Cambridge International Open

[John Upham]

I couldn't see anything on the link which is a pity as Danny's comments are always interesting.

so tired
the brutal schedule of cambridge wiped me out
wish chess had more money and could have more enjoyable schedule

[NickFaulks]

I couldn't see anything on the link which is a pity as Danny's comments are always interesting.

It's still there when I click on the link but I don't understand facebook. Do you have to be a friend?

[Chris Rice]

I couldn't see anything on the link which is a pity as Danny's comments are always interesting.

so tired
the brutal schedule of cambridge wiped me out
wish chess had more money and could have more enjoyable schedule

Thanks John, appreciate it.

Danny's comments raise a few questions. I don't know why it was scheduled over 5 days of the school half term but it may have been a short enough outlay of time to attract a lot of players and we'll recall the tournament entries were closed a while before the tournament started.

From the hotel's point of view it would seem surprising if they weren't open to adding a couple of days to the next tournament so that the schedule ends up more like Reykjavik as they presumably would gain from the guests staying at the hotel for longer. Of course, the guests might not be so keen to pay for longer which would attract less entries and the invited guests like Danny who I assume have their accommodation paid for increase the organisers and sponsors costs as well. I'm sure the organisers will take a look at how the first tournament went and the budget they were working to and do a lessons learned exercise on it.

Poor Danny though, getting paid to play two brutal games of chess a day in a fancy hotel, it must have been hell for him, perhaps we should call Amnesty International?

[Chris Rice]

I couldn't see anything on the link which is a pity as Danny's comments are always interesting.

so tired
the brutal schedule of cambridge wiped me out
wish chess had more money and could have more enjoyable schedule

Thanks John, appreciate it.

Danny's comments raise a few questions. I don't know why it was scheduled over 5 days of the school half term but it may have been a short enough outlay of time to attract a lot of players and we'll recall the tournament entries were closed a while before the tournament started.

From the hotel's point of view it would seem surprising if they weren't open to adding a couple of days to the next tournament so that the schedule ends up more like Reykjavik as they presumably would gain from the guests staying at the hotel for longer. Of course, the guests might not be so keen to pay for longer which would attract less entries and the invited guests like Danny who I assume have their accommodation paid for increase the organisers and sponsors costs as well. I'm sure the organisers will take a look at how the first tournament went and the budget they were working to and do a lessons learned exercise on it.

Poor Danny though, getting paid to play two brutal games of chess a day in a fancy hotel, it must have been hell for him, perhaps we should call Amnesty International?

[Mick Norris]

It wasn't half term here, but I get your point Chris; presumably, if hotels think that a week is ok, they'll be amenable to it; I imagine the timing (February presumably being quiet) is a factor

If there's an appetite for the Reykjavik type schedule, then no doubt someone will give it a go, but unless sponsorship is considerable, it is the amateur players paying entry and hotel fees that will make it financially viable

[John Upham]

It was half-term in Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire which enabled a student of mine to play and have a great time by all accounts and he received a healthy rating boost.

[Roger de Coverly]

If there's an appetite for the Reykjavik type schedule, then no doubt someone will give it a go, but unless sponsorship is considerable, it is the amateur players paying entry and hotel fees that will make it financially viable

Why not schedule it so that the day with one round is in the middle rather than at the end? Usually these tournaments run 1-2-2-2-2 or 2-2-2-2-1. So put the "rest" morning or afternoon on any of days 2 to 4. That's particularly true if the tournament is somewhere that a tourist or shopping morning or afternoon would be welcome.

[IM Jack Rudd]

The trouble with the half-day in the middle is that it commits a number of your players to staying six nights rather than the five they might have done had it been at the start or the end.

[Ljubica Lazarevic]

I for one thought the tournament was excellent, and the schedule very agreeable. It meant that I minimised the number of days of annual leave I needed to take, that I could get away Sunday afternoon and get ready for the week ahead, and I really appreciated the big gap between rounds. For me, I would not change a thing, and I hope it's run again.

The venue was terrific and unsurprisingly, Cambridge is a good place to be stuck for 5 days.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Poor Danny though, getting paid to play two brutal games of chess a day in a fancy hotel, it must have been hell for him, perhaps we should call Amnesty International? "

Er, yes... I wouldn't pay to play that brutal schedule, so I chose not to enter. If you accept an invitation... Reykjavik has fewer traffic lights.