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View Full Version : 5A Discussion Items 2. Bids for Canadian Open, CYCC and NAYCC and other tournaments



Lyle Craver
12-12-2015, 07:47 PM
NOTICE: Since there ARE competing bids, Voting Booths 6.1 (CYCC and Canadian Open) and 6.2 (North American YCC) have been opened and voting continues until Saturday (please check the agenda for details)

Please note that continuing discussion on the bids are welcome here but NOT in any thread labelled "voting booth" and postings arguing for one bid or another will be deleted without notice if posted in "voting room" threads.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-12-2015, 08:19 PM
North American Youth Chess Championship
Sunday, August 7 through Thursday, August 11, 2016
Caesars Windsor
9 round youth chess tournament with IM title, IM norms, FM titles and other FIDE titles available. FIDE and CFC rated. To determine North American youth champions in age and gender groups
U18, U16, U14, U12, U10, U08,
U18F, U16F, U14F, U12F, U10F, U08F
FIDE trainers course to run at the same time as the tournament
Time Control: Game in 90 minutes plus 30 second increment per move.
Entry fee $100 U.S. or $138 Canadian funds.

Canadian Youth Chess Championship
Tuesday, July 5 through Friday July 8, 2016.
Caesars Windsor
7 round youth chess tournament to determine Canadian champions in age and gender groups
U18, U16, U14, U12, U10, U08,
U18F, U16F, U14F, U12F, U10F, U08F
$225 Entry fee, with $150 of entry fee going to youth fund to fund travel to World Youth and World Cadet for champions of each age /gender group.

Canadian Open Chess Championship
Sunday, July 10 2016 through Sunday July 17, 2016
Caesars Windsor
9 round chess tournament to determine the Canadian Open champion.
CFC and FIDE rated, One round per day with one double round day.
Time Control: 40 moves in 90 minutes, remainder of game in 1 hour, plus 30 second increment per move throughout.
$150 Entry Fee, Free entry for GMs and IMs.

Organizing Team:

Organizing Committee (Partial list):
Chau Diep, Isabella Hui, Christina Tao, Latha Philip, Zoltan Kiraly, Herb Alice, Lisa Lee, George Zhu, George Zhou, Mark Boscariol, Lou-Ann Hunt, Kevin Fite (Detroit Chess Club). Li Lin, Suganthin Baskaran, Alan Kaufman (Michigan Chess Festival), Dr. Ed Mandell (All the King’s Men), Sal Chehayeb (Michigan Chess President), Kevin Fite (Detroit City Chess Club and Nakamura Simul organizer), Andrew Peredun

Special Advisor: John Coleman



CYCC 2016 Windsor Bid





Players
290




Entry Fees
$225
$65,250









CFC Youth Fund
$150
$43,500



Organizer's Fee
$75
$21,750









Arbiter Fee and Room


$ 2,650


Playing Hall


$ 6,000


Volunteer Lunches


$ 2,000


Treats for kids


$ 550


Score Sheets, Printing, Office


$ 1,000


Trophies


$ 3,000


Paypal Fees


$ 2,610


Souvenirs


$ 2,000


Rating Fees


$ 150


Donation (in 2015 Windsor CYCC paid for WYCC shirts)


$ 1,500














Expenses


$ 21,460








Net Profit (or Loss)


$ 290








Canadian Open 2016 Windsor Bid





REVENUES





Entry Fees (150 players x $150 paid entries)
$ 22,500










Subsidy from CFC
$ -




Entry Fees
$ 22,500










EXPENSES





Arbiter Fee, room


$ 4,000


Playing Hall, rooms


$ 8,000


Expenses relating to GMs


$ 4,000


Score Sheets, Printing, Office


$ 1,000


Prizes


$ 15,000


Trophies


$ 1,000


Paypal Fees


$ 900


Rating Fees


$ 600














Total Expenses


$ 34,500








Net Profit or Loss (-)








-$ 12,000.00














NAYCC 2016 Windsor Bid





Players
350




Entry Fees ($100 US)
$138
$48,300









Fide America ($12 US per player)


$ 5,796.00


21 rooms for 36 official players, captains and FIDE America Rep

$ 13,650.00


Food for official players


$ 5,400.00


FIDE America Rep


$ 1,380.00


Arbiter Room


$ 650.00


Arbiter Fee


$ 2,500.00


Playing Hall


$ 8,000.00


Volunteer Lunches


$ 1,500.00


Treats for kids


$ 542.00


Score Sheets, Printing, Office


$ 1,000.00


Trophies


$ 3,800.00


Paypal Fees


$ 1,932.00


Souvenirs


$ 2,000.00


Rating Fees


$ 150.00




















Expenses


$ 48,300








Net Profit (or Loss)


$ -














Donations and Fundraising ($6800 pledged already)
$ 12,000










Playing halls are free if we reach targets for room rentals in 2016 of 1500 room nights.



All chess equipment (sets, clocks and boards) will be provided by the organizers.

Windsor is home to a very large junior chess community. The Windsor Chess Challenge attracts up to 1600 children every year to a tournament that sees schools hold competitions to see who gets to go to the main event in late February or early March. There may be over 3000 kids that play in competitions leading up to that event. This is in a city of 200,000 or so people. Junior chess is taken very seriously here. A kilometer or two away from the tournament site there is a children's chess club that routinely sends hundreds of kids to local USCF and other chess tournaments every year. There is also a very large community of young players that has attended WYCC multiple times in both Windsor and Michigan. These are all likely to play in a NAYCC held in Windsor.

Last year at CYCC we had close to sixty Windsor area kids playing. We can expect similar or better numbers for CYCC and NAYCC this year if held locally. If held elsewhere we would expect to send twenty to thirty or more local kids to attend. For NAYCC there is a pool of hundreds of Michigan kids who would be likely to attend if it is held in Windsor.

We expect to follow all CYCC handbook rules and the terms of the CMA-CFC equipment contract for CYCC and Canadian Open. We also intend to pay the youth fund $150 for each fully paid CYCC entry and $75 in the case of the third child from a family where the cost drops to 50% of the normal fee. The projection of 290 players is a modest increase over last year's number which was 285. Realistically we would hope for a larger increase based on the larger number of Windsor junior players this year versus last year. We hope to organize lectures and analysis though the exact form will depend on if we are awarded the Canadian Open which will likely present some additional opportunities for lectures.

The proposed site of all of these tournaments is Caesars Windsor in downtown Windsor. The main playing hall is about 12000 square feet with additional rooms available for parents, skittles and side events. The room is spectacular and a beautiful setting for any chess tournament. The hotel is on the Detroit River a block or two down from the Best Western Waterfront Hotel (formerly Waterfront and formerly Hilton Hotel) where the last two CYCC's were held in Windsor.

Room rate is $129.00 per night Sunday through Thursday with a $20 surcharge on weekends (Friday and Saturday). Sunday counts as a weekday. This is a four diamond site. Very nice in every way with all the amenities you can expect from any Caesars hotel.

There will be a FIDE trainer's seminar on site paid by FIDE though we need to get ten women or girls to take the course to keep FIDE happy. This will be a definite plus for anyone hoping to become a coach for a Canadian team at any FIDE international event as increasingly this is required in order to get the designation of team captain or head of delegation and the accompanying organizer paid rooms.

The Windsor group would like to host the North American Youth Chess Championship as a first priority. We would also love to host the CYCC and Canadian Open as a combined package. We do not ask for any subsidy from the CFC and plan on paying rating fees and paypal fees and not asking for one thin dime from the CFC. Any losses will be covered by the Windsor organizers. Last year the Windsor Organizers used funds raised at a Windsor Chess Pasta Dinner (attended by over 500 people) to donate $1500 to pay for WYCC team shirts for the entire Canadian squad. We expect to use any surplus to hold additional CFC events that are youth oriented and also weekend tournaments in the Windsor area for both kids and adults that are CFC and FIDE rated. If we get all three tournaments we would expect a significant surplus due to savings on room rental. We also expect to continue the popular program of offering discounts to new members so expect a surge in foreign members as there have been hundreds of tournaments with thousands of participants held within 20 kilometers of the Caesars Windsor site on the American side of the Detroit River over the last few years.

For the youth events you can expect a similar experience as last year's CYCC though we will probably move the bughouse and pizza event earlier into the schedule rather than the last day. Last time we had bughouse, pizza and ice cream on the last day along with Participantion trophies for every participant. We can't promise the same this time (there definitely won't be Participantion trophies without someone being lynched) but we will be looking to at least slightly top last year's experience at the two youth tournaments. Our plan is not fully developed for the Canadian Open but you can expect surprises as many of the organizing committee don't realize that you are not supposed to do certain things at a chess tournament but usually the final effect is quite satisfying for the participants.

Our projections for CYCC are based on last year's CYCC. We have projected a minimal Canadian Open for purposes of this bid because we had hoped that other bids for CYCC and the Canadian Open which were in the works would coalesce into someone else doing the heavy lifting. It was only in late November that we realized if we wanted to make sure that there was a CYCC and Canadian Open, that we put together a bid ourselves. It looks like our bids managed to shake several more bids out of the Canadian chess community so it had the desired effect. It seems likely that we will be able to get some significant sponsorship funds as we have $6800 in pledges already including $5000 from the Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island office. This is in just two weeks of discussions. Technically just one day or one hour of discussions but they took two weeks to get back to us. Additional sponsorship funds would likely lead to more grandmasters invited and a larger prize fund. Alan Kaufman, one of our Michigan friends that will be helping us to ensure a very large turnout recently held a tournament where there were fourteen grandmasters in attendance including Gata Kamsky. He wanted to get out his wallet and sign a contract but we told him to hold his horses as we were looking at him for his contacts and expertise rather than his money.

We have received positive feedback from potential sponsors and local politicians and the Michigan Chess Community. The playing hall room rentals are what we would expect to pay if we get only one of the events. The City of Windsor recently gave $750,000 for a hockey tournament which is projected to sell 10,000 hotel room nights. They also paid for $40,000 in hotel rooms for an elite swimming competition which has a smaller footprint than any of our three events which could conceivably amount to 2500 to as many as 5000 room nights combined. There is a fairly good chance that this will see the most sponsorship of any recent Canadian Open. We all plan on twisting many arms and serving up lots of pasta and maybe top the size of the chess pasta dinner and gala which some compared to planning three weddings at once. There were even belly dancers! We can't promise belly dancers every year but who knows...

Caesars Windsor is being very supportive with prospects of free tournament halls based on holding a number of events at their venue while offering some very reasonable rates on four diamond rooms. If you send all three tournaments to Windsor you can expect to see an infrastructure built up which will mean that we will get a world class venue for many future events including future years where it might happen that no one else wants to take on one of these national or international tournaments.

If we host these events you can count on the Windsor group making heroic efforts to ensure that all required players are CFC members. This has been a significant problem in the last three or four CYCCs and Canadian Opens but was not a problem in Windsor last year because we had the large number of volunteers available to make sure everyone paid their CFC membership. We did have some issues with the multiple players with the same name sometimes in the same age group but with the help of twenty or thirty people at the reception desk we eventually got it all sorted out. This will save a great deal of wear and tear on the CFC executive director.

Did we mention that parking is free? At CYCC 2015 we managed to negotiate $5 for tournament parking a few blocks away. That's the kind of thing that happens when you put someone in charge who doesn't know that you can't ask for this kind of thing from a city bureaucracy. This time we get free parking right across the street and you don't even have to go outside as there are enclosed walkways to the hotel from the parking garage. We expect that this will free up that person to find some other creative way to make this a better experience for players and parents. When NAYCC was in Toronto we had a slightly miserable residence room with no tv if I recall. Parking was extra and expensive. In fact if you factor in parking your stay will be less expensive than it was at the last Canadian NAYCC.

For the parents who like casinos you can get the ambiance of Caesars Las Vegas in Canada. For kids, Adventure Bay water park is just a short walk away.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-12-2015, 08:56 PM
1) Bid for CYCC & Canadian Open 2016
- Both events would be held in Québec City
- CYCC = 7 rounds / July 5-8
- Open = 9 rounds / July 9-15

Venues
A) Hôtels
One location: Le Concorde or Le Château Laurier
B) Québec City Congress Center
In this case, tournaments would be held in the Congress Center and lodging would be Hilton and/or Delta near by.
Note: we are still expecting infos from Marc Magny, Commercial Director at the Congress Center. As part of the Québec City Tourism promotion office that is highly motivated, Marc is helping us having the 4 hôtels compete. This is still to be discussed (TBD). This Congress Center interest is strategic for both CFC/FQE in terms of future international events,

Fees
Rules from the CFC handbook would apply.
Registration = $250 of which $150 goes to CFC.

Price fund
FQE is proposing an envelope of $15 000 to be discussed.

Tourism
We shall add tourism info on Québec City before « Voting Booth » time.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-12-2015, 09:02 PM
Here is the CMA bid for NAYCC: Pictures don't translate onto the forum but the following contains all of the text.


CMA organised the first NAYCC in Canada in 2010 attracting over 200 youngsters to set a new participation record for this Championship. The event was held in Montreal to celebrate our 25th anniversary. The tournament rotates from Canada to the U.S.A. to Mexico...so it comes to each country once every 3 years. In 2013, CMA hosted the event in Toronto (celebrating 20 years of operation in that city) and we set a new record for the event! Under the superb organizational skills of Francis Rodrigues, the Toronto CMA Regional Director attracted 356 players! to the tournament...and needless to say that number set a new record which has not been surpassed by either the U.S.A. nor Mexico, before or since that time :). You can see the website that was put together for the 2013 event by going to Home | North American Youth Chess Championship


Home | North American Youth Chess Championship
Venue Chestnut Conference Centre, 89 Chestnut Street, Toronto, ON, M5G 1R1.
View on chesstalk.info
Preview by Yahoo

For the 2016 event, we would like to hold the event in Kingston, Ontario. This would be the first time any major scholastic event is held in that city.


Organized by the Chess'n Math Association
CHIEF ORGANIZER: IA Francis Rodrigues...you can't get better than this!
ASSISTANT: IA Larry Bevand (you can get better than this, that is why I am only the assistant :)


WHEN: Saturday August 13-17, 2016


SYSTEM: 9 round swiss with norm possibilities


WHERE: The Ambassador Hotel, Kingston, ON. This is an awesome place! They feature a 100 foot indoor waterslide to make your stay in Kingston very enjoyable! We got a special room rate of $125 per night plus tax. 2 Queen beds per room - double occupancy. Ambassador Kingston | Hotel & Conference Centre - Kingston, Ontario






Ambassador Kingston | Hotel & Conference Centre - Kingston, Ontario
JM’s Restaurant & Lounge is the Ambassador Hotel’s signature restaurant.
View on www.ambassadorhotel.com (http://www.ambassadorhotel.com)
Preview by Yahoo

Playing Facility: A beautiful 7,200 sq ft ballroom within the hotel with a stage. We also have the Atrium nearby for the parents.


ENTRY FEES (all entry fees include HST):


Before May 1, 2016 - $128.32 plus HST = $145
May 1 - June 30: $170
July 1 - August 6: $190
After August 6: $225
Roster changes after July 20 will be charged $20.


If the event generates a loss, it will be covered by the Chess<n Math Association. If the event generates a surplus, that will go to the CMA.


Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me: Larry Bevand

Vladimir Drkulec
12-12-2015, 11:27 PM
We await a bid for CYCC by a Vancouver group which is spearheaded by Hattie Guo.


Please use the PDF to read and evaluate the bid. I didn't want this bid to be the only one that didn't get a cut and paste into the forum but the result is hard to read unfortunately. - Vlad Drkulec 2:31 AM EST

There was a slight change in the bid which necessitated a new upload though it doesn't seem to have changed the financials. 1:45 pm Dec 13th.

Fred McKim
12-13-2015, 02:04 PM
Vlad. I think this gives us a wonderful opportunity to potentially secure hosts for events beyond next year. Can we consider giving no winning but acceptable bids a one or two month period to reapply for the next available date ?

Vladimir Drkulec
12-13-2015, 02:15 PM
Vlad. I think this gives us a wonderful opportunity to potentially secure hosts for events beyond next year. Can we consider giving no winning but acceptable bids a one or two month period to reapply for the next available date ?

CYCC and Canadian Open for 2018 are both available and we will certainly entertain bids but lets sort out 2016 before we get too far ahead of ourselves.

Félix Dumont
12-13-2015, 02:40 PM
A few (quick) comments :

Windsor: The organizers seemed to have spent a lot of time on this bid and the overall plan is promising. However, the CYCC was already organized there last summer and it is not exactly the most interesting city to spend a week or two...
Quebec City : This is a great city to host these tournaments. There are plenty of activities in the summer and kids would have a lot to do. However, the bid really lacks details and I am not sure if we are supposed to vote and hope for the best.
Vancouver : I would have loved to have a CYCC and or CO in Vancouver. However, the organizers have changed the payment to be given to the CFC (no longer $150 per participant, but rather a fixed amount). This would result in a huge loss for the CFC. Furthermore, I don't think splitting the CYCC and CO is in our best interest. I will therefore have to vote no on this one.
Kingston (CMA) : CMA has organized great NAYCCs in the past and Kingston would be a great city to organize the next one. They know what they are doing and can attract many players.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-13-2015, 03:54 PM
A few (quick) comments :

Windsor: The organizers seemed to have spent a lot of time on this bid and the overall plan is promising. However, the CYCC was already organized there last summer and it is not exactly the most interesting city to spend a week or two...
Quebec City : This is a great city to host these tournaments. There are plenty of activities in the summer and kids would have a lot to do. However, the bid really lacks details and I am not sure if we are supposed to vote and hope for the best.
Vancouver : I would have loved to have a CYCC and or CO in Vancouver. However, the organizers have changed the payment to be given to the CFC (no longer $150 per participant, but rather a fixed amount). This would result in a huge loss for the CFC. Furthermore, I don't think splitting the CYCC and CO is in our best interest. I will therefore have to vote no on this one.
Kingston (CMA) : CMA has organized great NAYCCs in the past and Kingston would be a great city to organize the next one. They know what they are doing and can attract many players.

I feel a lot better than I did two weeks ago when there were no bids at all.

The Vancouver bid is problematic due to the greatly reduced payout to the youth fund. It would likely mean no support for the U16 Olympiad and a much reduced budget for the world tournaments. Perhaps we could manage if we went back to the way we did things a few years ago with no coaches or just one coach. We also have two world tournaments to support this year as the old WYCC format has been split into two.

I don't think we can accept a bid which promises less than $150 per player to the youth fund. That has been my public and private position since becoming CFC president.

I think that Larry Bevand and CMA, the FQE and the Windsor organizers are all quite capable of organizing these tournaments. Windsor has the best and most detailed proposal with the most upside. There is the potential for something very large happening as a result of Windsor getting all three tournaments as the City of Windsor has shown itself willing to spend large amounts of money on sporting events. It could mean that we have one more option when no one else wants to take on one of these tournaments.

The FQE Quebec City bid does imply a $2,000 subsidy from the CFC for the holding of the Canadian Open. The Windsor bid expressly states that they will not be asking for any subsidy.

Windsor did not contemplate putting forward bids until it became clear that there were NO bids for any of the events in late November. I could have enlisted Hal Bond to do what he did last year but the best way to ensure that there was an acceptable bid was to make sure that one was put forward locally.

I think the most important thing about the Windsor bids is that we will have another option for the tournaments that are hard to organize. The city is putting together a sports tourism office and this is a very good time to be in their faces if we want them to think about chess when they are looking at programs that they want to sponsor. Certainly we will be able to offer them much more bang for the buck than the other accepted projects that I have seen in the media lately. Forty thousand for hotel rooms alone for an elite diving competition (not counting the millions for a pool). Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars for a hockey tournament which is expected to generate 10,000 hotel room nights and this is deemed sufficient justification for the large public expenditure. The son of a local member of Parliament is a tournament chess player. A city council member who has offered to help us was a high school chess player. We have key downtown business leaders onside.

I am not going to badmouth Larry, the CMA or the FQE. They have been very helpful to the CFC over the years. The CMA had the North American Youth Chess Championship by default scheduled for Toronto but it was not able to come together. All of these bids arose because Windsor put forward their intention to bid. i know because I know exactly how the bids came about and have encouraged these alternate bids. The thing is that it is not healthy for the CFC to have to resort only to the CMA and FQE to put on tournaments. We need to create more pockets of capability to put on these events. If Windsor gets these three tournaments it will certainly cement the possibility of many future events like the Canadian Closed, the Canadian Junior with strong levels of support from local and other levels of government. Even if Windsor had presented a mediocre bid - which they did not - there would be good strategic reasons to accept their bid. The evidence is that this bid package is the best of the bunch financially and from the point of view of upside for the CFC.

Fred McKim
12-13-2015, 04:42 PM
Of course.

Aris Marghetis
12-13-2015, 04:48 PM
I think that Vlad is in a delicate situation because he considered by some to be a "Windsor guy". However, in my opinion, it would be unfortunate to discount the veracity of what he's saying. The reality is that the Windsor people are really bringing it. I really want to encourage a culture of bids coming in at least a year ahead of time, not later in the cycle while seeming to ask for special considerations. It can come across as trying to take advantage of a supply-demand imbalance, as in being the first of late bids?!

Paul Leblanc
12-14-2015, 12:10 AM
I don't see much difference between the proposals from a financial perspective. Vancouver is offering $25 per player less to the CFC than Quebec or Windsor. Vancouver and Windsor are charging a $25 lower entry fee than Quebec. These are trivial differences and in fact I expect that the Vancouver team will be able to do a little better than the current proposal once they get the go ahead and start gathering sponsorships and negotiating for the playing site.

More importantly, this is a national event that needs to move around the country and it is not Quebec or Windsor's turn to hold it.
The CYCC plays an important role in promoting junior chess in the various regions of Canada. Vancouver needs the event for that reason.
I also believe that the Vancouver team has the experience and energy to run the 2016 CYCC, just as they did in 2012.

Halldor P. Palsson
12-14-2015, 12:14 AM
"I don't think we can accept a bid which promises less than $150 per player to the youth fund. That has been my public and private position since becoming CFC president."

Does a CYCC bid that does not send $150 per player to the youth fund conform to CFC rules or do we have not have any standards when it comes to these fee splits?

Vladimir Drkulec
12-14-2015, 12:17 AM
"I don't think we can accept a bid which promises less than $150 per player to the youth fund. That has been my public and private position since becoming CFC president."

Does a CYCC bid that does not send $150 per player to the youth fund conform to CFC rules or do we have not have any standards when it comes to these fee splits?

No it does not conform to CFC rules.

Félix Dumont
12-14-2015, 12:24 AM
I don't see much difference between the proposals from a financial perspective. Vancouver is offering $25 per player less to the CFC than Quebec or Windsor. Vancouver and Windsor are charging a $25 lower entry fee than Quebec. These are trivial differences and in fact I expect that the Vancouver team will be able to do a little better than the current proposal once they get the go ahead and start gathering sponsorships and negotiating for the playing site.

More importantly, this is a national event that needs to move around the country and it is not Quebec or Windsor's turn to hold it.
The CYCC plays an important role in promoting junior chess in the various regions of Canada. Vancouver needs the event for that reason.
I also believe that the Vancouver team has the experience and energy to run the 2016 CYCC, just as they did in 2012.

They guarantee the CFC a minimum of $15,000 from the entry fees, and a maximum of $20,000.

That is a huge difference from the usual $150 per entry. In 2014, the Montreal CYCC raised about $45 000 for the CFC. I don't have the numbers for the 2013 and 2015 CYCCs, but I would assume it would be well over $30 000. I don't think the CFC can afford to lose over $15 000, even if Vancouver would be a wonderful city for the tournament.

Halldor P. Palsson
12-14-2015, 12:26 AM
"No it does not conform to CFC rules."

Can these organizers be asked to amend their bid so it conforms to CFC rules?

If they will not conform to CFC rules I am forced to propose on a point of order that it be withdrawn from consideration from this assembly as it is outside of our rules.

The 2013 CYCC in Ottawa was in the order of $40,000. You cannot do a WYCC for $15-$20K.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-14-2015, 12:27 AM
I don't see much difference between the proposals from a financial perspective. Vancouver is offering $25 per player less to the CFC than Quebec or Windsor. Vancouver and Windsor are charging a $25 lower entry fee than Quebec. These are trivial differences and in fact I expect that the Vancouver team will be able to do a little better than the current proposal once they get the go ahead and start gathering sponsorships and negotiating for the playing site.

More importantly, this is a national event that needs to move around the country and it is not Quebec or Windsor's turn to hold it.
The CYCC plays an important role in promoting junior chess in the various regions of Canada. Vancouver needs the event for that reason.
I also believe that the Vancouver team has the experience and energy to run the 2016 CYCC, just as they did in 2012.

You can't say that they will be able to do better. The vote has to be on the basis of what they presented. 2012 was a financial disaster for the CFC from more than one aspect including the refusal to collect CFC memberships by Mr. Jensen. All three of these bids are from parts of the country that recently held CYCCs. We cannot accept a substandard bid because it is someone's turn because really it isn't. It was Calgary's turn but the crash in the oil patch scuttled that.

Halldor P. Palsson
12-14-2015, 12:52 AM
I am forced to propose on a Point of Order that the Vancouver bid be withdrawn from consideration from this assembly as it is outside of our rules.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-14-2015, 12:54 AM
"No it does not conform to CFC rules."

Can these organizers be asked to amend their bid so it conforms to CFC rules?

Not at this point. It would not be fair to the other applicants to let one of the bidders change their bid once it has been submitted unless there are no other bids. We are already very late in the process. This should have been done at the AGM.



If they will not conform to CFC rules I am forced to propose on a point of order that it be withdrawn from consideration from this assembly as it is outside of our rules.

Your point is well taken. It is outside of our rules and policies as outlined in the handbook. I rule that it should be withdrawn from this assembly.

Paul Leblanc
12-14-2015, 12:57 AM
Most of us probably don't know what you mean by "does not conform to the CFC rules" so it would be useful to say why.
Ken Jensen is no longer involved in BC Junior Chess. He is not part of the organizing committee.
Regrettably, no region outside of central Canada can expect 290 entries as does Windsor. If maximizing the financial return to the CFC is the prime criteria for approving a bid, the CYCC will be held in Windsor or Quebec. If promoting chess in the regions is important then the Vancouver bid should be considered and the fact accepted that the CFC will have less cash to subsidize travel to the WYCC.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-14-2015, 01:27 AM
Handbook clause 714 states that "$75 of each paid entry shall go to the local organizer for their expenses in providing the playing site, tournament directors and all other expenses." Entries are set at $225 in clause 708. The balance of $150 goes to the youth fund as per clause 714. The issue is not the number of entries but capping payments to the youth fund to the benefit of the tournament organizers and to the detriment of funds for junior chess, specifically funds for travel to the world tournament.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-14-2015, 01:35 AM
The 2013 CYCC in Ottawa was in the order of $40,000. You cannot do a WYCC for $15-$20K.

No, you cannot.

Aris Marghetis
12-14-2015, 09:05 AM
I am forced to propose on a Point of Order that the Vancouver bid be withdrawn from consideration from this assembly as it is outside of our rules.

If Halldor's proposal requires to be seconded, then I offer to do that.

This point-of-order exclusion should be done as soon as feasible.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-14-2015, 11:34 AM
I don't believe that a point of order requires a seconder. I have made my ruling. The bid is withdrawn from consideration for being deficient as it does not follow one of the main handbook rules of CYCC with regard to allocation of entry fees to the youth fund as set forth in clause 714 of the handbook. If someone wishes to challenge the ruling of the chair they will require a seconder. I would not be offended if this were to happen and the question were to be thrown to the voting members.

However to quote the Bard, "If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well It were done quickly" In a face to face meeting challenges generally have to take place immediately.

Félix Dumont
12-14-2015, 11:48 AM
Most of us probably don't know what you mean by "does not conform to the CFC rules" so it would be useful to say why.
Ken Jensen is no longer involved in BC Junior Chess. He is not part of the organizing committee.
Regrettably, no region outside of central Canada can expect 290 entries as does Windsor. If maximizing the financial return to the CFC is the prime criteria for approving a bid, the CYCC will be held in Windsor or Quebec. If promoting chess in the regions is important then the Vancouver bid should be considered and the fact accepted that the CFC will have less cash to subsidize travel to the WYCC.

As far as I am concerned, I would not penalize Vancouver (or any other city) for having less entries. The CYCC is a great way to promote chess in a region. But the bid should at least give the same amount per player to the CFC. In this case, if 200 players were to show up in Vancouver, the organizers would only give $20 000 instead of $30 000 the other organizers would offer. This is a huge difference.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-14-2015, 12:16 PM
As far as I am concerned, I would not penalize Vancouver (or any other city) for having less entries. The CYCC is a great way to promote chess in a region. But the bid should at least give the same amount per player to the CFC. In this case, if 200 players were to show up in Vancouver, the organizers would only give $20 000 instead of $30 000 the other organizers would offer. This is a huge difference.

The last time the CYCC was in Vancouver, in 2012, Windsor sent 19 players. I believe we might expect as many as 30 this time out if it were to be held in Vancouver but certainly no less than twenty unless it so happened that Canadian Open were held in Windsor starting the day after CYCC. In that case you might get zero entries from Windsor in CYCC which would be a pity.

I believe there were approximately 200 players the last time in Vancouver. I don't see why it would be less this time. Thirty thousand dollars would at least allow a pared down delegation to the world tournaments.

Hal Bond
12-14-2015, 04:03 PM
It is great to see all these bids. I think Vlad has been very sporting by extending the bid deadline to encourage additional bids which compete with the Windsor group. Normally there is no such provision if no bids are received in time for the summer AGM. The Executive deals with it.

Even if the Vancouver bid was compliant, holding the "CYCC only" in absence of a "Canadian Open only" bid from elsewhere is not so attractive these days. We need to ensure that both events are held.

As for the NAYCC, I am sure CMA would do a fine job in Kingston. Since CMA has organized both of the previous editions for Canada I would like to see someone else try it on.

Valer Eugen Demian
12-14-2015, 10:07 PM
I also am of the opinion the Vancouver bid is not good enough and I am from Vancouver. What disappoints is the fact the proposed organizer has not done a complete job to ensure the bid conforms with the minimum CFC requirements to be accepted for discussion and voting. This is basic.

It is commendable when people have ideas and initiative; however it never ceases to amaze me how professional things/ projects are done at work/ business in general and how amateurish when it comes to chess... I wonder why is that the case?

Richard Bérubé
12-14-2015, 10:13 PM
The Quebec City Bid is not completed. Lots of information are coming this week. The Quebec City Congress Center is working on a very interesting package who will include extra-touristic activities for the participants. Note that for the proper development of Chess in Canada, changing the location of the CYCC and Canadian Open seems logical.
Richard Bérubé
FQE DG

Aris Marghetis
12-14-2015, 10:47 PM
Two things :

1) I think the best bid should win, to some extent regardless of where it was last year. If it's close, sure let's switch, but let's not switch just for the sake of switching?!
2) I thought the bid process was closed, that the bids already in can no longer be changed, augmented, etc? and that no new bids could be submitted at this time, etc.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-14-2015, 10:52 PM
To be fair the Vancouver bid looks a lot like the 2012 Vancouver bid which was successful. They have informed me that they would be willing to amend the bid to pay $150 per entrant to the youth fund.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-14-2015, 11:31 PM
Two things :

1) I think the best bid should win, to some extent regardless of where it was last year. If it's close, sure let's switch, but let's not switch just for the sake of switching?!
2) I thought the bid process was closed, that the bids already in can no longer be changed, augmented, etc? and that no new bids could be submitted at this time, etc.

Under Robert's Rules it is possible to move to suspend the rules. It requires a motion, a seconder and a two thirds affirmative vote by the voting members present at the meeting which I understand to mean everyone who has checked in, in the case of this electronic version of a meeting.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-15-2015, 12:16 AM
In order to show the depths to which I will sink to manipulate the process to favour the Windsor bids, I shall release an only slightly redacted version of the email thread which I have been part of in the background.

:rolleyes:

Re: Request Support for 2016 CYCC Vancouver bid


hattie guo
Reply|
To:
Vladimir Drkulec ; ... Mon 2015-12-14 8:49 PM
From:
hattie guo
Sent: Mon 2015-12-14 8:49 PM
To:
Vladimir Drkulec ;
Hi Vlad,

Thank you very much for pointing out my mistake. I’m sorry for that. Honestly, I didn’t aware the error, and no intention to against the rule. I’ll try to post my statement on ChessTalk as well as CFC Public Forum. Could you please post my statement on the Voting Forum too so that all voting members know this.

Thanks,
Hattie

Hi Everyone,


My name is Hattie Guo and I am the person who has submitted the Vancouver bid for the 2016 CYCC. I, along with several other BC chess parents, want to host the 2016 CYCC in Vancouver, BC and to welcome all the chess playing youths in Canada to our beautiful British Columbia.


I have been informed that our bid has an error in it, in that it should include payment of $150 per player. I did not realize that this was a mandatory item when I submitted the bid. If I did, I would have for sure included that in the original bid. I want to thank CFC President Vlad Drkukec for emailing me personally and explaining this error and what I need to do to rectify it to get the Vancouver bid back on the table for the CFC Voting Members to consider it along with the other 2016 CYCC bids from Windsor, ON and Quebec City/FQE.


To do this, I need the CFC Voting Members help.


1. One CFC Voting Member needs to appeal the CFC President's ruling, and then another CFC Voting Member needs to second the appeal.
- CFC President Vlad Drkulec has stated that he takes no offence if this happens; and we are not doing this in any disrespect to the President. This unfortunately has to be done as part of the procedure to get the Vancouver bid back on the table.


2. The question on the vote would be "Shall the chairperson's decision be sustained" and the choices would be "Yes" or "No." If the voting members vote "No" then the Vancouver proposal is back on the table.


3. If we are successful in getting the Vancouver bid back on the table, I will need someone to help put forward a motion, with another voting member seconding it, to suspend the rules that bids had to be presented before the December 13th meeting presumably. To win, it will require a two thirds majority vote of the members present agreeing to suspend the rules to allow me to amend the Vancouver bid to rectify the mistake and change to include payment of $150 per player (with no cap).


Again, I apologize for my error in the bid. Now I am asking for the CFC Voting Members' help to rectify my mistake. Even if you don't believe the Vancouver bid for the 2016 CYCC is the best bid, please help get the bid back on the table so that it can be voted on with the other 2 bids from Windsor, ON and Quebec City/FQE. If the Vancouver bid is cut short and left off the table due to my error, as it is now, I fear that this will leave a "bad taste" in many people's mouths.


Thank you for your attention to this matter and any help that you can provide.


Hattie Guo
Chief Organizer for the 2016 CYCC Vancouver Bid


From: Vladimir Drkulec
Sent: Monday, December 14, 2015 11:34 AM
To: REDACTED
Cc: hattie guo
Subject: Re: Request Support for 2016 CYCC Vancouver bid

If you want to return the bid to the table then my ruling should be appealed by one of the voting members and someone needs to second the appeal. Then you would need to win the vote of the voting members allowing the bid to return to consideration. The question on the vote would be "Shall the chairperson's decision be sustained" and the choices would be "Yes" or "No." If the voting members vote "No" then your proposal is back on the table. I would not be upset if my decision were appealed successfully.

In order to change the bid after you get the bid back on the table you would have to put forward a motion to suspend the rules that bids had to be presented before the December 13th meeting presumably with a voting member proposing it and a seconder. You would then have to win a two thirds majority vote of the members present agreeing to suspend the rules to allow you to amend your bid.

Alternatively you could sneak the amendment in by publicly stating that you would honour CFC rules with respect to the $150 payment to the youth fund.

Alternatively you could redo your bid for 2018 which is the next available CYCC/Canadian Open slot open. If you choose this option, I would suggest taking your time and presenting it for the next meeting in early February or the one in April or the AGM in July or August. Make sure you don't offer a fixed bid of $15,000 to $20,000. These worked in 2010 and 2012 but the reality is that they will not work in 2016. WYCC costs in 2015 were on the order of $35,000.

The likely outcome of a successful Vancouver bid this year would be no Canadian Open once again or else a Canadian Open in Windsor which would likely mean no Windsor players playing in CYCC because they are not likely to want to jump on a plane to go to Vancouver and then have to fly back the next day to play in the Canadian Open in Windsor. I see the Canadian Open in Windsor working only if we get NAYCC and perhaps rethinking the timing of the tournament to move it to August perhaps though I am not even sure this is possible as it was difficult finding dates that playing venues were even open this close to play.

Vlad






From: hattie guo
Sent: Sunday, December 13, 2015 11:45 PM
To: REDACTED
Subject: Re: Request Support for 2016 CYCC Vancouver bid

Hi REDACTED,


1. The CFC President has stated: "It is outside of our rules and policies as outlined in the handbook. I rule that it should be withdrawn from this assembly." Does this mean that the Vancouver bid is disqualified for voting?


2. If so, what can we do to get the Vancouver bid back in to be eligible for voting?


3. I am willing to change the Vancouver bid to pay $150 per player with no cap. Note that I was not aware of this rule before and I am asking that an exception be made so that I can change my bid to meet the mandatory requirements for a CYCC bid.

Thanks,

Hattie

Vladimir Drkulec
12-15-2015, 12:16 AM
Oops because of internet lag my post went up twice.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-15-2015, 01:04 AM
As those who follow chesstalk may know I have been accused of shilling for the Windsor bid and that the whole affair stinks and is unfair.

The time to be fair and objective was back at the AGM. If I had not lit a fire under the Windsor group very late in the calendar, I have no doubt that we would be sitting here lamenting the lack of leadership that brought us to a situation where there were no bids on three important events on the Canadian chess calendar. There were no bids as of almost mid December. Such sniping is very trying and leaves me wondering at times why I bother and continually subject myself to this.

Its actually less work to put a bid together than it is to make the effort required to skype, email and phone all the usual suspects and hope that they will please, pretty please organize these tournaments and then wait for their replies while they scurry to and fro talking to hotels and halls trying to make the deals and forge the links that allow everything to come together. Both Hal Bond and I spent a lot of time doing this last year with respect to the Canadian Open.

Like Aris, I do believe that the best bid should win unless there are some overarching reasons to bend the rules. There is no overarching reason to bend the rules here. All three applicants have hosted the CYCC in the last three and a half years. It is nobody's turn. Pick the best bid and look at what is in the best interest of the CFC and organized chess in Canada. That is your duty.

For those who want me to sit on the sideline out of some misplaced sense of fairness, you could have had that if you had submitted a bid by say November 30th. After December 1st, all bets were off. I don't expect to make one penny on any of these bids and if the Windsor bids are accepted I will probably be financially disadvantaged in the sense that I will spend a lot of unpaid time doing a lot of volunteer work to make this the best experience for the players while following all of the rules much as I did for CYCC Windsor 2015. Live with it. It is the lot of a chess volunteer as most of you reading this well know.

Lyle Craver
12-15-2015, 01:45 AM
Vlad's summary pretty much matches my memory of how things were last July.

Moving forward I would very much like to see a short document on what prospective bidders need to know. As most of the Executive know, I am a big fan of some of the things the USCF does to solicit events. One of the things I like best on their site is http://www.uschess.org/docs/forms/How%20to%20Bid%20on%20USCF%20Events.pdf where the URL should make it plain what the document is about.

I'd like to see a Canadian version of this as well as an event calendar on our site - one of the private e-mails I've seen decries the fact that all the regulars seem to know the procedure while newcomers have a tougher time first time round and it's all too easy to overlook something important. Years ago I had a lot of help from Peter Stockhausen but never did attempt anything bigger than the Vancouver Keres Memorial (which is an important regional event but not national in scope). Obviously things have changed dramatically in the last 15-20 years.

Vlad Rekhson
12-15-2015, 02:44 AM
I would like to support the Vancouver bid; however, I have a few reservations about it: 1) Would the approval of a bid in Vancouver negatively impact the viability of the Canadian Open bids from Quebec City/Windsor due to financial shortfall? 2) Would it be possible to change the CYCC in Vancouver dates to a different time as having the Canadian Open in the east right after the CYCC in the west would prevent most juniors from attending both events?

Vladimir Drkulec
12-15-2015, 02:52 AM
Moving the CYCC out west would affect the viability of both of the Canadian Open bids, I am sure though I can speak with certainty only about the Windsor bid. I would continue to try to obtain support to do a Canadian Open but the Windsor organizers would have to evaluate the viability of the stand alone event. It might be made to work if we get an infusion of funds from the city which is a distinct possibility but less of a possibility without a junior event. The two risky events here are NAYCC and the CO. We could move both to less costly and less convenient locations but fundraising will suffer if they are not downtown, I think.

Having a Canadian Open back to back with a CYCC across the country will probably be disastrous for one of the tournaments at least and maybe both. I would be surprised if you got any players who played in both events.

Valer Eugen Demian
12-15-2015, 03:16 AM
CYCC is the highest stage for junior chess in this country. Being as such it deserves the best possible organizing effort from anyone interested to bid on it. If this assembly believes the Vancouver bid can be upgraded to meet the minimum requirements to be accepted for discussion and voting, please proceed down the not so simple road of putting it back on the table. In my opinion there would still be a considerable gap between meeting the minimum requirements and the best possible offer; however that can be dealt by voting on it...

The 2012 organizing committee did an extensive amount of work ahead of time and had it prepared for about a couple of years. It was unfortunate and heartbreaking what happened with the CFC fees (it should have never happened) because of an individual, but beside that I do not agree that bid was similar with this one they are trying to put forward. It was not even close!

Vladimir Drkulec
12-15-2015, 03:40 AM
CYCC is the highest stage for junior chess in this country. Being as such it deserves the best possible organizing effort from anyone interested to bid on it. If this assembly believes the Vancouver bid can be upgraded to meet the minimum requirements to be accepted for discussion and voting, please proceed down the not so simple road of putting it back on the table. In my opinion there would still be a considerable gap between meeting the minimum requirements and the best possible offer; however that can be dealt by voting on it...

The 2012 organizing committee did an extensive amount of work ahead of time and had it prepared for about a couple of years. It was unfortunate and heartbreaking what happened with the CFC fees (it should have never happened) because of an individual, but beside that I do not agree that bid was similar with this one they are trying to put forward. It was not even close!

I recall some of the language in the 2012 bid but do not remember all of the details though I was in Toronto when it was proposed and voted for it at the AGM. Since you worked on it, it is likely your recollection is more accurate.

Fred McKim
12-15-2015, 11:49 AM
I'm not clear if we are voting on the CYCC / CO events separately or if we are voting on three CYCC/optional CO packages, and if Vancouver wins then determining who still wants to go ahead with a lone CO.

Can we have a ruling, Vlad ?

Until the timing of the CYCC has to change (which might be soon), I think we should favour bids that want both events.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-15-2015, 12:28 PM
I'm not clear if we are voting on the CYCC / CO events separately or if we are voting on three CYCC/optional CO packages, and if Vancouver wins then determining who still wants to go ahead with a lone CO.

Can we have a ruling, Vlad ?

Until the timing of the CYCC has to change (which might be soon), I think we should favour bids that want both events.

At the moment, Vancouver is not on the table so there is no need for a ruling. I have outlined how it might be returned to the table but only if someone initiates the sequence that I have outlined and strictly speaking it is getting late as such appeals/objections to rulings of the chair should be undertaken immediately. There was a big argument when Michael von Keitz was president on this question as I recall. Also if the situation does proceed down that path there are strict rules about debate over such motions. The chair gets to speak first and last on the appeal. Individuals arguing the appeal get to speak once.

I agree that bids that take on both events should be favoured. If the Vancouver bid makes it back onto the table and it was the only one on the table then I would recommend that we accept the bid. Where we have two other bids that are combined bids well it makes sense that we pick one of them. The FQE bid will cost the CFC $2000. The Windsor bid will cost us nothing. Strip out CYCC and throw out the two current bids and I suspect we will need a sizeable incentive to get someone to do the Canadian Open. Last year offers of $3000 did not turn the trick. Picking a bid without the Canadian Open is tantamount to choosing not to have a Canadian Open. This in a year where there will be the cost of the two Olympiad teams to consider and the increased costs of sending two delegations to world youth events instead of one. We are going to have less money this time around due to reductions in the book deal with the CMA ($5000 instead of $8000) and also the need to renegotiate the deal with the FQE. We need to get started on fundraising now.

I don't think we can afford to change the timing of CYCC. It is first and foremost the Canadian Championship and we should not compromise that to accommodate other considerations.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-15-2015, 08:39 PM
Fundraising for the Windsor bid has now reached $11,800 though there are strings attached to one or more of the pledges. Caesars Windsor has pledged $5,000 to the CFC youth fund to send kids to world tournaments if we give Windsor all three tournaments. They have also offered that playing halls will be free. Payment will be made upon completion of the third tournament (NAYCC).

Aris Marghetis
12-15-2015, 09:16 PM
Fundraising for the Windsor bid has now reached $11,800 though there are strings attached to one or more of the pledges. Caesars Windsor has pledged $5,000 to the CFC youth fund to send kids to world tournaments if we give Windsor all three tournaments. They have also offered that playing halls will be free. Payment will be made upon completion of the third tournament (NAYCC).

wow-WOW-W.O.W. !!!

Vlad, that is stunningly good news! The Windsor team seem to be building tremendous relationships with local business! $5K DONATION to the youth fund?! FREE PLAYING HALLS ?! Am I missing anything, because the triple-Windsor-bids now seem overwhelmingly superior. I am ready to vote for them all. And I"m delighted for the Windsor people.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-15-2015, 09:37 PM
Assuming that Windsor does all three tournaments that makes the Canadian Open at close to break even before even one pasta fundraiser (-$1000) though we have to still talk to some of the downtown businesses. Caesars has also made some interesting offers which may allow us to invite more grandmasters without bankrupting us.

The plan here is that funds raised for junior chess go to junior chess and funds raised for the Canadian Open go to the Canadian Open. We will not be taking any of the kids money to subsidize the Canadian Open.

Richard Bérubé
12-16-2015, 06:31 PM
BID from Quebec City,

Just some precision. The Quebec BID do not ask for 2 000 $ from the CFC. I think there is a misunderstanding here. It's all the opposite. Last year the CFC offered 2 000$ to the organizer of the Canadian Open. We simply say that we do not need that money this year.

Quebec City BID is very interesting in many ways. A different city and the possibility to attract lots of players from Montreal nearby. Quebec City is a UNESCO World Heritage site with a myriad of touristic possibilities. It's the only walled city North of Mexico. Quebec City is gathering accolades around the world as the perfect venue for large-scale events.

The parents will like Quebec City. It's a city rich in history. We are preparing some touristic exursions includind a cruise on the St-Lawrence river.

Two Chess clubs will be associated to the organizing committee : Montcalm Chess Club and Ste-Foy Chess Club.

We are in close contact with the Quebec Convention Center and some details still needs to be attached. We expect to have all the details for tomorrow. So it would be a good idea to wait for those important informations before voting. What is more normal than to have the complete picture before taking any decision.

Best regards,
Richard Bérubé
DG FQE

Richard Bérubé
12-16-2015, 07:44 PM
Some clarification to the Quebec City Bid

- The FQE do not claim any subsidy for the organization of both tournaments.
- Quebec City is a wonderful touristic site. It boasts four centuries of history marked by epic battles. We plan to develop attractions for the participants around the possibilities to visit its many sites and learn about its social, military and religious history.
- The tournament will be held in the Quebec Convention Center a brand new mega-building in the heart of the Old City (Uptown). This is made possible by a financial held from the City (around 7 000 $).
- The FQE organized many tournaments over the years. In 2014, the CYCC and Canadian Open in Montreal attracted 740 players combined, a new record. During those events, the media coverage was huge. National, regional, local newspapers and television were following the tournaments every day like never before and after. It was largely due to the formation of a special committee directed on that very subject.
- Quebec City is a new and interesting possibility to attract new players to chess.
- Quebec has four active Grand masters (Hansen, Lesiège, Roussel and Sambuev). They are likely to play in the Canadian Open. The Hotels deal will permit to have more Grand masters (free rooms).
- PwC (Price Waterhouse Coopers) will help the Quebec Youth Program with a sponsorship of 5 000 $. This will benefit the CYCC.
- The FQE has two full time employees and 2 part time employees who can work on the project closely. This is without counting many volunteers.

Michael Barron
12-16-2015, 09:20 PM
Thank you, Richard, for clarification!

Could you please confirm that Canadian Open will have 9 rounds over 9 days - from July 9 to July 17 ?

Paul Leblanc
12-16-2015, 09:21 PM
The 2014 Canadian Open in Montreal certainly had a huge turnout and a wonderful playing site and it seems likely that Quebec City could put on a similar event. Quebec City also hosted the 2014 NATO Championship and although the FQE was not involved directly, the event was a huge success and people loved the city.

Richard Bérubé
12-17-2015, 06:10 PM
The Canadian Open will have 9 rounds over 8 days : 9 to 16 of july. There is one day with two rounds.
Richard Bérubé
FQE DG

Richard Bérubé
12-17-2015, 07:27 PM
Location of prestige events in Canada

It is worth reminding that FQE last November 20th proposed its Board to enter a CYCC / Canadian Open bid just because there was none then at the CFC level. As a result we now have to endure pages of the Windsor litany justifying monopoly over competition. For good measure NAYCC is also included.

Fine. We shall not even try to argue. Just permit us a few remarks. These July events are for the benefit of players, parents and foreigners alike. In order to attract more members and more sponsors in the future, they must also serve the promotion and reputation of chess within Canada, a country still seen from abroad as a safe and fun touristic place to play.

With that in mind, we believe Vancouver simply is a fantastic new option. The CFC should do everything to help that bid. Nobody denies that Windsor did a good job last year but repeating the position draws. Ambassador’s bridge and the Satanic Temple of Detroit are not really that entertaining.

And what to say about Sault Ste. Marie? Why not Rattle Snake Island in Georgian Bay, just off the French River? (By the way do we understand that 2017 has been awarded before 2016? How does one get informed?).

For the benefit of Canada we believe that locations like Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto (why has TO fallen asleep?), Ottawa, Montréal and Québec City should strongly be encouraged.

Bernard Labadie
Président - President
Fédération québécoise des échecs
Quebec Chess Federation

Vladimir Drkulec
12-17-2015, 07:37 PM
Location of prestige events in Canada

It is worth reminding that FQE last November 20th proposed its Board to enter a CYCC / Canadian Open bid just because there was none then at the CFC level. As a result we now have to endure pages of the Windsor litany justifying monopoly over competition. For good measure NAYCC is also included.

Fine. We shall not even try to argue. Just permit us a few remarks. These July events are for the benefit of players, parents and foreigners alike. In order to attract more members and more sponsors in the future, they must also serve the promotion and reputation of chess within Canada, a country still seen from abroad as a safe and fun touristic place to play.

With that in mind, we believe Vancouver simply is a fantastic new option. The CFC should do everything to help that bid. Nobody denies that Windsor did a good job last year but repeating the position draws. Ambassador’s bridge and the Satanic Temple of Detroit are not really that entertaining.

And what to say about Sault Ste. Marie? Why not Rattle Snake Island in Georgian Bay, just off the French River? (By the way do we understand that 2017 has been awarded before 2016? How does one get informed?).

For the benefit of Canada we believe that locations like Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto (why has TO fallen asleep?), Ottawa, Montréal and Québec City should strongly be encouraged.

Bernard Labadie
Président - President
Fédération québécoise des échecs
Quebec Chess Federation

Sigh. I will have more to say on this later. I have a lesson to teach to an 8 year old girl across the city now.

Garland Best
12-17-2015, 08:04 PM
After reviewing the bids, my comments are as follows:

1) I am willing to move that the Vancouver bid be restored if that is being asked for. I understand that this is late and not in process, but based on the emails I don't think it best serves the bidding process that the bid be called out of order due to an error by the bidders that they are willing to correct.

2) Even after saying this, I personally favour bids from groups that are willing to do both the CYCC and CO and not just the CYCC. Given that all bids for the CO appear to be contingent on hosting the CYCC as well, it appear to be necessary to vote for bids that include the CO. Otherwise we again will not have a CO.

3) I also do not think chess is best served if all three events occur in just the one location. I feel that it saturates the market in that one area, at the expense of other areas for the country, and thus fails to broaden chess for the whole of the country. For that reason I will be voting in support of Kingston for the NAYCC, and urge other members to do the same.

4) I also believe that the CYCC and Canadian Open should also occur in different locations across the country each year, and for that reason I will vote for Quebec City. However I recognize the strength of the Windsor bid, and so I encourage the members to vote here as per their own personal preference.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-18-2015, 01:30 AM
Did we mention that parking is free? At CYCC 2015 we managed to negotiate $5 for tournament parking a few blocks away. That's the kind of thing that happens when you put someone in charge who doesn't know that you can't ask for this kind of thing from a city bureaucracy.

Just in case, someone might have misconstrued my meaning here, I want to make clear that this line was in no way intended as a criticism of the organizers of last year's CYCC but rather intended as one of many examples of their sheer genius. Obviously you could ask for this sort of thing and this little act probably saved the CYCC participants and volunteers on the order of $6000 per day in parking fees.

Fred McKim
12-18-2015, 08:37 AM
And what to say about Sault Ste. Marie? Why not Rattle Snake Island in Georgian Bay, just off the French River? (By the way do we understand that 2017 has been awarded before 2016? How does one get informed?).

Bernard Labadie
Président - President
Fédération québécoise des échecs
Quebec Chess Federation


Bernard. I don't see how statements like this can help CFC-FQE relations. Clearly you missed the CFC Annual Meeting in July where the fantastic 2017 Canadian Open bid from Sault Ste. Marie was presented, a whole two years in advance - a model we'd obviously like to move toward. I think it is even likely that we can entertain a bid from the losing CO/CYCC team for the 2018 event and get way head of the event.

There were no bids for 2016 at that time, thus here we are - only 7 months away from July.

Vladimir Drkulec
12-18-2015, 10:20 AM
Most other sporting federations have their event schedule planned out several years in advance. I can't imagine Golf Canada or Hockey Canada not having their major headline events up for grabs some seven or eight months before their scheduled dates.

Fred McKim
12-18-2015, 11:05 AM
Most other sporting federations have their event schedule planned out several years in advance. I can't imagine Golf Canada or Hockey Canada not having their major headline events up for grabs some seven or eight months before their scheduled dates.

Vlad .... right now we are in the best position we've ever been in (and I go back to 1978) as we are going to have two CO/CYCC's scheduled and maybe even a 3rd CYCC/CO or CYCC and maybe even a NAYCC for 2019 if the losing bidder wants to rework their bid.

Aris Marghetis
12-18-2015, 11:12 AM
Vlad .... right now we are in the best position we've ever been in (and I go back to 1978) as we are going to have two CO/CYCC's scheduled and maybe even a 3rd CYCC/CO or CYCC and maybe even a NAYCC for 2019 if the losing bidder wants to rework their bid.

Fred, that's an excellent point! I am also hoping that the convergence of the early SSM 2017 bids, and all of the late interest for 2016, will serve to start something that we can finally definitively build on for years. For example, for the 2018 CYCC/CO, it would be awesome if we could see by our 2016 AGM, complete kickbutt bids from Quebec and at least one from the West. Similarly, I can now think of 3-4 very strong potential bidders for the 2019 NAYCC. I heartily encourage all 2016 bidders to re-bid for 2018-19!

Fred McKim
12-18-2015, 11:34 AM
And wouldn't it be great if we started getting bids from organizers for the Canadian Women's or Canadian Junior, as all of the "popular" ones get snapped up years in advance.

Richard Bérubé
12-18-2015, 03:30 PM
Clarifications to the Quebec City BID 2016

CYCC 2016 and Canadian Open 2016
http://www.echecsmontreal.ca/co/quebec-A.jpg
- Site of the tournament : Quebec City Convention Center (Centre des Congrès de Québec) 900, boul. René-Lévesque-Ouest, Quebec City. The Québec City Convention Centre, with its newly renovated meeting space, is perfectly integrated in a modern building complex. Underground tunnels link the Québec City Convention Centre to two four-star hotels, the Hilton Québec and Delta Québec. Over 4,000 indoor parking spaces are also available.

http://www.echecsmontreal.ca/co/quebec-B.jpg
- Parking : Rather drive than take the bus? No problem. An underground tunnel links the Québec City Convention Centre to the Hilton and Delta hotels, Édifice Marie-Guyart (also known as “Complexe G”), and four more underground parking lots for a total of 4,175 parking spaces.

- Hotel associated to the event : Delta Québec 159 $/Single or double during the time of the event. Possibility to add 3 nights before and after the event.
The Québec City Convention Centre is linked to the hotel by an underground passageway, and Jean-Lesage International Airport is only 20 minutes away from the hotel. Numerous Québec City attractions are also within easy reach.

http://www.echecsmontreal.ca/co/quebec-C.jpg

- Parking : Rather drive than take the bus? No problem. An underground tunnel links the Québec City Convention Centre to the Hilton and Delta hotels, Édifice Marie-Guyart (also known as “Complexe G”), and four more underground parking lots for a total of 4,175 parking spaces.

- Hotel associated to the event : Delta Québec 159 $/Single or double during the time of the event. Possibility to add 3 nights before and after the event.
The Québec City Convention Centre is linked to the hotel by an underground passageway, and Jean-Lesage International Airport is only 20 minutes away from the hotel. Numerous Québec City attractions are also within easy reach.
http://www.echecsmontreal.ca/co/quebec-E.jpg
http://www.echecsmontreal.ca/co/quebec-D.jpg

Sasha Starr
12-18-2015, 09:54 PM
"For the benefit of Canada we believe that locations like Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto (why has TO fallen asleep?), Ottawa, Montréal and Québec City should strongly be encouraged."

Bernard, agree with you. Once Chess Supersite Corporation will complete its offering we'll start preparing our first tournament, location - one of the most beautiful resorts near Toronto (about 1,5 hours drive). Our site will open in January, will need high level professionals providing French content, such as blog(s), also events (playing Master Challenge, Banter Chess, etc.) Could you help?

Vladimir Drkulec
12-19-2015, 02:11 PM
We have reached the milestone of $12,000 in fundraising for the Windsor bid. Actually it may be a bit higher as I forgot to ask the latest donor (one of our American friends) whether it was in Canadian or U.S. dollars.

Lyle Craver
12-20-2015, 01:35 PM
Transportation links have ALWAYS been critical for major events particularly those held outside major metropolitan areas.

I remember one AGM held at a Canadian Open tournament where I gave my proxy to
(1) any BC Governor present failing that
(2) any BCCF Executive member present failing that
(3) any Governor present from western Canada

... and the president gave my proxy to someone from Thunder Bay as the only "westerner" present. (Which was interesting since my part of proxy instructions were 'vote against any motions moved from the floor by Mr. X' - the Thunder Bay guy - who was known for moving all kinds of motions without much notice most of which I found fatuous though to his credit he executed the proxy faithfully and with integrity)

Basically any event more than 3 hours from a major transportation hub (Vancouver, Calgary/Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal) is likely to have poorer turnout than it should particularly if it's a short event.