I am planning to spend three weeks in Devon in August. For two of those weeks my daughter will be attending an English language course at a summer school in Teignmouth and I shall revert, for the first time in a decade, to my old accustomed bachelor freedom.
How to fill the time? I have some general ideas of hiking on Dartmoor, cycling along the coast, visiting pubs, cafes and churches, running my online business, reading books and playing chess.
Tonight, in an attempt to start filling in the details, I browsed Amazon and bought my first book about – or should I say, “set in”? – Devon, the Kindle version of Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley!
I checked the schedule of the Teignmouth Chess Club, but not much seems to be happening in August except for an all-versus-all tournament that is already under way.
However, when I extended my search to “Devon chess august 2013” I was surprised to see that a major event in the chess year will be taking place in the county during my stay; the 100th British Chess Championships are taking place just down the coast from Teignmouth, in Torquay, at the Riviera International Centre to be precise. (I guess that would explain why nothing much is happening on the Teignmouth Chess Club schedule during August.)
Even more exciting, I have just seen that two of the events that I might be able to enter (in terms of ability) are available when I am free. I am speaking of the British Graded Championships. Of course, I don’t have a grade because I don’t belong to a chess club, but you never know, they might let me in since “zero” is definitely under 120… 🙂
- Under 160/1800 Championship Mon 5 August – Friday 9 August
- Under 120/1400 Championship Mon 5 August – Friday 9 August
Not only that, but EnglishChess.org.uk also informs us that,
Other mindgames taster sessions including Bridge, Mah Jongg, Go and Shogi, will be available to try for those wanting a break from the chess.
Well, I have just sent off an email to the organisers to see if I will be permitted to enter. Even if I am not, I should still like to attend for the opportunity to watch some of the games and also to play some shogi, mahjong and bridge… 🙂
D. H.
Resources
http://www.britishchesschampionships.co.uk/
http://www.kevinhurst.co.uk/ – A private chess coach in East Devon.