Country Chess Championship 2023

We are pleased to advise that the 2023 Victorian Country Chess Championship will be held in Geelong over the weekend of 21st and 22nd October. We have pushed the date for the event back one week so as to avoid a clash with the referendum.

The championships will be hosted by the Geelong Chess Club and will be held in a new venue this year. The address for the new venue is AsOne Coworking building, 17 Rutland Street Newtown Vic 3220.

We encourage everyone who is considering competing to pay their entry fee in advance to take advantage of the early-bird discount and assist with administration at the weekend. Payment can be completed by EFT to the nominated bank account or by card at the TryBooking link of https://www.trybooking.com/CLICF. If for any reason a player must withdraw then their entry fee will be refunded, provided they advise one of us before the start of play.

There are currently no entry limitations or mandatory government regulations relating to vaccination and wearing of face masks at the venue. We do ask however, if anybody has tested positive to Covid-19 in the 5 days prior to the event that they do not attend, and a refund will be arranged.

The Championships do not have a sponsor this year, so we need to increase the entry fees modestly to cover venue costs and maintain an attractive prize pool. They are still relatively low for such a major event and as compared to many other weekend chess tournaments.

Whilst they are not a sponsor this year players may consider using the services of Geelong Short Stays for accommodation since they offer a comprehensive booking service. They can be contacted at telephone 0407 711 707, email accom.in.geelong@outlook.com or visit their web site .

We are again grateful that Nigel Barrow has agreed to act as our Arbiter for the championships. Since Nigel will also be competing, a players committee will be elected before round 1 to review any appeal to a decision by the Arbiter.

This has always been a particularly friendly but competitive tournament and we are hoping that this year will be no exception.

Best wishes to everyone, stay healthy and we look forward to catching up in October.

Victorian Rural Chess League Committee

Kevin Perrin (President) 0418 533 517

Nigel Barrow (Secretary) 0421 674 869

Jack Smith (Vice-President) 0406 199 457