Chess Federation of Canada Cancels Chess Magazine

I was surprised to find out that the Chess Federation of Canada's magazine has been cancelled. The Federations's current plans are to replace it with an online version. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy a lot of online chess sites, but at the end of the day nothing can replace a good old chess magazine with a variety of articles in it that you can tote around the house with you to a variety of "destinations".

Personally I began to question the CFC's whole magazine program earlier in the year anyway when I only received 2 issues over the course of 11 months. That alone was signs of impending trouble. I did not, however, assume this meant the complete demise of the entire magazine program!

It amazes me that a magazine like the British Chess Magazine (which I will be subscribing to now) has been published monthly since 1881 and only costs £33.00 (a price that already includes airmail for international customers) yet the CFC can't continue putting out 2-4 issues per year? Generally speaking, per each junior membership the CFC was getting around $14.00 towards the magazine program, and most likely $30.00 from the adult memberships. So the British Chess Magazine can fly across the ocean to my door 12 times a year for £33.00 euros but I can't get Canada's own national chess federation's magazine a couple times a year for $30.00?

What makes things even more confusing is that the federation's fees continue to include an annual subscription to "a magazine". For example, a junior fee is $27.00 and states:

$27.00 - A person can become a Junior member if they are under the age of 18. Junior members receive Chess Canada Échecs[magazine], can play in CFC rated events and receive members’ prices on books and equipment as long as their membership is valid. All junior members must provide a date of birth with their membership.

There is another option for junior membership without the magazine for $13.00:

$13.00 - A person can become a Junior Participating member if they are under the age of 18. Junior Participating members do not receive Chess Canada Échecs[magazine], but can play in CFC rated events and receive members’ prices on books and equipment as long as their membership is valid. All junior members must provide a date of birth with their membership.

This makes me wonder how many people have signed up their children for the larger junior fee - especially since you can still buy these memberships online. In fact, the post in the federation's news section stating the end of the print magazine was loaded 7/29/2008 and the prices and explanations quoted above are still online as of 9/25/2008.

Whoever has paid these fees over the last two months will probably be wondering where their magazines are 4 months down the road only to call and find out that it's an "online magazine" that isn't online yet.