4 day 20 round Rapidplay on Easter Bank Holiday 2014 ????

[harrylamb]

Apart from a possible Bolton congress, subject to confirmation, they all seem to be in the south

I am playing in the Vienna congress and am short of time so I need to be brief.

A possible Bolton congress Subject to confirmation

Bolton Congress has moved around the North West. The first one was in Southport in 1947. It has now been going 74 years which I think is a record for a weekend congress. So rest assured. It will be there in 2014 for its 75th anniversary. I have played or controlled this congress every year from 1954. 2013 was my 60th year of being continuously being involved in it. Can anyone beat that. My warmest memory was in 1974. I was controlling. My eldest son Michael was born early in the morning of Easter Monday. I turned up at the event about about an hour late having not done the draw. But good news travels fast. The competitors had heard of Michael's birth. They had done the draw themselves and were happily playing

Harry Lamb

[Gareth T Ellis]

According to the ECF, events do not exist until official notification has been received by them, then they go on the calendar.

[Roger de Coverly]

According to the ECF, events do not exist until official notification has been received by them, then they go on the calendar.

Chess would exist in England with or without the ECF. If local organisers say an event will happen, and it's been running in the same time slot for sixty years or more, it's a reasonable supposition that it will take place.

[Stewart Reuben]

Gareth Ellis >Would this be worth trying ?
I have a potential sponsor who is keen on the idea but what do the chess players think ?<

Many people have made quite cogent comments, especially about using what happened last year to provide a pointer to what is likely to happen at Easter next year. I also know of an organiser who has yet another event in mind at that time.

Bognor used to attract 500 players. That was held in the Easter school holidays, but NOT over the Easter weekend. The main event was a very strong international, for the era, of 9 or 10 rounds.

BUT nobody has asked Gareth the most important question. What are the objectives of this potential sponsor? Only then can an event be tailor-made which may be satisfactory.
e.g. If it is a business sponsor rather than donor, then they will be looking for publicity beyond the chess media. The Easter weekend is the second worst in the calendar for this purpose.

My guess is that Harry Lamb holds a world record.
By the way, this is my Diamond Jubilee Year as a chess administrator. That equals Harry, but there is no way I can come anywhere near to the longevity of connection with one event.

[Andrew Bak]

You could have a blitz tournament that takes place on Friday night/Saturday and a rapid tournament on Sunday/Monday, a similar format to the European Blitz/Rapid Champs that they have around Christmas time every year.

[Gareth T Ellis]

Stewart, it's a new business sponsoring it, that is being launched around that time and THEY want something different to hopefully stand out and possibly get publicity.
This of course requires an event that chessplayers actually want to enter therefore any useful comments are most welcome, especially players.

[Richard Bates]

4 days seems like an incredibly long commitment for players to make for a rapidplay. Easter is a big weekend for congresses because it allows 'proper' slow play chess to be combined with a good length tournament (6-7 rounds). To be added to the others mentioned there may be Dublin? Most weekenders these days offer 5 rounds which isn't really satisfactory in an ideal world. To play 20 rapidplay games over 4 days would finish most people off i should think. And i don't really understand the point (you certainly don't need 20 games to determine a worthy winner). A test of stamina, for sure, but one i think many would probably choose to duck.

[David Sedgwick]

In case anyone is wondering, there is no reason why such an event should not be FIDE rapid rated, in fact it would be encouraged.

Oh yes?

If an arbiter drops out at short notice, you can't bring in a replacement unless the new person is already FIDE licensed. It's not possible to apply and pay after the event.

If a non-English player can't obtain a FIDE Identification Number, you have to refuse the entry.

If you classify someone as English by mistake, FIDE will charge €250 to rectify the error.

[Roger de Coverly]

Stewart, it's a new business sponsoring it, that is being launched around that time and THEY want something different to hopefully stand out and possibly get publicity.

Another question is where it's going to be held. If it's in a hotel and if the event and hotel are able to offer attractive overnight rates, then where in the country the event takes place doesn't matter so much as there are at least some players who are prepared to travel. Easter probably helps as a traditional time to take a holiday. e2e4 for example have been able to attract English players to Dublin.

[Stewart Reuben]

Gareth >it's a new business sponsoring it, that is being launched around that time and THEY want something different to hopefully stand out and possibly get publicity.<

Mainstream publicity is a non-starter over Easter weekend. Any event should start on Tuesday to Thursday and finish Monday to Friday.
Easter weekend is hopeless. 9 days is much the best.
Nigel Short's dictum: 'It's chicks and kids who generate publicity.'
Everybody should think it is different and fresh. Here is an extremely ambitious idea which I have been trying to get launched for years.
It is a 6 player team tournament. One adult player A; one adult female player B; one junior C; one girl D; one senior E; one disabled player F. The age of the 2 juniors can be decided as is wanted. Note A, C, E, F could also be female. Disabled could be A. etc. The teams would be put together for the purpose.
In the first 6 rounds they each play so as to meet all 6 categories. Even so, it is a Swiss where teams with higher scores meet each other. Last 3 rounds the teams play in order of strength. I realise that there will be mismatches.
It would be the XYZ Inclusive Chess Team Championship. Whether you add in English, British, European or World depends on your ambition. Also it is probably best not to (apart from World). XYZ don't want to give away any of the publicity. The Lloyds Bank Masters was always known as that worldwide. It is an opportunity to imprint the company name indelibly throughout the world.
It would be a big challenge to mount that by April 2014.

Much less ambitious. A pairs competition. Players play alternate moves no consultation. For charity and get cdelebrities paired with strong players and, of course, men with women and children.

A tournament where everybody plays blindfold, i.e. both blind and sighted players in the same event.

If you want to contact me direct [email protected]. It would be necessary to know the approximate budget. That is never public information.

[Gareth T Ellis]

They were thinking of 3 sections, with prize money 1st £500 2nd £250 & 4 grading prizes £100 £50 best sat & Sun results Per section.

But as it doesn't seem to be of much interest to anyone, it looks like it won't happen.

[Andrew Zigmond]

They were thinking of 3 sections, with prize money 1st £500 2nd £250 & 4 grading prizes £100 £50 best sat & Sun results Per section.

But as it doesn't seem to be of much interest to anyone, it looks like it won't happen.

I haven't commented so far as rapidplay isn't really my thing. However I would say that this forum may not have been the best sounding board as many regular contributors are quick to be negative and reject new ideas. The suggested prize money seems generous and will attract people. Ultimately well organised and publicised events will succeed, even if some people will snipe from the sidelines.

If you have potential sponsorship you could contact Malcolm Pein who is not only the most influential man in British chess but will get behind new ideas.

At the risk of contradicting myself slightly, if I had one word of advice it would be not to be too ambitious with the first event. Establishing a new prestige event on the English chess scene would be enough for the first year.

[Stewart Reuben]

That's prize money of £1300 + cost of venue + admin. Say a minimum of £2000 sponsorship. That is excellent for a weekend tournament. I think the negative comments were simply warning against introducing a new event over Easter weekend. The Spring Bank Holiday weekend should also b avoided, it is very close to Easter next year and many people play in the 4NCL.

I am sure a new event, held Friday, Saturday, Sunday can be highly successful. Only the British Rapidplay has 11 rounds in 2 days and that is highly successful.It was devised after a conversation similar to the dialogue Gareth has been involved with on this forum.

[Roger de Coverly]

I am sure a new event, held Friday, Saturday, Sunday can be highly successful.

If you had 12 player all play alls and double round, that would be 22 games. Over four days that could be 5 6 6 5. There wouldn't be any title opportunities at stake, so the question remains open as to what entries this would attract. Increase the budget to pay players for attending, you can specify whatever format you want.

[Gareth T Ellis]

That's prize money of £1300 + cost of venue + admin. Say a minimum of £2000 sponsorship.

No it's prize money of £1250 in each of the 3 sections, a sponsorship of nearer £5000.

But, if there is little interest then the amounts won't matter as nobody wants to waste time or money.