e2e4 Gatwick congress cancelled at the last minute

[Jonathan Bryant]

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.

I know about Buxton. Whether that's a similar or relevant issue to the Gatwick cancellation I've no idea.


I suppose everybody will make their own judgements. Mine is that I'll continue to enter e2-e4 events as and when they fit in with whatever else is going on in my life. I suspect I won't be alone in that.

If you want a tournament with a credibility problem there is another infinitely more obvious candidate.

[Martin Crichton]

http://www.e2e4.org.uk/ts_and_cs/ts_and_cs.htm

specifically....

e2e4 Chess shall have no liability for any loss, consequential or otherwise, damage, costs, expenses or other claims for compensation arising from any event which fails to operate as advertised for any reason.

Looks like some of the players ommitted to read the small print in the terms and conditions.

less than 36 hours notice of cancellation before the event must have caught everyone...that must be some kind of bizarre record for a British event being cancelled?

Perhaps the players should contact the hotel directly and submit claims for compensation? I think that at the very least there must be lessons learnt from this for all tournaments and tournament organisers and that all future tournaments should have some kind of mechanism in place to compensate players in the unlikely event of a repeat of whatever happened here. Hotels generally have good insurance coverage for a multitude of mishaps. What would the total payout costs be to the hotel? £2000? £2500? small change to a hotel chain and I would think that they should pay up as a gesture of good will.

[Mike W. Richardt]

I was surprised it wasn't in the usual Hotel near Gatwick which seems a pleasant place although slightly expensive (when it came down to food in the hotel) as a German friend of mine pointed out!!!

I hope this cancellation was a one off as I enjoyed playing in the e2e4 tournaments so far!!!!

[John Upham]

less than 36 hours notice of cancellation before the event must have caught everyone...that must be some kind of bizarre record for a British event being cancelled?

A recent rapidplay event was cancelled on the morning of its scheduled start.

[Roger de Coverly]

less than 36 hours notice of cancellation before the event must have caught everyone...that must be some kind of bizarre record for a British event being cancelled?.

A proposed new series of events which might have tried to rival e2e4 was cancelled with something like a week to go before the first. That might have been down to a shortage of entrants, so not many players were affected. A rapidplay with only 5 entrants was cancelled with about a week's notice.

Even the ECF isn't immune, a Girls Championship to be held in a hotel was also cancelled. Again this was believed to be insufficient entrants.

[Jonathan Bryant]

less than 36 hours notice of cancellation before the event must have caught everyone...that must be some kind of bizarre record for a British event being cancelled?

It's not even the record for 2013.

[Martin Benjamin]

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.

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

I agree with Brendan and Jonathan. I don't have time to play anything but the occasional rapidplay, but I hope one day to start playing tournament chess again, and I am sure I would enjoy an e2e4 event. I don't know Sean well, but I suspect that this unfortunate turn of events has hurt him more than anyone (and I sympathise with anyone who has booked a flight etc.). I also don't know the financial model of e2e4, but I strongly suspect Sean does this primarily for love of the game rather than than financial reward, and I hope people will be understanding and supportive.

[Ben Purton]

It is events like this why the 4 Euro or so travel insurance per european trip is worth doing. If you book non refundable like I do with Eurostar around 20-25 times a year.

Also the "beef" should be with hotels and not with the tournament. It had a good level of entrants it was something out of the chess organisers control.

If any of you are shocked that hotels over book in the modern day with multiple booking systems, resellers(eg booking.com) as well as staff churn then frankly that is the shocking thing. Not that it occurs which is well known.

It is unfortunate but not the end of days.

[Ian Thompson]

Perhaps the players should contact the hotel directly and submit claims for compensation?

If players booked a hotel room through e2e4 Chess their contract is with e2e4 Chess, so they would have no claim against the hotel. Nor would they have any claim against the hotel for e2e4 Chess' failure to run the advertised chess tournament.

As you point out, e2e4 Chess have terms and conditions that attempt to exclude their liability for everything beyond a refund of the entry fee, even where they are at fault.

Hotels generally have good insurance coverage for a multitude of mishaps.

How do you know there was a mishap? The hotel may have complied with the terms of its contract with e2e4 Chess. There was nothing in the e-mail that's now been removed from this thread claiming that they hadn't.

[Roger de Coverly]

If players booked a hotel room through e2e4 Chess their contract is with e2e4 Chess, so they would have no claim against the hotel.

That might be a bit muddy, as you settle the accommodation bill directly with the Hotel not with e2e4.

[Sean Hewitt]

Perhaps the players should contact the hotel directly and submit claims for compensation?

If players booked a hotel room through e2e4 Chess their contract is with e2e4 Chess, so they would have no claim against the hotel. Nor would they have any claim against the hotel for e2e4 Chess' failure to run the advertised chess tournament.

That's also my understanding.

Hotels generally have good insurance coverage for a multitude of mishaps.

How do you know there was a mishap? The hotel may have complied with the terms of its contract with e2e4 Chess. There was nothing in the e-mail that's now been removed from this thread claiming that they hadn't.

You'll appreciate that I chose my words carefully and deliberately - for obvious reasons. I'm advised that we can sue for the hotel for breach of contract but because e2e4 is a not for profit organisation it appears that might be problematic. Our actual incurred losses are such that legal action may simply be uneconomic.

I note with interest that according to laterooms the hotel is selling rooms for tonight and tomorrow at £85 per night, and Saturday is £75 - all excluding breakfast. Our rate was £49 per night incl. breakfast.

[Roger de Coverly]

The Manchester Chess Federation and ECF had a parallel problem with another member of the Holiday Inn franchise. The problem in that case wasn't with the hotel as with the take up by participants and parents.

http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php ... 93#p115329

Note what is said about the distinction between booking directly with the hotel using online discounts and offers and through the chess rate.

[Sean Hewitt]

The Manchester Chess Federation and ECF had a parallel problem with another member of the Holiday Inn franchise. The problem in that case wasn't with the hotel as with the take up by participants and parents.

http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php ... 93#p115329

Note what is said about the distinction between booking directly with the hotel using online discounts and offers and through the chess rate.

Thanks. The irony for us is that we had sold every one of our contracted rooms. Thankfully, Coventry is a corporately owned location rather than a franchise and all is ok for our event there at the end of the month.

[Paul Buswell]

Perhaps the players should contact the hotel directly and submit claims for compensation?

If players booked a hotel room through e2e4 Chess their contract is with e2e4 Chess, so they would have no claim against the hotel. Nor would they have any claim against the hotel for e2e4 Chess' failure to run the advertised chess tournament.

That's also my understanding.

Hotels generally have good insurance coverage for a multitude of mishaps.

How do you know there was a mishap? The hotel may have complied with the terms of its contract with e2e4 Chess. There was nothing in the e-mail that's now been removed from this thread claiming that they hadn't.

You'll appreciate that I chose my words carefully and deliberately - for obvious reasons. I'm advised that we can sue for the hotel for breach of contract but because e2e4 is a not for profit organisation it appears that might be problematic. Our actual incurred losses are such that legal action may simply be uneconomic.

I note with interest that according to laterooms the hotel is selling rooms for tonight and tomorrow at £85 per night, and Saturday is £75 - all excluding breakfast. Our rate was £49 per night incl. breakfast.

I'm curious to know why e2e4's not-for-profit status might make suing the hotel 'problematic'. Actual losses might be modest but there is the issue of compensation for loss of reputation and perhaps of future business, as well as the possibility that someone might yet pursue a claim against e2e4: e2e4 would seem to have an excellent defence but in other circumstances its liability exclusions seem rather sweeping and I wonder whether 'unfair contract terms' issues might arise.

I ask the above as a matter of general interest for any chess event, and not with specific reference to e2e4 even though it is that situation which has piqued my interest.

PB

[Roger de Coverly]

I ask the above as a matter of general interest for any chess event,

The Blackpool Congress lost a case in the Small Claims Court. What had happened was that an ungraded player had entered one of the grade-restricted sections and proceeded to win it. They subsequently refused to pay the prize money on grounds that appear to have been that he had a previous grade out of range for the section. I'm not really surprised that they lost, since in the absence of deception such as a name change, it's simple enough to look up players on the ECF grading site before the tournament even starts. You could presume that inclusion in the pairings for the first round constituted acceptance of entry.

I'm not aware of any cases where Small Claims Court action was taken against a tournament organiser for recovery of travel or accommodation costs for a cancelled event. I wouldn't care to predict the outcome.