New sponsor for british chess championship

Debate directly related to English Chess Federation matters.
User avatar
David Shepherd
Posts: 912
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2007 3:46 pm

Re: New sponsor for british chess championship

Post by David Shepherd » Thu Mar 09, 2017 12:41 am

chrisbeckett wrote:Wouldn't a potential knock-on effect of this prize structure be to encourage more players under 2050 to enter the Major Open and give that tournament a bit of a (much-needed) boost in terms of entries and strength in depth? It also says on the prize list from earlier that there'll be some rating prizes on offer in the MO too.

I can understand a bit of Roger's frustration but, in terms of the good of the competition, I'd say it's better to try and move a large amount of the tail from the British (hot-shot juniors excepted) into the MO to boost the status of both.
Further to my post above, although I do not think a significant amount (if any) would transfer to the major, I think a negligible number of lower rated players (if any) would choose not to play in the British because of the prize structure. The entry fee may be more of a factor but there are a large number of relevant factors such as tournament location, timing, availability and cost of local accommodation...

Roger de Coverly
Posts: 21301
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:51 pm

Re: New sponsor for british chess championship

Post by Roger de Coverly » Thu Mar 09, 2017 12:44 am

David Shepherd wrote:I think a negligible number (if any) would choose not to playing the British because of the prize structure.
How do you see removing all prizes from the Under 18s?

User avatar
David Shepherd
Posts: 912
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2007 3:46 pm

Re: New sponsor for british chess championship

Post by David Shepherd » Thu Mar 09, 2017 12:59 am

Roger de Coverly wrote: How do you see removing all prizes from the Under 18s?
In terms of the numbers entering I suspect no impact. It's not clear to me if they are removing just the money or the title. If it is the title also that is being removed then I am against it. A title and trophy costs little and probably means a lot to the players that win it. Obviously there is a limit to the amount of money available for prizes.

chrisbeckett
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2014 12:24 pm

Re: New sponsor for british chess championship

Post by chrisbeckett » Thu Mar 09, 2017 2:52 pm

Roger de Coverly wrote:
chrisbeckett wrote: I'd say it's better to try and move a large amount of the tail from the British (hot-shot juniors excepted) into the MO to boost the status of both.
The Major Open has had a strange field in recent years with a mixture of foreign FM/IM players not eligible for the British and sub 2000 players.

Why make an exception for hot shot juniors? If their rating under 2050 or under 2200 depending on which rule set you read, they are just as excluded from rating prizes.

Talking of hot shot juniors, I've also noticed that whilst there are four under 21 prizes, there are no under 18 prizes. There isn't a separate under 18 Championship and hasn't been for many years. Perhaps they will still award the title(s) to the best placed under 18s, but there's no prize money to go with it.
I wasn't thinking so much about the rating prizes then (am sure the juniors in the British won't be either), just that they're more likely to be improving.

chrisbeckett
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2014 12:24 pm

Re: New sponsor for british chess championship

Post by chrisbeckett » Thu Mar 09, 2017 3:05 pm

David Shepherd wrote:
chrisbeckett wrote:Wouldn't a potential knock-on effect of this prize structure be to encourage more players under 2050 to enter the Major Open and give that tournament a bit of a (much-needed) boost in terms of entries and strength in depth? It also says on the prize list from earlier that there'll be some rating prizes on offer in the MO too.

I can understand a bit of Roger's frustration but, in terms of the good of the competition, I'd say it's better to try and move a large amount of the tail from the British (hot-shot juniors excepted) into the MO to boost the status of both.
I am not convinced for the following reasons:

1) The players involved will have a limited amount of time
2) They probably enter the tournament as they enjoy tough games, like a challenge and also the opportunity to try to win the title
3) The top of the major open is largely absent (i.e. they are in the main British)
4) There are other tournaments that can offer them better what they are looking for either overseas, or tournaments such as Hastings, LCC, South Wales ..., or even strong weekend opens

I think picking up on 2) and 3) my point is to try and make the Major Open much more desirable as a competition - as it has been in the past. Totally accept it's very difficult but think it might have to take the entry requirements being quite hardline on British entry, as well as maybe geeing up the MO prizes.

As an example I played the British for the first time at Warwick a couple of years back having previously only played in Major Opens and age-group sections when I was a junior. I was allowed to compete despite not qualifying, which I was very grateful for, but I definitely would have considered playing the MO again had it been stronger. As it was, had I entered, I'd have been second or third seed and over 300 points behind the GM top seed, which didn't really appeal.

Kevin Thurlow
Posts: 5821
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:28 pm

Re: New sponsor for british chess championship

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Thu Mar 09, 2017 5:07 pm

"Further to my post above, although I do not think a significant amount (if any) would transfer to the major, I think a negligible number of lower rated players (if any) would choose not to play in the British because of the prize structure. The entry fee may be more of a factor but there are a large number of relevant factors such as tournament location, timing, availability and cost of local accommodation..."

I agree - Playing a nine-round event in central Europe is probably cheaper than playing in Llandudno, and you play people you are unlikely to have met before. As I have qualified for the British for the first time in 20 years, I would quite like to play, but if I don't, I won't transfer to the Major Open.

The prize structure does not really bother me - it seems odd that the bottom grading prize doesn't go all the way to the bottom, but it is up to the organizers to decide how they will run the tournament. It is then up to the paying customers to decide if they want to enter.

Post Reply