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The London Team Rapidplay - 28/Apr/2012

Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 4:44 pm
by John Sargent
Dear all,

I am pleased to announce the next London Team Rapidplay which will (definitely! venue changed for the better) be held on Saturday, the 28th of April 2012 at Imperial College Union in South Kensington, central London.

(Full details via links at the bottom of this post)

In Brief

- 4-person team event over six rounds. Teams may have reserves but may have no fewer than 4 members.
- Time control is 25 minutes for the game plus 10 seconds per move increment.
- Entry fee is £50 per team (entry fee received on or before 13/Apr/2012) or £60 per team (entry fee received on or after 14/Apr/2012). No additional entry fee if your team has reserves, it's the same for each team regardless of numbers (as long as 4+).
- Currently limited to 18 teams (due to furniture constraints) - entry forms received together with payment will be considered a confirmed entry.
- Easy to get to by public transport, lots of places to walk around / eat / drink within ten minutes' walk.
- ECF rapidplay graded and FIDE rapidplay rated! (Important note: ENG players must be ECF direct members)
- There will be free tea, coffee and snacks (biscuits etc.) for all competitors throughout the day!

What's Changed from Last Time?

If you've attended before, a few things have changed as we jiggle the format around.

- There are team trophies (engraved clocks so they are also of practical use!) on offer as opposed to prize money.
- The venue has changed from the old Activity Space (which was above the bar and below a gym as some may fondly recall!) to the dining hall opposite, which should be quieter and provide less external noise.
- As a result of the across-the-hall venue, however, space (and furniture) is somewhat more limited, and we need to limit entries to 18 complete teams for now (subject to expansion which we're trying hard to do but can't guarantee).
- Free tea, coffee and snacks for all attendees!

Link to complete details for the event is here: http://union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/chess/london- ... pidplay-2/

Link to online form for teams to enter here: http://union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/chess/enter-t ... rapidplay/

We hope you'll join us for a fun day out - the first event was a very enjoyable one and I hope old and new players alike will enjoy ;) Please do get your team entries in early to ensure a place!

See you there,
John

Re: The London Team Rapidplay - 28/Apr/2012

Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 5:55 pm
by Nicky Chorley
Is there a typo on the website? It says "A complete team is required to register, you may not enter as an individual.", but the link to enter says "Team or Individual".

Re: The London Team Rapidplay - 28/Apr/2012

Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 3:27 pm
by John Sargent
Many thanks for this Nicky, this will be corrected today - that was due to a page template copy/paste from the previous event and my careless proof-reading!

Re: The London Team Rapidplay - 28/Apr/2012

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 4:18 pm
by John Sargent
A reminder to teams planning on entering, that the early entry deadline is fast approaching at the end of this week - please get your entries in soon! :)

Cheers,
John

Re: The London Team Rapidplay - 28/Apr/2012

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 3:46 pm
by John Foley
How much would a team spend to participate? - given the need for players to be members of the ECF.

Re: The London Team Rapidplay - 28/Apr/2012

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 3:52 pm
by Adam Raoof
John Foley wrote:How much would a team spend to participate? - given the need for players to be members of the ECF.
The cost of ECF membership would be at the new rates of £27 for FIDE events, and pro-rata at the end of this week, so less than you would imagine.

Personally I am not sure we should be enforcing ECF membership to take part in FIDE rated Rapidpays or Blitz (which might be ephemeral), just suggesting it enthusiastically. Until September, then after that we need to make a policy decision.

Re: The London Team Rapidplay - 28/Apr/2012

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 3:55 pm
by Roger de Coverly
John Foley wrote:How much would a team spend to participate? - given the need for players to be members of the ECF.
£ 60 plus £ 27 times the number of non-members. It's the equivalent issue to the one raised by Ben Purton about the costs incurred if you only take part in one 4NCL weekend.

So an entry fee of £ 168 for a team of four non-members.

Re: The London Team Rapidplay - 28/Apr/2012

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 4:07 pm
by John Sargent
John Foley wrote:How much would a team spend to participate? - given the need for players to be members of the ECF.
Hi John,

The team cost after 14/Apr would be £50 plus £10 late entry. This would not increase even if the team had reserves (same cost for 4 or 5 or 6 players for instance). The top four graded players with Rapidplay taking precedence over Standard, will have their grades averaged to form a "team grade" for purposes of pairing on the day.

ECF standard membership as mentioned above is £27. Any players who currently already play 4NCL or other FIDE rated events are likely already ECF members - those that are not would be asked to purchase a year's membership at this price. I have been told that when the new membership scheme comes into force on 1/Sep, these memberships would continue to be honoured and would be treated as Gold level memberships.

Players in a team that are registered with a non-ENG nationality for FIDE rating purposes, are exempt from this (do not need to be ECF members to play in this tournament).

Re: The London Team Rapidplay - 28/Apr/2012

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 4:08 pm
by Adam Raoof
Roger de Coverly wrote:
John Foley wrote:How much would a team spend to participate? - given the need for players to be members of the ECF.
£ 60 plus £ 27 times the number of non-members. It's the equivalent issue to the one raised by Ben Purton about the costs incurred if you only take part in one 4NCL weekend.

So an entry fee of £ 168 for a team of four non-members.
JS, new members will be able to join the ECF pro-rata.

Yes, you have to pay the entry fee. Then the membership for four players who are not members will be approximately £2.20 per month remaining of the calendar year - maybe £11 each. Assuming they are not concessionary.

Re: The London Team Rapidplay - 28/Apr/2012

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 4:14 pm
by Roger de Coverly
John Sargent wrote: ECF standard membership as mentioned above is £27. Any players who currently already play 4NCL or other FIDE rated events are likely already ECF members - those that are not would be asked to purchase a year's membership at this price. I have been told that when the new membership scheme comes into force on 1/Sep, these memberships would continue to be honoured and would be treated as Gold level memberships.
Your marketing stance is therefore that you are trying to appeal to existing regular 4NCL and international tournament competitors. If you are hoping to get teams representing local clubs of players who don't normally take part in international events, I would have thought the additional implicit entry fee of approaching £ 120 for ECF membership would be a disincentive. It's only a one-day rapid-play, aka a bit of fun, after all.

Re: The London Team Rapidplay - 28/Apr/2012

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 4:18 pm
by Adam Raoof
JS, new members will be able to join the ECF pro-rata.

Yes, you have to pay the entry fee. Then the membership for four players who are not members will be approximately £2.20 per month remaining of the calendar year - maybe £11 each. Assuming they are not concessionar... etc

Re: The London Team Rapidplay - 28/Apr/2012

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 4:24 pm
by Roger de Coverly
Adam Raoof wrote: Then the membership for four players who are not members will be approximately £2.20 per month remaining of the calendar year - maybe £11 each. Assuming they are not concessionar... etc
You aren't offering monthly memberships though. If you were, they could just join for April at a cost of £ 2.20 , which is not far from the cost payable under the current Game Fee rules.

Where in the Finance Meeting or October's AGM was the ECF board given the power to apply proportionate membership rates to the 31sr August?

Re: The London Team Rapidplay - 28/Apr/2012

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 4:27 pm
by Adam Raoof
It was always the intention to offer pro-rata membership to the end of this year, but I may have my figures wrong - the actual figures (to be published this week) may be based on the current rates. You can't join for a month.

Re: The London Team Rapidplay - 28/Apr/2012

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 4:28 pm
by Roger de Coverly
Bob Clark wrote: The fact that the tournament is FIDE rated suggests that this is not the case.
Is it possible for you to comment on any thread without mentioning the evils of ECF membership?
For as long as the advocates of per head membership fail to notice the downsides then no. I'm not sure quite why the event is being internationally rated, evidently to discourage entries from those who would treat it as more of a social occasion. I don't think there's any prize money for instance.

Re: The London Team Rapidplay - 28/Apr/2012

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 4:31 pm
by Adam Raoof
Roger de Coverly wrote:
Bob Clark wrote: The fact that the tournament is FIDE rated suggests that this is not the case.
Is it possible for you to comment on any thread without mentioning the evils of ECF membership?
For as long as the advocates of per head membership fail to notice the downsides then no. I'm not sure quite why the event is being internationally rated, evidently to discourage entries from those who would treat it as more of a social occasion. I don't think there's any prize money for instance.
So would you describe Sean Hewitt's specifically FIDE rated non-title, no prize money events as merely a social occasion? I have to admit it doesn't seem to discourage entries to his tournaments!