English Chess Forum

Just reading the 2010 / 6 edition of New in Chess and from page 97 I quote from an article by GM Matthew Sadler :

Just a slight digression, I really have to mention how fantastic the organisation and playing conditions were at both tournaments .
The phrase 'weekend tournament' still conjures up visions for me of turning up at a grotty school somewhere in England for a 150 GBP first prize and seeing Tony, Mickey, Julian and a host of IMs on the entry list! These two tournaments were in a completely different class!

Anyone feel his perception is out of date or it stll current?

John Upham wrote:Just reading the 2010 / 6 edition of New in Chess and from page 97 I quote from an article by GM Matthew Sadler :

Just a slight digression, I really have to mention how fantastic the organisation and playing conditions were at both tournaments .
The phrase 'weekend tournament' still conjures up visions for me of turning up at a grotty school somewhere in England for a 150 GBP first prize and seeing Tony, Mickey, Julian and a host of IMs on the entry list! These two tournaments were in a completely different class!

Anyone feel his perception is out of date or it stll current?

Out of date: Tony, Mickey and Julian don't play in them anymore.

Although, these things tend not to put off the majority of enthusiastic amateurs; the people who turn up because they just enjoy playing the game.

I think the main point is the prize fund, where in weekenders abroad, normally have a significantly higher first prize relative to entry fees

At Leyland it was £23 for a first prize of £200, whereas the last one Sadler won in Holland, from memory, was around 1000 Euros (maybe higher) and presumably had an equivalent entry fee of £23

Nowadays in England, if you don't win the first prize you will always be out of pocket financially

Alan Walton wrote:... whereas the last one Sadler won in Holland, from memory, was around 1000 Euros (maybe higher) and presumably had an equivalent entry fee of £23

From http://www.hwphaarlem.nl/nova-info

The entry fees for Dutch tournament were:
Seniors: €30
Fide masters: €25
Youth up to 16 years: €20
Grandmasters and international masters free

And the prizes:
Group A: €1200, €700, €500, €350, €100
Group B: €250, €150, €100, €50, €35
Group C: €100, €75, €50, €40, €30

Jon D'Souza-Eva wrote:
The entry fees for Dutch tournament were:
Seniors: €30
Fide masters: €25
Youth up to 16 years: €20
Grandmasters and international masters free

And the prizes:
Group A: €1200, €700, €500, €350, €100
Group B: €250, €150, €100, €50, €35
Group C: €100, €75, €50, €40, €30

Looking at the relationship between prizes and numbers of entrants, there was a considerable subsidy from Groups B and C to Group A.

If an organiser tried that in the UK, there would be a lot a whining!

Roger de Coverly wrote:Looking at the relationship between prizes and numbers of entrants, there was a considerable subsidy from Groups B and C to Group A.

If an organiser tried that in the UK, there would be a lot a whining!

If they're graded lower than 2000 they're probably not very good at maths anyway and I doubt if they realised that their prize fund was minuscule.

Jon D'Souza-Eva wrote:

Roger de Coverly wrote:Looking at the relationship between prizes and numbers of entrants, there was a considerable subsidy from Groups B and C to Group A.

If an organiser tried that in the UK, there would be a lot a whining!

If they're graded lower than 2000 they're probably not very good at maths anyway and I doubt if they realised that their prize fund was minuscule.

I'm sure they did realise.

Alex Holowczak wrote: Out of date: Tony, Mickey and Julian don't play in them anymore.

I wasn't referring to this aspect but rather the ratio between the entry fee and prize fund...

I wish Tony was able to play once more.

John Upham wrote: I wasn't referring to this aspect but rather the ratio between the entry fee and prize fund...

The Dutch have two advantages for their weekenders:
1) Playing space is much cheaper than it would be over here
2) A far larger pool of players who can enter, by virtue of having a larger pool of players playing chess

Suppose 100 people enter a tournament at £25, that's £2,500. A 5-round tournament would have about £500 game fee (assuming there are no members, in reality you'll get some, but they'll have a discounted entry anyway). Then add £500-750 for the room for the weekend. So that's £1,250 left to be distributed in prize money, minus any staff expenses (pairing cards, arbiters travel costs, posting the entry forms all and sundry etc.). So let's say £1,200. You might divide the money up 250/250/250/400 for the Open (I realise this comes to £1,150). All of a sudden, you get a 1st prize in the Open of about £150.

I bet the Dutch didn't have to pay that amount of money for room space for the weekend. If they don't have a national rating system, then their Game Fee payment would probably be less too.

Why would you assume the KNSB does not have a rating system

Paul McKeown wrote:Why would you assume the KNSB does not have a rating system

I didn't:

Alex Holowczak wrote:If they don't have a national rating system, then their Game Fee payment would probably be less too.