Discussion of any new business goes here.
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Discussion of any new business goes here.
I've already noted elsewhere that I've had a request to ask whether the CFC had any inkling of the date and place of the Canadian Open (members want to obviously book their vacation schedule around the Open). Being relatively new to the process of how the Canadian Open is booked and authorized, I just wanted to bring up the issue.
We have been in discussions for quite some time with a potential organizer. The time frame is in August but it is still not at the stage where we could confirm dates though it could happen soon. I wouldn't want to give a date and then see the plans fall through and then see someone else organize the tournament at a different time after everyone has booked their vacations. Our possible timing is being squeezed by the same issues that are imposing themselves on the Canadian Closed which we can discuss in that thread.
In the last few years, the CYCC and Canadian Open have been linked: either they were run by the same organiser (last year for sure, maybe 2013 as well), or they were run by different organisers but set with CO to follow CYCC nearby (Vancouver / Victoria).
This would seem to be good for both players and organisers.
I know that the CYCC is to be held in Windsor, Ontario on July 6 - 9 2015.
It seems too bad that no plans have been made to run the 2015 CO in or near Windsor
starting Fri July 10 or Sat Jul 11.
Chris Field.
Voting Member (Ontario).
There was interest among some in doing so but the work and financial resources required were simply beyond what the local organizers could realistically take on with two of us on the CFC executive. In most cases when the CYCC and CO were organized together there were issues. Montreal was something of an exception with participants in both tournaments giving very good reviews to the FQE organizers and organization which saw record participation for both tournaments. Health and family issues prevented me from getting too involved at this time.
We have been informed this afternoon that our website developer and web hosting company Resolution is no longer able to support the CFC website. We will be looking at either moving the website to another web hosting service or perhaps onto the web host of the CFC forums which should be robust enough to support the CFC website. We will be exploring all of our options.
It seems that Larry Bevand is interested to organize the Canadain Open 2015. Any information about that ?
Can we at least learn more about who the potential organizer is?
For the sake of the voting members who cannot speak French, here are the two polls Larry Bevand conducted on Chesstalk (French part) :
"The CFC asked us to organize the CO next summer between August 19 and 23, at the Le Chantecler, in the Laurentides (an hour north of Montreal). 2 games a day, except on the 23rd. We need 150 players to break even. Rooms at $95. Do you think it is realistic"
After a lot of negative comments on the location and the number of games per day (although there was a few positive comments) :
"Other possibility : 9 rounds over 6 days from August 18 to 23 in Quebec City, registration fees similar to last year, $10 000 in prizes. Need 200 players to break even".
Both polls showed very strong opposition to the idea (or at least to the chances of success).
I think both locations have their pros and cons.
The biggest problem for Le Chantecler is the accessibility of the location. It's not too hard for Montrealers to get there, if they have a car (which is definitely not the case of all chess players). However, for all the Canadians coming by bus, train or plane, it is really hard to get there.
Also, I think what a lot of people didn't like is the 9 rounds in 5 days. I personally don't mind, as it means less hotel costs, but I'm also much younger than the typical chess player...
Honestly, I like being in the center of a town for a chess tournament, and I think people enjoyed it for Montreal's CO and CYCC. Le Chantecler looks like a nice resort, but 5 or 6 days may be a bit too much.
On the other hand, Quebec City is further from Montreal, and would most likely attract fewer players from here. So, the 200 players goal might be really hard to reach.
In any case, I think both could be great tournaments, but I'm not sure if they could break even, especially because of the "competition" with the Quebec Open, which offers great conditions, but has a huge deficit.
That said, if I could get vacations I would try to play in the tournament, no matter the location.
We have been talking with Larry for some time about a possible Quebec based tournament. There may be CMA involvement in the 2015 Canadian Open but it won't be in Quebec (as noted elsewhere the polling on the French Chesstalk site was largely negative). Hal Bond and I discussed some options today on Skype and we will follow up on them. We will let the governors and public know as soon as we have something definite.
I will seriously consider resigning if the CFC governors agree to a Canadian open in august.
Obviously this organization will have shown it cares nothing for chess in Hamilton.
So why should I have anything to do with it?
Is there a chess tournament in Hamilton in August? I can't find anything, and so perhaps potential organizers could not either...
To my mind this is the single most important item at this meeting emphasized by the fact that it is now February.
Indeed. I don't think its reasonable to claim an entire month of the summer unless you are holding tournaments on every weekend. In the latter case they should be posted on the CFC coming tournaments section if you want them to be taken into consideration by other organizers. Two weekends in July are taken by the Quebec Open bolstered by the francophonie tournament. We will be squeezing the Canadian Closed between the CYCC and Quebec Open. Our options are becoming more limited by the day.
Garvin, can you please explain why holding the Canadian Open in August is not a viable option ? Because of the limited time period for holding the Canadian Open, I think an explanation is warranted.
The Canadian Open and Closed have been organized together a few times when the Closed was a RR of 16 players.
Hamilton has been working for some time to get one of its tournaments going in August. We are also in a rental situation where the only weekends available are for the month of August.
We had another tournament in winter which its looking increasingly like we wont be doing for awhile, because of local issues. So I guess I'm frustrated with the situation. (The chess situation in Hamilton that is.)
However I have decided if Larry decides to do a tournament from the 18th or 19th to the 23rd I will try to work around it, and I'll give my support to him. I just ask we decide this asap so I can see if its feasible for Hamilton to have a tournament earlier in August.
So to summarize, I do truly wish we would keep the Canadian Open in July, however, Ill support it if its in August.