The holiday season is upon us, and what better way to celebrate than with a thrilling chess tournament! We are excited to invite you to the annual Crowthorne Christmas Speed Handicap on Friday the 13^th December.

This is your chance to showcase your strategic prowess, enjoy some festive cheer, and maybe even walk away with a special prize! (i.e. the traditional bottle of wine for the most underperforming player.)

Event Details:

• Date: Friday 13^th December
• Time: 7:30pm for rules at 7:45 and play shortly thereafter.
• Venue: The Pinewood Bar & Cafe, in the Pinewood Centre, Crowthorne.

Why You Should Join:

• Festive Atmosphere: Enjoy the magic of Christmas with decorations, music, a parrot, dog and cat.
• Lots of Free Food: buffet style main course and dessert.
• Prizes Galore: ok, the only prizes are wine for the underachiever and a glamorous shield for the winner.
• Fun for All Abilities: Being a finely balanced handicap system anyone and everyone can win the event, or indeed win the wine.
• And best of all: See Scott wearing his traditional Snowman Onsie.

For those who don’t know the format: each game has a fixed maximum duration, either 10 or 15 minutes depending on the number of entrants, but the time will be split between the competitors depending on their respective grades. So the weaker player may have 14 minutes to play all their moves and the stronger player just one minute. The time handicap has been carefully refined over many years such that each player as an equal chance of winning or, on the flip side, of losing, with the effect that genuinely anyone can win the whole event.

I’ll be using an average of the ECF OTB standard, rapid and blitz ratings as of 1^st December, or an estimate if none of these are available.

Please let Jonathan know if you’d like to attend: Relatives and friends, even those from other clubs, are warmly invited too.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Warm winter wishes,

Jonathan

P.S. Feel free to wear your favorite holiday attire – the more festive, the better!