5A2 - DISCUSSION ITEMS - COVID and Chess

[Lyle Craver]

This thread is intended to be a place for feedback from VMs on

- how the pandemic is affecting chess in your area
- what resources are being used in your area that weren't being used pre-pandemic
- where chess is at regionally (i.e. online, Zoom, face to face etc) and where you think we as a Federation should be going as things ease (recognizing that the easing process will be proceeding at different rates in different geographical regions

- or anything else not covered above concerning what our policies should be as the pandemic continues

[Aris Marghetis]

Unless something changed recently, February 21st and March 14th are still the significant milestone dates in Ontario. In preparation for Kingston Easter Chess, the hotels and tourism people and ourselves are proceeding with the expectation (hope?!) that things hold well enough for planned mandate relaxations at those points.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

Unless something changed recently, February 21st and March 14th are still the significant milestone dates in Ontario. In preparation for Kingston Easter Chess, the hotels and tourism people and ourselves are proceeding with the expectation (hope?!) that things hold well enough for planned mandate relaxations at those points.

There is supposed to be some announcement from the Ontario government on Monday.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

Ontario is removing capacity restrictions as of Thursday and vaccine passport requirements as of March 1st. Masks remain for now but scientific justification is poor. Particularly for children, masks may cause more harm than good but that is an argument for another day. I expect that the U.S. will remove most requirements as a desperate measure to appease populations who are really done with mask hypocrisy. I don't expect that this will change political outcomes but Canada will also gradually drop the mask and other mandates. Cloth and paper masks are theater and little else. N95 and similar masks have their own dangers mostly with respect to CO2 build-up aside from the documented psychological effects. They also offer inadequate protection for COVID.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-doug-ford-announcement-covid19-february-14-1.6350761

[Aris Marghetis]

Here's a distilled summary of today's Ontario announcements as they apply to us:

effective February 17th: WITH vaccination requirements on a "meeting and event space" (read playing hall), no more capacity limits
effective March 1st: same as above, except without vaccination requirements (but note that "landlord" may continue requirements)

masking requirements TBD "at this time"

[Lloyd Lombard]

We started phase 1 of 3 today. Each phase is slated to last a month. At the start of phase 3 (in two months from today), practically all the restrictions are slated to be lifted. Of course, we all know what a resurgence in COVID cases does to forecasts ... Here in Nova Scotia, we've had three chess clubs meeting face-to-face for the past year or so although Chess.com has been a favorite for many.

[Lloyd Lombard]

Organizers should also be cognizant that some players may not feel comfortable in attending until all restrictions are lifted and even then, especially the older participants, may not feel comfortable in attending face-to-face tournaments. I'm uncertain what can be done, if anything, to appease these players but it should be an issue that the Board should be aware of and provide local organizers with feed back on possible solutions on how to get these players to participate.

[Aris Marghetis]

Very good point Lloyd. In planning KEC, we're having those discussions right now. It seems that it will be a bit of a juggling act for at least a few more months.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

Organizers should also be cognizant that some players may not feel comfortable in attending until all restrictions are lifted and even then, especially the older participants, may not feel comfortable in attending face-to-face tournaments. I'm uncertain what can be done, if anything, to appease these players but it should be an issue that the Board should be aware of and provide local organizers with feed back on possible solutions on how to get these players to participate.

I think the best way to get people to participate again is to have tournaments that don't become a vector to spread covid. The start will be slow but things will accelerate.

Last year's Superbowl was largely a non-event when it came to Covid. Hopefully this year's Superbowl was the same.

People with underlying conditions or advanced age should be cautious but for the most part Omicron has not been deadly.

[Fred McKim]

Atlantic Canada has fared better than most other parts of Canada, Covid-wise, although Omicron did hit us. In 2021 NB had two single day CFC events and PEI had two full CFC weekend events. Our local club in Charlottetown had to find a new location, but we opened again in October, before closing for close to two months for Omicron. We are meeting again now. A quarantine for even vaccinated people entering the province has prevented me from holding any CFC events so far in 2022 (generally at least 50% of our players are from off-Island), but we are all ready to go for the middle of April, when it's expected the quarantine will be dropped.

The Maritime (Online) Chess Club plays on lichess.org and has members from all over Canada and beyond. We started in March 2020 and continue with multiple weekly fun tournaments and a monthly CFC tournament.

[Aris Marghetis]

Excuse my ignorance, but has anyone in Canada run OTB without masks yet?!

And second question, what's your feel for people's acceptance of masks still?
(when I was in the U.S. in November, most accepted the rules to wear them)

Thanks, Aris.

[Victor Plotkin]

I really like the Ottawa event, there Halldor allowed players to be without masks while they are sitting and playing, but masks were mandatory while you are standing/walking/watching other games. Much better then just mandatory masks in the tournament hall.

I played 4 tournaments in 2021 and masks requirements were completely different.

World Open and Banff - masks were mandatory.
Riga - masks were recommended. About 10% of players followed this recommendation.
Ottawa - no masks while sitting and playing.

I will be playing in Dallas with many other Canadians (Preotu, Rodrigue-Lemieux, Ouellet). The tournament starts in a few hours. Looks like no masks in hotel even for staff people.

[Victor Plotkin]

My personal opinion, not as a FIDE rep and CFC director, but as an active player. Mandatory masks in a tournament hall (including during the game) is a very strong factor against my participation in this event.

[Michael Barron]

My personal opinion, not as a FIDE rep and CFC director, but as an active player. Mandatory masks in a tournament hall (including during the game) is a very strong factor against my participation in this event.

Agreed with Victor - wearing masks should not be mandatory.

[Lyle Craver]

BC makes their announcements on Tuesdays and this week's announcement said much the same on removing capacity limits.

From the news conference it would seem that vaccine passports (aka "proof of vaccination") will still be required so presumably that means an extra person at the registration will be needed to check these.

While masks are still required in BC at events such as ours I agree with Vlad that the standard cloth masks most of us have access to are largely 'virtue signalling' more than effective protection tools. That said they're the present requirement (at least in BC) so we must go along. (When I went for my booster they required me to remove my mask and take theirs (which would have delighted me had they been the top quality masks as opposed to what I actually got which was exactly the same kind you buy in the grocery store and pharmacies)

Is any province requiring rapid tests for our type of event?

(For the benefit of VMs reading this one of the primary reasons Vlad wanted this item on the agenda was to compare requirements from province to province and to circulate the terms under which 'face to face' tournaments can be resumed at the present time particularly with respect to major interprovincial events)

In particular going forward I would like to see a TD discussion on "best practices" for tournaments.

[Aris Marghetis]

Agreed with Victor - wearing masks should not be mandatory.

Victor & Michael, thanks for your input. So any thoughts on either of these considerations:

1) Might some players, especially older ones, NOT play OTB if there's NO masking rules?
2) I expect provincial mask mandates to be lifted by Easter, but so far, there's no forecast.

Again, thanks in advance, I really appreciate your input.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

Masks are largely theater and are not effective according to the literature though people get upset if you say so out loud. I would probably play as long as N95 masks were not the requirement. I find cloth or paper masks tolerable though again they do not actually prevent transmission but people feel good about wearing them.

Was at the funeral home tonight with lots of doctors and dentists. The weather was horrible so only family braved the elements. This meant that worries about covid spreading were largely moot as several people already had it a month ago.

[Victor Plotkin]

Victor & Michael, thanks for your input. So any thoughts on either of these considerations:

1) Might some players, especially older ones, NOT play OTB if there's NO masking rules?
2) I expect provincial mask mandates to be lifted by Easter, but so far, there's no forecast.

Again, thanks in advance, I really appreciate your input.

Aris, you just cant make everyone happy. Everyone has different opinion and there is little point to argue about it. Some players will not play with mandatory masks. Some players will play only with mandatory masks.

BTW, how many older (60+) players played in Closed-2019? I mean, in a championship section?

Again, I would like to see "Halldor rules" for many Canadian events now. And last time this tournament in Ottawa attracted 80 (!!) players.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Seems the Ontario chief medical officer speculated about removing the mask mandate in the middle of March.

[Aris Marghetis]

Aris, you just cant make everyone happy. Everyone has different opinion and there is little point to argue about it. Some players will not play with mandatory masks. Some players will play only with mandatory masks.

BTW, how many older (60+) players played in Closed-2019? I mean, in a championship section?

Again, I would like to see "Halldor rules" for many Canadian events now. And last time this tournament in Ottawa attracted 80 (!!) players.

Yes, I do appreciate that we can't make everyone happy, so sometimes we try to somehow at least minimize the various "opposites of happy" lol. However, I REALLY appreciate all of the replies, we need to do what's right, but also this is going to be a "chesscation", with everyone thoroughly enjoying themselves!!

Here's another angle: if you prefer that masks still be worn, does that position change if all Players and Arbiters are vaccinated, and any spectators masked?!

Thanks again, Aris Marghetis.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

Yes, I do appreciate that we can't make everyone happy, so sometimes we try to somehow at least minimize the various "opposites of happy" lol. However, I REALLY appreciate all of the replies, we need to do what's right, but also this is going to be a "chesscation", with everyone thoroughly enjoying themselves!!

Here's another angle: if you prefer that masks still be worn, does that position change if all Players and Arbiters are vaccinated, and any spectators masked?!

Thanks again, Aris Marghetis.

Vaccines do not prevent spread of Omicron. Even having had Covid previously and being double vaccinated and being boosted do not prevent spread of Omicron. You can get it and you can - with or without symptoms - spread it. The good news is that for most people Omicron and even earlier variants of Covid are not a big deal. You may get it and not even know it. Unfortunately that is not the case for everyone. If you are overweight, have underlying health issues like diabetes and its constellation of symptoms like high blood pressure or immune system issues, Covid can kill you. Most people who get very sick have such issues. Most but not all people that died were elderly.

[Aris Marghetis]

Sooo, I'm looking for answers to the question I posted:

"Here's another angle: if you prefer that masks still be worn, does that position change if all Players and Arbiters are vaccinated, and any spectators masked?!"

(Most people appreciate that three shots at least reduces hospitalization/ICU/death rates, including Omicron. If a reader disagrees with this, it does NOT help me to know that lol. What HELPS me is answering the question above, IF it applies to you. I really need to hear from THOSE people who still prefer masks be worn!)

[Aris Marghetis]

Aris, you just cant make everyone happy. Everyone has different opinion and there is little point to argue about it. Some players will not play with mandatory masks. Some players will play only with mandatory masks.

BTW, how many older (60+) players played in Closed-2019? I mean, in a championship section?

Again, I would like to see "Halldor rules" for many Canadian events now. And last time this tournament in Ottawa attracted 80 (!!) players.

I've been doing some research, and there seems to be a kind of "jurisprudence" building for what we're calling the "Halldor rules". From Ottawa high schools:

"Masking & Sports
In light of the most recent province announcement, OPH (Ottawa Public Health) indicated that they are in support of these measures. Effective immediately, athletes actively involved in high risk sports (such as basketball and hockey) have the option to mask during the game but are no longer required to do so. On the bench, however, coaches and athletes must continue to mask, as well as all minor officials at the scorers' table. This applies to sports from grades 7-12."

[Patrick McDonald]

Masks, they may not fully prevent transmission, but they DO dramatically REDUCE transmission.

[Victor Itkin]

Sooo, I'm looking for answers to the question I posted:

"Here's another angle: if you prefer that masks still be worn, does that position change if all Players and Arbiters are vaccinated, and any spectators masked?!"

(Most people appreciate that three shots at least reduces hospitalization/ICU/death rates, including Omicron. If a reader disagrees with this, it does NOT help me to know that lol. What HELPS me is answering the question above, IF it applies to you. I really need to hear from THOSE people who still prefer masks be worn!)

Then, Aris, you probably want to hear from people like me. My understanding is that wearing a casual mask does not at all protect this person for a virus transmission from other people. However, wearing a casual mask by infected person protects (or, at least, significantly reduces) virus transmission from this infected person to other people. Therefore, my view is: if you don't feel well - don't play in chess tournaments, and stay home. If you need to go outside (to pharmacy, etc.) - wear mask in order to respect and protect other people.

During my trip to Japan in early 2019 (before covid), I was wondering, why many people are wearing masks on the streets. I asked this question to our guide, and got the following answer: "Japanese people are wearing masks in case if they are not feeling well (cold or flu), but they have to go out - in order to protect surrounding people". My opinion is that this is nice way of thinking, even for the times when the pandemic will be over. If we extend this way of thinking to covid pandemic situation, in many cases people do not feel any symptoms, and may spread the virus even to knowing that they are infected. This is why, I would prefer everybody wear masks until pandemic is over.

However, my personal decision - to play in a particular OTB event or not will not depend on mask requirements. it will depend on the pandemic situation in the playing area, i.e. on the number of cases during previous couple of weeks, and on its dynamic. If the number of cases is high and/or increasing rapidly - I will not play OTB.

[Aris Marghetis]

Thanks Victor ... I'm compiling something ... there's a lot of angles to include ...

[Vladimir Drkulec]

Masks, they may not fully prevent transmission, but they DO dramatically REDUCE transmission.


They say that but the data suggests something different. In much of Europe schools stayed open and the kids were maskless and transmission rates were negligible. The data comparing masked and maskless transmission and mortality rates do not support masking. Cloth and paper masks are about as effective as gauze. Its like trying to stop a swarm of bees or mosquitoes with a chain link fence.

[Aris Marghetis]

So it's been some days now, without huge replies to my posts regarding safety conditions at KEC. Therefore, I am proceeding with the deduction that most people seem comfortable with "Halldor rules", which are no mask at the board, mask everywhere else. In addition, the RA Centre where he organizes has a vaccine rule.

If you have a significantly different position, please feel free to email me.

I can confirm at this point that KEC should happen, we're just choosing the hotel from our last short list (some of my "consultants" have been a bit unavailable)