Chessboards in public space? Quimperlois chess board began – Quimperlé

The Association of Mayors of France (AMF) and the French Chess Federation (FFE) invited

Municipalities and municipal authorities “to consider installing chess boards in public places.” Even in Quimperlé? “We’ll be prepared for that. Anything that goes in the direction of promoting chess is a good idea,” says Quimperlois Chess Board Chair Stefan Demi. “It would be a good thing, and it could be part of the neighborhood initiatives. In Lannion, a proposal of this nature has been made. ”The AMF and FFE also call on communities to take advantage of failures“ in urban as well as rural animation ”.

“Lady’s game”

In France, this practice is not common. “It’s cultural,” Stefan Demi admits. However, the hit American series “The Lady’s Game”, which evokes the rise of a young player, seems to have breathed new life into the system. “We wanted to take advantage of this enthusiasm,” Stefan Demi laments. Because with Covid, Treasury Secretary Quimperlois paused head-on. “We were subjected to the same restrictions as contact sports.” Chess is played, right, head-to-head.

Decrease in the number of employees

“We were able to resume the session in January and it stopped.” Players switch to online tournaments. To keep the link. But this is not a panacea. The club, like others, has seen its workforce melt away. “Losing half, especially the bigger ones.” They will return once they can play head-to-head again. In 2020, the club had to send one of its players in training, to Lyon, to obtain a federal diploma that would pave the way for animation. It has been canceled and is still pending. ”At the moment, the tournaments have been suspended and the first team is“ stuck in D1 ”. The goal -“ once the tournament resumes ”- will be to climb to the national level. To stabilize“ in the long term somewhat in N2 ”.

Press release published February 18, 2021As part of the centenary of the French Chess Federation, which was created in Paris on March 19, 1921.