10.06.20 Maine Chess Association president Michael Dudley gives us an update on the state of chess in Maine including Guidelines for Safe In-Person Over-the-Board Tournament Play.

Dear Chess Coaches,

Here it is, October 1st, and we're back into the throes of the new school year. I hope that all of you, your families, and your students, are safe and well amid the global pandemic, which has reached its sixth month. As is always the case, I'm writing to you regarding the state of scholastic chess in Maine; this will likely be one of a few emails that will reach your desk about our game. That said, if you are no longer a coach or there is not a chess program in your school at this time, please let us know so that we can update this mailing list. Also, alternatively, if you know of a new coach who might benefit from being on this list, also let us know.

This first email regards over-the-board (OTB), in-person play in the State. Between March 14th and now, five OTB tournaments open to the public have been held in Maine safely and without an incidence of COVID-19 spread. Given that events have happened in Maine safely, the Maine Chess Association Executive Board has put together a series of Safe Play Guidelines that coaches and tournament directors can refer to as guidelines for setting up safe play.

The purpose of this document is simple: first, it provides guidance for tournament directors and coaches that is directly linked to guidance from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. To that point, the Maine CDC was consulted with regard to these guidelines and their rigor. In that conversation, we were informed that these guidelines are indeed more stringent than the CDC's own guidance for public gatherings, so we can confidently say that play conducted within these guidelines is reasonably safe.

The second purpose is related to planning. We hope that this document will allow coaches to coordinate with their schools and administrators regarding how safe chess can be played, so that clubs wishing to coordinate in person can do so. If it is helpful, please share this document with your administrators or facilities personnel. We are hoping that guidance from a governing body such as ours can give clubs the opportunity to meet and play in person to the safest possible extent.

Note that this is not an argument for the preference of OTB chess over other play options which allow people to take safer measures. I think we would all agree that no chess player should be asked to take a health risk that falls outside of their comfort zone for the sake of playing chess. Rather, we hope that adopting safe play guidelines gives those who seek OTB play the opportunity to do so safely and with the support of their school community. As always, the MECA Executive Board consists of tournament directors and coaches, all of whom have tournament experience, directing expertise, and professional insight. If we can be of any assistance to Maine's chess community on this front or others, feel free to contact us at any time.

This email will be one of a few that you'll receive over the next few days; you'll receive another about some online play items, and then another about planning for scholastic state events for the 2020-2021 season.

Until then, stay healthy!

Thanks,

Michael Dudley
President, Maine Chess Association
Local Tournament Director

US Chess ID #12873355
pronouns: he/him

Guidelines for Safe In-Person, Over-the-Board Tournament Play
1 October 2020

This set of guidelines has been drafted by the Executive Board of the Maine Chess Association based on in-person, over-the-board, US Chess rated play that has been safely conducted in Maine in July, August, and September, 2020. Five events have been run safely in-person to our knowledge: the July, August, and September Quads in Brewer, the President's Swiss in Bangor, and the Maine State Championship in Waterville. Based on the operation of these tournaments and recommendations from the Maine Centers for Disease Control regarding the prevention of COVID-19, we are recommending the following guidelines for play.

• Adhere to all existing guidelines for gatherings set by the Maine CDC. Expect all potential registrants to stay home if they exhibit any symptoms of illness. Allow no more than 50 people at an event; 48 competitors is recommended as the highest cap to allow for an appropriate TD presence. Mandate that all competitors wear face coverings, practice regular hand hygiene, and maintain social distance while not at the board. Attendance records should be kept for contact tracing purposes.
• Fit the capacity of your tournament to the appropriate space. In order to maintain 6 feet of social distancing space, one game should take place in roughly a circle with a 6 foot radius, which amounts to about 113 square feet. Each game has two competitors, and those competitors should have space to distance themselves. Therefore, no more than five games (10 competitors) should take place in a space of approximately 1000 square feet (a room roughly 25' x 40'). Furthermore, this radius should be marked using some sort of physical cue, such as a tape or rope barrier.
• Competitors should be encouraged to leave the playing space immediately upon the completion of their games, and required to leave after their games if the tournament has more than 24 competitors. This will limit player exposure to airborne droplets from other competitors to strictly rounds where play occurs.
• Use a tournament-ready board and set and put one game at each table. A common vinyl roll-up chess board measures 2.25 feet on a side, and competitors seated at the board should be at least 3' apart. Competitors should only be touching their own side of the chess clock, and should only touch their own scoresheet (save for correcting mistakes in scorekeeping).
• Keep all equipment sanitized between rounds. Use sanitizing wipes or spray to clean pieces, boards, and clocks between rounds. If possible, alternate clean sets for dirty sets so that an assistant or tournament aide can clean sets between rounds and allow them to air dry.
• Consider a two-board setup. Seating each competitor at their own board is possible. Each player would face in opposite directions in front of their own set, and make the move that their opponent makes on their own board. The clock would rest in between them, and they would hit the clock on the determination of their move. This is a similar setup to the setup used by blind players, and puts each competitor out of the breath of their opponent. This setup alternative is not required for play, but can further reduce the risk of pathogen spread by limiting mutual surface contact. It is not an alternative to wearing face coverings, maintaining social distance, and practicing hand hygiene.
• Pre-register competitors to the greatest possible extent, and publish a pre-registration list so that the number of pre-registrants is clear. Every tournament director wants their tournaments to be well attended. However, each additional competitor adds risk to the event. In order to plan well for these risks, tournament directors should require participants to pre-register so that the space is properly laid out and outfitted. Furthermore, a pre-registration list publicly posted online can help competitors make an informed decision about their own attendance.

We are recommending these guidelines based on recommendations from the Maine CDC and our experience with safe over-the-board events thus far. While we hope that over-the-board play in Maine can be restored to levels of participation we saw before the global COVID-19 pandemic, we recommend that tournament directors hold events cautiously and with the safety of all participants as their highest priority.

Sincerely,

Maine Chess Association Executive Board
Michael Dudley, President
Daniel DeLuca, Vice President
Wyatt Hendrix, Secretary
Shannon Levesque, Treasurer
Elisabeth Fowlie Mock, Director
Oisin O'Searcoid, Director
Matthew Fishbein, Director
Stephen Wong, Director