that purpose. Something similar goes for the more recent chess variant invention, Musketeer Chess, which is a bit like Seirawan Chess on steroids, I'd loosely say. There's also something like Circular Chess, which uses a different shape of chessboard, as does Glinski's Hexagonal Chess and (5x5x5 3D variant) Raumschach and (10x8) Capablanca Chess. There is also e.g. Knightmare Chess, which uses a special deck of playing cards besides a chess set.

https://www.chessvariants.com/rules/musketeer-chess#:~:text=Musketeer%20Chess%20is%20a%20modern, moves%20for%20the%20first%20time.

https://www.chessvariants.com/shape.dir/circular.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexagonal_chess#Gli%C5%84ski's_hexagonal_chess

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-dimensional_chess#Raumschach

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capablanca_chess

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knightmare_Chess

[Kevin Pacey]

1. Vlad Drkulec will continue to be president of the CFC after the 2021 CFC AGM;
2. Over-the-board CFC-rated chess will be played somewhere in Canada by the end of 2021;

Predictions 1 & 2 turned out, well before year's end;

4. At least one chess variant game will be widely sold in Canadian stores by the end of 2021 (possibly including a regional game, such as Japanese Chess [shogi]);

Here's a number of shogi products sold in Walmart stores in Canada this year, followed by link for same re: Chinese Chess products (I may have missed if sold widely earlier, too, if that was Vlad's point in post #2 of this thread):

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/Shogi-Japanese-Shogi-Japanese-chess-Magnetic-Board-Shogi-chess-Sho-gi-Jiangqi-Japanese-Xiangqi/PRD5AM8ZTV7ZF3P

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/GoodPlay-Beechwood-Chinese-Chess-Set-Xiangqi-Travel-Game-Set-with-Wooden-Box-and-Leather-Chessboard/PRD3HFMCFJ7A6AP

Here's a 3-man chess variant sold at Walmart in Canada this year, at least, followed by a link to a 4-man chess variant, then a link to a circular chess variant (not sure if all these widely sold, at least at bricks and mortar):

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/3-Man-chess/PRD1NF60X5EK9QA

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/EDUCA-BORRAS-PUZZLE-Chess-4-Four-Player-Chess-Game/PRD55JOORGC5EQC

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/Noble-Celts-The-Classic-Game-of-Circular-Chess/PRD524GL0MJ9S44