English Chess Forum

I just received this from a friend.........

{email published without permission removed from post}

a disaster all around by the sounds of it. I know several of the players that had entered and taken time off work, one young player also lost 150 euros on a non refundable air ticket. Surely e2e4 or the hotel in question will compensate people that have lost out financially? I think for e2e4 to continue to run events and save face that they will have to financially compensate people. I would hope that they had a contract with the hotel? It sounds to me from reading the email that the hotel are liable.

I am sure details will emerge in time, but I am surprised there is no announcement on here and the ECF website (where the event is still advertised).

Matthew Turner wrote: but I am surprised there is no announcement on here and the ECF website (where the event is still advertised).

It's on the e2e4 website and has been since at least yesterday (Tuesday). Something similar happened at Buxton last year but in that event the hotel chain made another hotel available after over-booking and the tournament went ahead.

Whilst you can live with late cancellations for a tournament that's local, they seem to be getting increasingly frequent.

(edit) Notice of the cancellation now seems to have disappeared entirely from the e2e4 site, as has Martin's copy post of the email announcing the cancellation. It's not just e2e4 who offer discounts to Congress players, there are other organisers who have used Holiday Inn or others in the IHG chain such as Crowne Plaza. So if not confidential, the actions of the Hotel or the chain's central booking are of more general interest. Curiously the hotel website would appear to still be accepting bookings for Saturday night, if not at the price offered by e2e4. (/edit)

Matthew Turner wrote:I am sure details will emerge in time, but I am surprised there is no announcement on here and the ECF website (where the event is still advertised).

More people looking here of course!

Matthew Turner wrote:I am sure details will emerge in time, but I am surprised there is no announcement on here and the ECF website (where the event is still advertised).

We placed a notice where entrants were most likely to look - the e2e4 website. We also contacted every single player personally, both by email and SMS text or phone call to ensure that no one travelled to the event.

Roger de Coverly wrote:Whilst you can live with late cancellations for a tournament that's local, they seem to be getting increasingly frequent.

This has never happened with an e2e4 event before.

I wouldn't expect an e2-e4 event to be cancelled, so I don't think I'd look on the website as a matter of course. I am sure the provisions that you have made will most likely get the information to everybody, but given the late notice I would want to make use of every vehicle that I could to make sure nobody had a wasted journey.

Matthew Turner wrote:I wouldn't expect an e2-e4 event to be cancelled, so I don't think I'd look on the website as a matter of course.

I wouldn't expect an e2e4 event to be cancelled either, and it's not a decision that was taken lightly. Personally, I think a player who had entered the event would be more likely to look on the e2e4 website for information, rather than the forum or the ECF website. However, as I said, we didn't take that chance. We emailed every entrant with information about the cancellation, and followed that up with a phone call and / or text message to make sure no-one travelled.

Martin Crichton wrote:I think for e2e4 to continue to run events and save face that they will have to financially compensate people.

I'm not at all sure that's the case. Cancellation or no cancellation, I'd happily play in another e2-e4 next week.

It's possible, I suppose, that information may come to light to change my mind. I really doubt it though.

Jonathan Bryant wrote: I'm not at all sure that's the case. Cancellation or no cancellation, I'd happily play in another e2-e4 next week.

I'd feel a little wary about booking a non-refundable rail ticket though. But is it the Holiday Inn chain reneging on their bookings that is the issue?

Roger de Coverly wrote:

Jonathan Bryant wrote: I'm not at all sure that's the case. Cancellation or no cancellation, I'd happily play in another e2-e4 next week.

I'd feel a little wary about booking a non-refundable rail ticket though. But is it the Holiday Inn chain reneging on their bookings that is the issue?

Maybe. But the e2-e4 events I've played in before were well enough run that unless/until there's reason to think otherwise, I'm prepared to believe this is a one-off/temporary problem.

Also, given the fact of a cancellation, what more could an organiser do put contact all the entrants individually?

Roger de Coverly wrote:

Matthew Turner wrote: but I am surprised there is no announcement on here and the ECF website (where the event is still advertised).

It's on the e2e4 website and has been since at least yesterday (Tuesday). Something similar happened at Buxton last year but in that event the hotel chain made another hotel available after over-booking and the tournament went ahead.

Whilst you can live with late cancellations for a tournament that's local, they seem to be getting increasingly frequent.

(edit) Notice of the cancellation now seems to have disappeared entirely from the e2e4 site, as has Martin's copy post of the email announcing the cancellation. It's not just e2e4 who offer discounts to Congress players, there are other organisers who have used Holiday Inn or others in the IHG chain such as Crowne Plaza. So if not confidential, the actions of the Hotel or the chain's central booking are of more general interest. Curiously the hotel website would appear to still be accepting bookings for Saturday night, if not at the price offered by e2e4. (/edit)

Buxton - tell me about it!

If it is the Holiday Inn at Povey Cross Road the website seems to be able to accept bookings!

Personally, I'm very grateful to chess organisers for providing me with opportunities to play. One way of displaying this gratitude is to cut them some slack on the rare occasions when things don't go to plan. Given the risks, not to mention the small to non-existent profit margins involved in putting on chess events, we players need to be nice to organisers rather than rushing to criticise or to demand compensation.

Brendan O'Gorman wrote:Personally, I'm very grateful to chess organisers for providing me with opportunities to play. One way of displaying this gratitude is to cut them some slack on the rare occasions when things don't go to plan. Given the risks, not to mention the small to non-existent profit margins involved in putting on chess events, we players need to be nice to organisers rather than rushing to criticise or to demand compensation.

Who said anything about compensation? I always fund our chess out of our own pocket and do not want any compensation from any chess organiser

Jonathan Bryant wrote:Maybe. But the e2-e4 events I've played in before were well enough run that unless/until there's reason to think otherwise, I'm prepared to believe this is a one-off/temporary problem.

It's not actually the first time that e2e4 have run into overbooking , assuming that was the problem. Previously when this arose at Buxton last year, the hotel chain (Puma) had spare capacity at a superior hotel within the local area and the Congress went ahead as planned.