Tournament Organization!
Re: Tournament Organization!
I question my ecf grades being correct
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Matt Mackenzie
- Posts: 6323
- Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 11:51 pm
- Location: Millom, Cumbria
Re: Tournament Organization!
Well you can ask for a printout then - though it will probably set you back a few quid 
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)
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Andrew Farthing
- Posts: 614
- Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2008 11:39 pm
Re: Tournament Organization!
As one of the organisers of the Worcester tournament, I was very sorry to see the extent of Matt's disappointment with the event (or more precisely, Round 1).
We take full responsibility for the problems with pairings in the first round, which led to a delay in the start by half an hour. Alex is right that the absence of one of the arbiters due to traffic problems before the start didn't help, and the use of an unfamiliar computer pairing system made sorting out errors slower and more complicated than we'd have liked. I'm not going to blame the software, however; the root problem was that not all of the entries and a couple of late withdrawals from the three days prior to the congress had not been loaded into the pairing system, so it was working from incorrect information. That was our fault. Entries on the day (only 3, in fact) weren't a major factor, but after this year's experience we are considering not allowing them next year.
Losing half an hour at the start meant that the intervals between rounds for the rest of Saturday were squeezed and this made the task of getting the pairings ready and correct in time tougher. We didn't quite manage it, although the delays did get shorter. On Sunday, the pairings were consistently posted 10-20 minutes before the start of the round and with one small exception caused by an incorrect result slip from the preceding round were right first time.
The catering issue was hugely frustrating. Alex's comments were slightly inaccurate, in that we had confirmed our requirements by phone and e-mail two months beforehand with the university, who insist on dealing with their caterers and do not allow direct contact between client and caterers. Despite confirming to us two months beforehand by phone and e-mail that all was OK, the university only spoke with the caterers on the afternoon before the congress, learned that they would not be able to meet our needs and contacted one of my fellow organisers at 7.30 p.m. on the eve of the congress! Given the rule about no outside caterers, we had no chance of finding alternatives beyond the makeshift steps we took on the day.
Just to prove that someone up there hates me, the nearest pub - which we had specifically checked served lunches some time before the congress - chose the weekend of our congress to let their chef go on holiday and were NOT serving food on Saturday!
The situation was better on Sunday (the university caterers came through for us on their own initiative by serving food up to 1 p.m.), but we shall know to insist on confirmations in blood in triplicate next year, plus direct confirmation from the caterers themselves.
I am sure that the niggles on the first day irritated and annoyed many of the players, and for that I and my fellow organisers are very sorry. I do take comfort from the many expressions of appreciation for the event as a whole, particularly praise for the quality of the venue, that I received from departing players on Sunday. Many people said that they would be coming back next year, and we are determined to put on an event that justifies their faith in the organising team.
I do take issue with the criticsm of the prize fund. I play lots of congresses myself and don't accept that our prize fund was below average in proportion to the entry fee. I don't think I need to add to the earlier responses on the use of analogue clocks and the venue itself.
I hope that in the end the large majority of players had an enjoyable weekend, which in passing raised £500 for the chosen charity and left enough to carry forward a "war chest" to provide a solid financial foundation for next year's event.
It was our second annual congress. Entries grew from 62 last year to 110. We're learning and are determined each year to deliver a better event the next time.
We take full responsibility for the problems with pairings in the first round, which led to a delay in the start by half an hour. Alex is right that the absence of one of the arbiters due to traffic problems before the start didn't help, and the use of an unfamiliar computer pairing system made sorting out errors slower and more complicated than we'd have liked. I'm not going to blame the software, however; the root problem was that not all of the entries and a couple of late withdrawals from the three days prior to the congress had not been loaded into the pairing system, so it was working from incorrect information. That was our fault. Entries on the day (only 3, in fact) weren't a major factor, but after this year's experience we are considering not allowing them next year.
Losing half an hour at the start meant that the intervals between rounds for the rest of Saturday were squeezed and this made the task of getting the pairings ready and correct in time tougher. We didn't quite manage it, although the delays did get shorter. On Sunday, the pairings were consistently posted 10-20 minutes before the start of the round and with one small exception caused by an incorrect result slip from the preceding round were right first time.
The catering issue was hugely frustrating. Alex's comments were slightly inaccurate, in that we had confirmed our requirements by phone and e-mail two months beforehand with the university, who insist on dealing with their caterers and do not allow direct contact between client and caterers. Despite confirming to us two months beforehand by phone and e-mail that all was OK, the university only spoke with the caterers on the afternoon before the congress, learned that they would not be able to meet our needs and contacted one of my fellow organisers at 7.30 p.m. on the eve of the congress! Given the rule about no outside caterers, we had no chance of finding alternatives beyond the makeshift steps we took on the day.
Just to prove that someone up there hates me, the nearest pub - which we had specifically checked served lunches some time before the congress - chose the weekend of our congress to let their chef go on holiday and were NOT serving food on Saturday!
The situation was better on Sunday (the university caterers came through for us on their own initiative by serving food up to 1 p.m.), but we shall know to insist on confirmations in blood in triplicate next year, plus direct confirmation from the caterers themselves.
I am sure that the niggles on the first day irritated and annoyed many of the players, and for that I and my fellow organisers are very sorry. I do take comfort from the many expressions of appreciation for the event as a whole, particularly praise for the quality of the venue, that I received from departing players on Sunday. Many people said that they would be coming back next year, and we are determined to put on an event that justifies their faith in the organising team.
I do take issue with the criticsm of the prize fund. I play lots of congresses myself and don't accept that our prize fund was below average in proportion to the entry fee. I don't think I need to add to the earlier responses on the use of analogue clocks and the venue itself.
I hope that in the end the large majority of players had an enjoyable weekend, which in passing raised £500 for the chosen charity and left enough to carry forward a "war chest" to provide a solid financial foundation for next year's event.
It was our second annual congress. Entries grew from 62 last year to 110. We're learning and are determined each year to deliver a better event the next time.
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Michele Clack
- Posts: 437
- Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2008 2:38 pm
- Location: Worcestershire
Re: Tournament Organization!
I'd like to add my thanks to the two Andrews and their helpers. They did a great job and deserve plenty of support next year. Just about everything that could have gone wrong for them did on the first day and they handled it all with unflappable good humour.
It was very annoying for them to be let down by the caterers but it wasn't the end of the world. Quite a few of us had a great time at the charity barbecue that Andrew Moore found around the corner. Andrew Farthing warned them that they could expect some extra customers and they rose to the occasion cooking extra hamburgers and hot dogs. We sat there quite happily with our hotdogs tea and slices of one of the best cakes I've ever tasted chatting to other competitors. There was a good Co-op store around the corner as well so no one starved. Tea and coffee at 50p and water at £1 a bottle were also available in the analysis room throughout the tournament.
The analysis room was really good. There were half a dozen of us from our club and we were able to go through games together. A Swiss chap showed one of our players where he missed a win which thoroughly depressed him! I think he's organised some lessons with Loz Cooper. So you can see it was a very friendly tournament.
There was a tie in the Open and it was lovely to see Loz Cooper win the tie break for the title after narrowly losing last year's tie break.
It was very annoying for them to be let down by the caterers but it wasn't the end of the world. Quite a few of us had a great time at the charity barbecue that Andrew Moore found around the corner. Andrew Farthing warned them that they could expect some extra customers and they rose to the occasion cooking extra hamburgers and hot dogs. We sat there quite happily with our hotdogs tea and slices of one of the best cakes I've ever tasted chatting to other competitors. There was a good Co-op store around the corner as well so no one starved. Tea and coffee at 50p and water at £1 a bottle were also available in the analysis room throughout the tournament.
The analysis room was really good. There were half a dozen of us from our club and we were able to go through games together. A Swiss chap showed one of our players where he missed a win which thoroughly depressed him! I think he's organised some lessons with Loz Cooper. So you can see it was a very friendly tournament.
There was a tie in the Open and it was lovely to see Loz Cooper win the tie break for the title after narrowly losing last year's tie break.
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John Constable
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 10:34 pm
Re: Tournament Organization!
[/quote]
The equipment was loaned from CCF Mindsport. They supplied boards, scoresheets and the bookstall. It was their clocks that were used. The vast majority of equipment suppliers supply analogue clocks.
[/quote]
Just to clarify, the name of our business is CCF Mindgames Ltd and we supply up to 100 sets of equipment and clocks free of charge to congresses who meet our basic terms and conditions. To replace 100 analogue clocks with digitals is an expense that is beyond us at the moment, and all the congresses we attend seem to be very happy with analogues.
Overall it was a very friendly congress and the organisers did their very best to overcome the problems. We have got no problem in returning to this congress next year.
The equipment was loaned from CCF Mindsport. They supplied boards, scoresheets and the bookstall. It was their clocks that were used. The vast majority of equipment suppliers supply analogue clocks.
[/quote]
Just to clarify, the name of our business is CCF Mindgames Ltd and we supply up to 100 sets of equipment and clocks free of charge to congresses who meet our basic terms and conditions. To replace 100 analogue clocks with digitals is an expense that is beyond us at the moment, and all the congresses we attend seem to be very happy with analogues.
Overall it was a very friendly congress and the organisers did their very best to overcome the problems. We have got no problem in returning to this congress next year.