The Irish Chess Union

At a recent meeting, the ICU executive decided that future issues of the Irish Chess Journal will be made available online only. The next issue of the biannual magazine, which will be published in February, will not be printed and posted to members as it has been in the past.

Instead, the journal will be available as a single downloadable pdf file, which can be read by freely available pdf readers. The journal will be open access, available to non-members to download. It's hoped that this will help promote the game in this country, as well as raising the profile of many tournaments.

This policy change will save approximately €6,000 from the ICU's annual budget, equivalent to about a third of the union's annual income. In a year which sees Ireland hosting the Glorney and Faber Cups, the annual U19 team competition contested by Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, France and the Czech Republic, it is necessary to tighten our belts.

It was also decided to suspend the Grand Prix for this season. The Grand Prix awarded points to players who did well in a number of tournaments around the country. At the end of the season, the six players with the most points in each of the three rating bands won cash prizes.

The Grand Prix was set up to encourage people to play in more tournaments. It particularly provided a boost to the top sections of some smaller tournaments, as strong players fought for points as much as the tournaments' prizes, but its cost-effectiveness has been questioned, as has the merit of awarding prizes to people who are already doing well in tournaments. The suspension of the Grand Prix saves a further €3,000 on the ICU budget.