The English Chess Federation (ECF) is the governing

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

organisation in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is affiliated to

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

. The ECF was formed in 2004 as one of the more localised successors to the British Chess Federation (BCF), an organisation founded in 1904.

History

From 1904 until 2005, the British Chess Federation (BCF) was the governing body of chess in England. The BCF itself replaced the British Chess Association (BCA) and initially governed chess, its pre-eminent ratings, and rules in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Over time,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

were governed by their own chess federations. Only England came under BCF

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

, and it also administered the

British Chess Championship The British Chess Championships are organised by the English Chess Federation. The main tournament incorporates the British Championship, the English Chess Championships and the British Women's Chess Championship so it is possible, although it ha ...

. In 2004, English chess administrators agreed that it would be factual to replace the BCF with the ECF, a change effective from the start of the 2005/6 season. From the 1990s there has been a movement to incorporate the federation into a

company limited by guarantee A company limited by guarantee (CLG) is a type of company where the liability of members in the event the company is wound up is limited to a (typically very small) amount listed in the company's articles or constitution. Most have no share ca ...

, for mandatory transparency, likely generating more

sponsorship Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...

money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are: m ...

, increasing membership and while thus slightly adding to the risk of a dissolving action by creditors, limiting in every way the liability of members to the ECF. At the start of the 2005/06 season the English Chess Federation was created. It inherited the BCF's assets and personnel. The BCF persisted for

legacy Legacy or Legacies may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * " Batman: Legacy", a 1996 Batman storyline * '' DC Universe: Legacies'', a comic book series from DC Comics * ''Legacy'', a 1999 quarterly series from Antarctic Press * ''Legacy ...

purposes, and their website remained briefly ''www.bcf.org.uk'' (now defunct) when it was inherited.

Activities

The British Chess Championships are run by the ECF, and have been held annually since 1904, apart from during

world wars A world war is an international conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I (19 ...

and the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in 2020. In recognition of the change from BCF to ECF, they award additional titles of English Champion and English Ladies Champion. The ECF publishes ratings for those players that compete in affiliated competitions in England as part of the

ECF grading system The ECF grading system was the rating system formerly used by the English Chess Federation. A rating produced by the system was known as an ECF grading. The English Chess Federation did not switch to the international standard Elo rating system ...

. There are currently two ways to qualify for an ECF rating. For a yearly flat fee players may become a member of the ECF directly or, since 2005, through a local Membership Organisation (MO). Where in England MOs are lacking or are not mandatory (much of the south) non-members pay a Game Fee for each ECF game they play. All officials of the ECF are elected annually or tri-annually, without limits on re-election. The current CEO is Mike Truran, current president: journalist and keen chess player Dominic Lawson.ECF Officials
from EnglishChess.org.uk, retrieved 19 December 2021 The ECF selects and finances the English teams for international competitions such as the

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in FIDE Onli ...

and

European Team Chess Championship The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...

. By invitation, players may also receive support when competing overseas in events of national importance, such as the World Junior Chess Championships. The ECF sent paper newsletter ''Chess Moves'', free to members. From mid-2016, this was replaced with a monthly e-Newsletter, plus online articles, event reviews and selected members' submissions. In December 2022 the name of the newsletter reverted to ''ChessMoves''.

References

Bibliography

* Stephen Moss
Grandmaster crash: the inside story of how English chess pawned its future
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 20 November 2015, retrieved 19 December 2021

External links

* {{authority control Chess in England Chess organizations 2004 establishments in England National members of the European Chess Union Organisations based in East Sussex Sport in East Sussex

Chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

Sports organizations established in 2004 2004 in chess

History

Activities

See also

References

Bibliography

External links