BIRMINGHAM & DISTRICT CHESS LEAGUE

The Birmingham and District Chess League on the Internet.

The primary internet presence of the BDCL is its web site at: https://www.birminghamchess.org.uk - from which you probably reached this page! However, the League also has some other online arms that are less well-known.

(1) Playing Online – BDCL Chess Clubs on the Internet

The BDCl has two online chess clubs which are open to past and present players in the Birmingham League and to others who live or work in the West Midlands area. The only one of these internet clubs currently operating is on chess.com at chess.com . This has about 155 members and often runs slow-play ('daily' ) matches against other internet clubs.

At present we are not running any 'live' tournaments on this site as the appetite for live blitz and rapidplay events seems to have declined since the Covid restrictions ended. However, we may try to revive such tourneys at a future date. Members of the club are also able to challenge and play each other in individual games.

To join the club it is necessary to subscribe to chess.com (which is free for basic membership) and then separately ask to be added to the list of 'BDCL' club-members. We like to know who our members are so when you apply please provide your real name as well as your chess.com username. Also say whether you are a member of a local over-the-board club or, if not, explain your connection to the West Midlands area.

The other BDCL online club can be found at: lichess.org

This latter club has not been active for over 2 years but anyone who would like to initiate an event on the site should contact the Administrator Phil Maybury here... To join one must first subscribe to Lichess (free) and then apply separately for club membership.

(2) Facebook / Meta

A BDCL Facebook (Meta) page can be found here.. . You will need to log-in to Facebook before you can access the page. Otherwise you are likely to see only a Facebook message saying that "This content isn't available at the moment".

This facility is currently little-used. This page-manager is John Moore who can be contacted here..

Please message him direct if there is any news relevant to the BDCL that you would like him to post.

(3) The League Management System (LMS)

Finally, I should mention the LMS (League Management System) site which is not maintained by by the BDCL but by the English Chess Federation (ECF). Nevertheless, this site is used to record BDCL match results. LMS has its own direct link on the menu of the main BDCL website's homepage but can also be accessed here..

This site not only publishes the results of league and cup matches – sometimes only minutes after the matches have finished (!) – but also offers up-to-date league tables and a wealth of information about the records of clubs and individual players in the Birmingham League (and in other leagues too).

  Chris Evans (chairperson of the BDCL's online chess committee)

Email address:  chrisecieux@zoho.eu

17/05/24