This year’s Christmas Speed Handicap is to be held on Friday the 9^th December. It will be in the Pinewood Centre, where we meet on Thursday nights, but in the Gym there, which is a couple of blocks to the right (when facing the buildings) of the bar & café.

We will set up some method by which drinks can be ordered remotely from the bar and brought across to us. A cold buffet will be provided, offering sandwiches, quiche etc.

For those unfamiliar with the Christmas Speed Handicap, all games take the same duration (10 or 15 minutes, depending on the number of attendees) but the time allocated for each player is adjusted according to their strength to give each player an even chance of winning. The overall effect is that any player can win the whole event. Quickness of mind and hand are more important than a simple ECF rating.

(As an aside, I noticed last year that the stronger players were disadvantaged, possibly a consequence of the change to 4-digit rating, and will adjust the time allocation this year to compensate.)

We will gather at 7:30pm in the Gym – upstairs – for a quick rundown of the rules and commencing play shortly thereafter. Please let me know if you plan to attend or not. It really does help the organisation if I have a full list of those attending, so I can prepare the group stage entrants and the time allocation sheets. This Christmas event is also open to friends, relatives, former members and members of local rival clubs (Camberley etc).

Regarding grades, I’ll use established ECF rapid grades, or standard if rapid is not available. For those without established ECF grades I’ll use whatever information we have to give a reasonable rapid grade estimate.