Distance Matches between Chess Clubs, then and now.
There appears to be software available that would enable a single computer operator to input moves for multiple simultaneous games. Clubs could play matches against distant clubs at their club rooms using a single computer and operator rather than having their players at home and using multiple computers linked to the same tournament.
With the now outdated STD telephone matches, the boards were groups around the telephone operator so that he could immediately react when a move was made. A special place in hell is reserved for those clubs who continued to use “runners” and a distant telephone.
This was much quicker than the older telegraphic matches when runners had to be used to convey the moves to the operator. We held STD matches at club members homes so that they became a social event. We were part of a team, could observe each others games and analyse them together after the event.
Covid permitting, in terms of maintaining chess clubs as places where people can share their common interest, online tournaments taking place at the chess club, may be preferable to online tournaments where the members of a club’s team play isolated in their own homes.