Queens Park Chess Club is the focus of an item in Issue 12 of Greater Govanhill Magazine, which explores arts, culture and subcultures in the local area.
The free hard copy magazine is available from selected shops, pubs, cafes, cultural venues and community/service centres in Govanhill and the wider Queens Park area. Some issues were made available at the Chess Club night of Tuesday 17 October.
In early October 2022, we learned that our community grant funding bid, described below, was successful. We were one of 20 projects awarded funding. Our sincere gratitude to all who voted for us, and to the Thursday Group for their partnership support!
If successful, we will invest in chess sets, a website and public events, to support even more local people to join us to play chess, connect with others, and improve their wellbeing.
The grant distribution will be decided by residents of Govanhill via the democratic process of participatory budgeting.
If your postcode starts G42 7 or G42 8, you can vote for free via WhatsApp or text: simply send a message to 07919 364 673, with your name, address and our voting reference: K6. Voting is open now until noon on Wed 5 Oct. Both chess groups appreciate all support.
Govanhill residents can vote for up to ten local projects in total: five in the small ‘Kickstart’ grant category, and a further five in the larger ‘Action Project’ category.
Information on our proposed project follows below. Full details from all 27 proposed projects and information on how to vote is available here.
Our Proposed Project
Title
Connecting and Supporting Govanhill Through the Ancient Game of Chess.
Organisation
Queens Park Chess Club – in partnership with Thursday Chess Group.
Summary
The European Parliament recognises chess’ unique value: connecting diverse people, improving wellbeing, providing comfort. Two groups will build on existing interest in playing chess in Govanhill by improving access.
In Detail
A joint proposal by two Govanhill-based groups – Queens Park Chess Club and Thursday Chess Group who wish to build on growing local interest in playing chess as a way of improving general wellbeing. Together they have established free weekly casual chess meetups on Tuesday evenings in Wellcroft Bowling Club, on Thursday evenings in Brodies Bar, and on Sunday mornings at the Queens Park boating pond.
The purpose is not to popularise an already widely-played board game, but to connect people, enhance cross-demographic community links, and provide an enjoyable experience – among other valuable outcomes. In a 2012 European Parliament declaration, the unique value of chess was highlighted for its wide social, health and educational value, from improving social integration and reducing discrimination to tackling addiction and enhancing memory.
Participants include people with mental health issues, Ukrainian refugees and other foreigners with no local social connections, older people suffering from loneliness, and younger people seeking to improve their confidence and self-esteem. One recent participant reported in the popular WhatsApp group, “these [meetups] have really helped my mental health, just seeing people and speaking to them in person”. The number of participants at each session has risen significantly, from an initial 3-10 in early 2022 to a typical 15-30 and more in recent months. In August 2022, Chess Scotland highlighted the “lively local chess scene emerging in Queens Park” .
Both groups now wish to improve capacity and outreach work to ensure more people can be involved, by sharing a £1k grant to invest in equipment and materials, digital information provision and public events. Currently players are often asked to bring their own sets, resulting in shortages, and we wish to develop and promote a new website, and participate in local festivals and wider partnership activities in 2022/23 and beyond.
Funding Themes Covered
Tackling Loneliness
Improving Mental Health
Supporting Young People (up to 21)
Supporting Older People (over 60s)
Govanhill residents can visit www.govanhill.info for information on how to vote for our proposed project before the deadline of noon on Wed 5 October.
Govanhill Chess Club’s 2021/22 season concluded at the end of May 2022.
Visit the blog section to learn more about our activities over the season, which featured a Club Championship, inter-club friendlies, simultaneous exhibitions, the Scottish National Online Chess League, internal rapid tournaments, and more.
A date for the diary is Tuesday 30 August 2022, when the 2022/23 season will begin at the usual 6:30pm in Wellcroft Bowling Club, who have kindly agreed to host the Club for a further season.
On Sunday mornings during the summer, we will be meeting regularly at the picnic tables near the flagpole in Queens Park, for casual chess in the park. Non-members are very welcome to join us. We plan to be there from 10am to noon every Sunday, from 5 June to 28 August.
The 2022 Hamilton Open provided a welcome boost to classical chess in Scotland, as the first national over-the-board tournament of its kind since the start of the pandemic.
Hamilton Chess Club’s well-organised event brought together 50 players, from talented ungraded juniors to experienced International Masters, to compete in a single open section in Bothwell Bowling Club on the weekend of 2/3 April. The format was a five-round Swiss pairings at a time control of 75+0.
Govanhill were represented by two players, Alex Radevic and Derek Rankine, pictured above with Zizheng ‘Friend of Govanhill’ Liu of Strathclyde University (l-r: Alex, Zizheng, Derek).
Derek and Zizheng both achieved a score of 2.5/5, and were pleased to share the best ungraded player prize. 1359-rated Alex went even better, scoring 3/5 and narrowly missing out on the award for the best u-1500 player.
In round three, Zizheng faced 2400+ International Master Andrew Greet on board one. IM Greet went on to win the tournament with a perfect 5/5.
Govanhill’s first foray into national competition starts this weekend with two matches in Division Four of the Scottish National Online Chess League, or SNOCL.
SNOCL was created by the Scottish Online Chess Organisation in 2021 to provide a new channel for inter-club competition while over-the-board leagues are suspended.
The second iteration of SNOCL takes place over January to March 2022, with Govanhill being one of 18 clubs around Scotland taking part. All matches will be played on chess.com at the rapid time control of 25+10.
Selection
Govanhill’s teams for rounds one and two are:
SNOCL Division Four
Round 1 – East Kilbride vs Govanhill (11am, Sun 30 Jan)
Govanhill Chess Club’s inaugural Club Championship will take place over the first half of 2022.
The tournament will be played over five rounds in a Swiss format (following the premise of “winners play winners” after the first round) at the 60+0 time control.
A prize will be awarded to the winner and all results will be submitted to Chess Scotland for grading.
Timescale
The designated dates for each round are:
Round 1: Mon 17 January 2022 (6:45pm start time for all rounds)
Round 2: Mon 7 February 2022
Round 3: Mon 14 March 2022
Round 4: Mon 11 April 2022
Round 5: Tue 10 May 2022
Round One
The draw for round one is as follows (white pieces named first):
Board 1: Jass McNeill (0) vs Alex Radevic (1359)
Board 2: Harvey Dellanzo (1338) vs Jonny Stark (0)
Board 3: Libor Masar (0) vs Julien Papillon (1202)
Board 4: Derek Rankine (0) vs Niall McCamley (0)
Board 5: Rhys McCrosson (0) vs Graeme McKinnon (0)
Board 6: Aidan Doye (0) vs Peter Mark (0)
The website will be updated with results, standings and future draws as the tournament progresses.