English Chess Forum

I thought the record was 1187 - Torquay 2013?

David Gilbert wrote:I might try the Fish and chips in the Dirty Duck tonight.

Never tried the Fish and Chips, but the "Rump Steak" looked like a tough lamb chop Mind you what do you expect for 7 quid, and more importantly it was 2 pound a pint for a couple of hours in the late afternoon

I had a great time dispite tanking in the long play (only scoring 1 win in 10 games ) but it had a great atmosphear. My one slight complaint was that it was slightly in the middle of nowhere if you hadn't come with a car, and food was a little scarce (dirty duck and one other place to eat on campus, or knock something up from supplys in the shop - ended up having way too many bacon buttys, as the cold sarny's wern't up to much). But other than that great experiance.

I was very sad to be going home on Sunday (and even sadder when I was in Birmingham New street attempting to decipher which platform my train was coming to with a 5 minute time limit! - That is one awful station).

Mick Norris wrote:I thought the record was 1187 - Torquay 2013?

Yep. My mistake. 1187.

Echoing Jon's post above I've been through Birmingham New Street twice in the past month (for the 4NCL Congress and the British) and I can't say I'm madly keen to find myself there anytime soon.

It was a shame that the campus was in vacation mode; a lot of the bars were closed on Saturday night although I was able to join a few young players in the Varsity. It didn't help that when I arrived I was initially given a room that was occupied; however the reception colleagues were very apologetic at the mistake. Perhaps I was spoilt in Aberystwyth with the hotel on the seafront.

Andrew Zigmond wrote: It didn't help that when I arrived I was initially given a room that was occupied; however the reception colleagues were very apologetic at the mistake.

Not making rooms available before 3pm is below the standard of comparable university accommodation. You can perhaps live without complimentary toiletries, tea or coffee, but supplying a kettle without a mug is torture for the sake of it, to say nothing of supplying a kitchen without plates, crockery or cutlery. All that was available at Aberystwth last year. University Campuses are notorious for closing at weekends. Swansea in 2006 and Canterbury in 2010 were just as bad.

Andrew Zigmond wrote: It was a shame that the campus was in vacation mode; a lot of the bars were closed on Saturday night although I was able to join a few young players in the Varsity. It didn't help that when I arrived I was initially given a room that was occupied; however the reception colleagues were very apologetic at the mistake. Perhaps I was spoilt in Aberystwyth with the hotel on the seafront.

Yeah I'd echo that Andrew - I decided to stick to a cuppa on Saturday night, as Yorkshire tightness kicked in a bit in for me in that Varsity bar.

The accommodation was what I expected really - a clean and empty room with the obligatory extractor fan in the bathroom, which can't be switched off. It turned our Rodger's prediction of instant tea and coffee facility's was optimistic though as not even a cup was provided They could be got for next to nothing in the shop though. Sorry to hear about you're mix up with the rooms - I guess when they are having to rota everyone coming and going for the various events, these things are bound to happen.

One thing I forgot to mention, the place was rich with wild life - If you have a phobia of Wasps you were in trouble as the place seemed to be plagued with them - Having a Vape with you're drink outside the DD wasn't an option as half a nest would attack the pint of Carling They don't bother me, but our' lass would have been in a constant state of panic and doing some very silly dancing.

I also noticed about a million fly's coming out the drains near the shop, and saw several rats scurrying about the undergrowth, in the evenings - I think the Uni budget needs to stretch to a little pest control around the site.

Jon Mahony wrote:... the place was rich with wild wife (sic)

You might like to make a small correction.

Roger de Coverly wrote:

Andrew Zigmond wrote: It didn't help that when I arrived I was initially given a room that was occupied; however the reception colleagues were very apologetic at the mistake.

Not making rooms available before 3pm is below the standard of comparable university accommodation. You can perhaps live without complimentary toiletries, tea or coffee, but supplying a kettle without a mug is torture for the sake of it, to say nothing of supplying a kitchen without plates, crockery or cutlery. All that was available at Aberystwth last year. University Campuses are notorious for closing at weekends. Swansea in 2006 and Canterbury in 2010 were just as bad.

Yes I must admit the 3pm thing was a bit of a pain, I arrived around 11.30am hoping to get unpacked and prepare for the rapid, instead I had to stow my bag in the luggage place, then keep popping out between rounds, once to acquire the key and once to find the building and lug my bag there, with the weeks supply of clothes getting ever more creased. I didn't really want to leave it until the end of the days games in case there were any problems and all the staff disappeared.

I didn't bother with the kitchen as I didn't want to mess about with paper plates etc, I either ate in the pub or knocked up a cold collation from the shop for tea. I was missing green things by the end of the week though.

David Sedgwick wrote:

Jon Mahony wrote:... the place was rich with wild wife (sic)

You might like to make a small correction.

Cheers - never know your luck, it might have been with the other thing too

It's a tie. I've just gone through to take account of late entries and no-shows, and ...

• Championship 106 (Torquay) 74 (University of Warwick)
  Juniors 336 (Torquay) 343 (University of Warwick)
  Seniors 107 (Torquay) 118 (University of Warwick)
  Graded 199 (Torquay) 158 (University of Warwick)
  Major Open 51 (Torquay) 37 (University of Warwick)
  5-day Opens 147 (Torquay) 152 (University of Warwick)
  Weekenders 109 (Torquay) 125 (University of Warwick)
  Rapid & Blitz 132 (Torquay) 180 (University of Warwick)
  
  Grand Total 1187 (Torquay) 1187 (University of Warwick)

Looking at the numbers from David I come up with the following conclusions

1) Shorter events (especially weekend events) perform better when the congress is based in a central location near major conurbations
2) Longer events (Championship & Major Open) are more attractive when the venue is regarded as a holiday destination

Before the end of the final round it was announced that Warwick had surpassed the number of entries from Torquay. The figure for Torquay was stated as 1188 and the figure for Warwick as 1193.