Between hosting the Top 12, scheduled from June 4 to 14, and the French championship all categories, scheduled from August 15 to 23, Chartres promised to transform itself into the national chess capital in the space of a few months.
The city of Chartres will host the Top 12 chess in June
But coronavirus and fight against the pandemic oblige, the city will not finally welcome, in 2020, the twelve best clubs of the French chessboard nor the thousand players coming from all the Hexagon which were expected this summer.
This double decision was formalized on Saturday, May 2, during the steering committee of the French Chess Federation (FFE), which took place by videoconference. “The big annual chess festival, which was scheduled in Chartres from August 15 to 23, 2020, will not take place. The mayor of Chartres and the president of the FFE have jointly decided that the health situation does not allow ‘organize such an event,’ the statement said.
“You can create competitions on the Internet”
Inevitably disappointed, François Gilles, president of C’Chartres Echecs, comments this Monday, May 4: “All the competitions are stopped. We will have a white season. We hoped to be able to shift the Top 12 in September, but a majority of clubs do not “were not in favor of it. It is a shame because, for the young people who have been with us for a long time, it was a little their Grail and an opportunity to align themselves alongside our great champions. Afterwards, we are fully aware of the very complicated situation the country is in. The main thing is to get out of the tunnel. “
Alireza Firouzja, the prodigy of C’Chartres chess, winner of Magnus Carlsen, reigning world champion
However, François Gilles does not intend to store his pieces in the closet: “Given the gravity of the situation, chess is doing pretty well. We can create competitions on the Internet. This weekend again, a player from our club , Romain Bilquez, behaved magnificently in a charity tournament that lasted 24 hours, ranking second out of 3,000 players. “
Containment: C’Chartres chess organized an online tournament
And already thinking about the next: “We are going to do a lot of things, develop videoconferencing. As we have several rooms, during June, it seems to me possible to organize face-to-face lessons, with schoolchildren, etc.”
Emmanuel Brun
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