With Brexit becoming reality, you may think this is the week Britain moves out of step with the rest of the international community. Maybe, maybe not. But that is not the case with chess.
When it comes to our wonderful, universally-adored game that brings us all together in sweet harmony, we are very much – at long last – falling into line.
That is because in the week Britain steps out of the EU the English Chess Federation is taking the first real step towards converging with the rest of the world.
What is happening this week?
After the twice-yearly ECF grades were released as usual earlier this week, Brian Valentine the ECF’s manager of grading, has confirmed new four-digit grades will be added in the coming days.
So stand by: your grade will go from, for example, 127 (which is my ECF grade) to something like 1657 (it’s Fide conversion). I don’t know for sure how the calculation will be made but the current formula to arrive at a Fide rating from an ECF grade is: ECF x 7.5 + 700.
No longer will there be endless confusion for tournament organisers in this country and abroad over how to handle two different rating systems.
No longer also will club officers have to spend half our lives explaining what an ECF grade is to unfamiliar foreign players when they visit.
Or, at least, that is the idea.
Why is this happening?
The new Fide-style grades due to be posted up on the ECF grading website are being published in preparation for the monumental switch to monthly results reporting, which may or may not be a painful transition for English chess.
Under the new plans, tournament organisers and league controllers up and down the country will be required to report results promptly in order to get them lodged in time before the monthly deadline.
And, I am guessing, there is a lot of potential there for teething problems with organisers not necessarily being organised, results going in late and chess players – as usual – getting uppity about their precious numbers. We’ll see how it pans out.
The current English system of grading, devised by Richard W. B. Clarke, has been in operation since the 1950s when it was adopted by the now-defunct British Chess Federation.
But from later this year, it is finally being brought into line with the rest of the world as the English Chess Federation, which succeeded the BCF, adopts elo calculation.
English “grades” will become “ratings” similar to Fide ratings and finally, we will all be working in four digits rather than three or two.
This historic change was originally scheduled to happen this month, but has been put back. Currently, I am told the working timetable is to bring in monthly rating around September (ish) after the July numbers are released.
Let’s hope that happens smoothly – but don’t bet on it.
