I received the following email this morning. The idea sounds pretty good to me and a good way to have a bit of fun along the way. Who knows, maybe the strategy of chess is relevant to rewilding. It all sounds pretty simple - I reckon I’ll sign up 
And, hey there’s even a prize (and an anti-civ prize at that!)
– PLEASE FORWARD / POST / SPREAD THE WORD –
You are hereby invited to compete in the inaugural Feral Chess World Cup, an event for anti-civilization anarchists and troublemakers worldwide to sharpen their strategic and tactical thinking, improve their focus and mental agility, strengthen their resolve to shed their enemies’ blood on the battlefield… and perhaps make some new friends in the process!
Due to feral warriors being dispersed around the planet, the event will of necessity take place - yes, irony of ironies - online.
The games will be played by correspondence, but thanks to the folks at www.queenalice.com that does not mean everyone will have to learn chess notation and email each of their opponents every move in “chess code”. Queen Alice allows you to play correspondence games in your web browser - basically, whenever it is your turn to move you will receive an email from Queen Alice that will link you directly to your game as it is hosted on their site. From there you simply click on the piece you wish to move and the square you wish to move it to. If you’re new to chess, you needn’t worry - the Queen Alice site has a straightforward explanation of the rules of chess, and it is perfectly legal for you to consult their ‘openings browser’ (which lists the moves of the established openings you can follow from your current position) in your first few moves. It is also perfectly legal - and highly encouraged - for you to consult chess literature and/or seek tutelage (just not help on your specific game from a computer program or other human player while the game is still in progress).
We will also be using the Swiss system to organise the tournament - which in short means that after the first game, for each subsequent game you will be paired up with somebody who has done approximately as well as you. If you lost your first 3 games, for instance, you will not be paired up with somebody who won their first 3 games, you will be paired up with somebody who also lost their first 3 games, or as close to that as possible.
Because feral warriors are not always able or willing to check their email every 5 minutes, the games will all be set to allow 7 days between each move. This means you will have 7 days to make your move from the time your opponent makes their move. If you won’t have internet access for more than a week there is an ‘on vacation’ setting you can enable for the time you’ll be unable to move.
Without knowing how many people are going to enter, it is impossible to predict how many games you might play in the Feral Chess World Cup - most likely it will be between 4 and 10 games. If we have a large number of people enter the players will be randomly organised into smaller groups, from which the top 1 or 2 players progress in the tournament when everybody in the group has played each other.
To give everybody time to hone their skills, put the word out to other prospective entrants, and familiarise themselves with the Queen Alice website, the start date for the tournament is Friday the 20th June.
HOW TO ENTER THE FERAL CHESS WORLD CUP
To enter, you need to create an account at www.queenalice.com - it is completely free and very easy. When you have created your account, you need to contact me and let me know you are wanting to compete and what your Queen Alice username is so I can add you to the tournament roster.
My email address is: feraledgerevenge@gmail.com
My Queen Alice username (you can send messages to other players on the site) is: xSmashOrBeSmashedx
THE DEADLINE FOR ENTRANTS IS THURSDAY THE 19TH OF JUNE. YOU CANNOT BE ADDED TO THE TOURNAMENT ONCE IT HAS STARTED.
At the start of the tournament I will send a message out to everybody who signed up detailing the basic workings of the tournament and the Queen Alice site, but if anybody wants to get warmed up, as it were, and is looking for a game to play on the site ahead of the tournament just send xSmashOrBeSmashedx a challenge (you can search by username from the members list page) and I’ll give you a game - if you’re new to chess I’m happy to give you pointers as we play.
THE GRAND PRIZE
The winner of the Feral Chess World Cup will be awarded the dual titles of Feral Chess World Champion and Chief Strategist of the Primal War, and the item of their choosing from the Beating Hearts Press distro ( www.beatingheartspress.com ).
Send any questions you have to me at feraledgerevenge@gmail.com
See you on the battlefield!