Conflicting tournaments!!

Hi:

The Niagara Falls Open has been on the CFC website for about a year. It's a small tournament on the outskirts of SWOCL. We draw anywhere from 30-50 players for the last 15 or so years. I thought the idea was not to conflict with other tournaments in the SWOCL area, so as to maximize attendance at our tournaments.

Monday, a new tournament in Kitchener was posted. We draw a minimal amount of players from the Kitchener/Waterloo area, but have drawn some in the past. By posting this tournament, it conflicts with Niagara Falls. Tony Li says he doesn't want to conflict with other tournaments, but posts his less than two weeks before and should be able to clearly see that this is another tournament around.

The Niagara Falls Open doesn't advertise on Chesstalk, due to some slamming of me because I didn't post a tournament update after the event. Six years ago, my dad passed away a few hours after the event. Four years ago, and the reason we aren't there anymore, I had knee surgery two days later. I don't have a laptop, so was unable to get on the computer to do my recap after the event. People don't realize there is life besides chess. If it hadn't been for my assistant TD's, John and Walter, the Niagara Falls Open would not be around. They convinced me to keep it going and help those in the Niagara region have a tournament to play without having to travel an hour and a half to two hours to events. This allows them to sleep in their own beds, save on travel, food and time.

When you are in the centre of SWOCL, you have all the above advantages.

What happened to fairness and equity amongst TD's in the area? I always check to make sure that the dates I'm interested in are available in advance. As someone who works weekends and nights, I'm limited in the amount of tournaments I can run and play in.

Just curious what others think of this.

Thank you.

John Erickson
TD
Niagara Falls Open

The days of organizer respect has long been lost with these upstart organizers who think life resolves around them. Well Hello these upstarts are not really Die Hard Organizers. They are in that rut when hey I cannot decide what to do with my life so why not run tournaments when ever I feel like it to conflict with other established tournaments so I get the spotlight for a weekend event.
In ten years I'd doubt we will even hear about this Guy Tony Li. He'll find a life other than chess and he will be a has bin. Ed Thompson I have known for years and I'm really surprised he'd run this active that he would know would be a conflict. If Tony Li had advertised as an U19 Active .I would have supported his idea. I've been organizing events and supported other events since 1982. I have played
cfc rated games since 1973. But I have never ran a conflicting tournament that would ever effect another event. One year I did run an event the same day as a Labour Day Open but it was not open to everyone only my friends.
The Niagara Falls Open has had a lot of bumps from other organizers but one thing is constant . We Have Run A Local Tournament Every Year for 15 years and we have had players from Cuba,USA B.C. Peterborough, Markham, Scarborough, Kingston. So there are players who would rather play our weekend than some other tournaments.
Established tournaments always need support and if chess players don't realize that ,established tournaments will not continue if they do not have support then they will never see past their noses. Fly by nights are what they are. Here today gone tomorrow. Niagara Falls Open is posted a year in advance and the time we book is very cheap for motels. So if anyone who would like to come and see the Falls and get cheap rates as low as $50 on off season you can save a ton of money. Why pay $100 plus dollars for Hotels when you can save your money at Niagara Falls. It is a no brain decision. And I thought Chess Players were smart.

Is an "active" event vs a "slow" event on the same weekend really a conflict? How many potential players would play in only an active (i.e. one day) event, how many only in a slow (i.e. multi-day) event, and for how many would it be a tossup (for those living within commuting distance of both events)? The cost of a weekend tournament for an out-of-towner needing accommodation would obviously be more than for a one-day event.


Would an active tournament lose more players to a slow tournament, or vice-versa (or none at all)?

Hi Hugh;
I think this thread is that Tony Li did not want to be conflicting yet he at a whim decides to run a conflicting tournament. Even though he said he did not want to cause a conflict. He admitted he never plans he just does what he wants to do.

To answer your question No an active does not normally effect a slow tournament. But when you decide to post an active less than a few days before a slow tournament that has been posted for over a year then that is an insult to the slow tournament organizer. If this fly by night Organizer wants to run an active post it at least a Month before a registered slow tournament. This year Niagara falls is for 19 and over players. As I stated in my thread had this Tony Li posted an active for U19 year olds I would have no problem with that as Juniors have a right to play when they have been banned from this year's Niagara Falls Open. We always have last minute entries at Niagara . This is usually due to Work schedules( in fact one just joined today for that very reason ) or family commitments and yes even financial restraints. Personally 90% of the participants drive so they do not have to stay over. So the days when you were forced to stay over does not hold water anymore Hugh.
I do not drive but I will commit myself long before the last two weeks. I would never cancel a commitment if Tony Fly By Night Li decided to run an active I don't care if he lived next door to me and I only had to walk up the street.
This issue is about causing conflict with a registered posted upcoming tournament a year in advance vs a spur of the moment post for a tournament.
Those who do not drive have already chosen what their expenses can be afforded will be.
I don't think The Montreal Open would be happy if I offered a $100,000 guaranteed tournament 1 week before their event was starting. Because we all know that a player can ask for a refund for their money as long as they give notice that they cannot play.

There is no need to disparage other organizers. There is room for everyone. Not everyone can play for three days on a particular weekend. For those who can't, an active is a welcome alternative. People who like long time controls usually don't like fast time controls.

Vladimir:

This is another member of SWOCL who says he doesn't want to confllict with another tournament and then decides to run a tournament less than two weeks out on the same weekend as one that was posted a year ago. Where is the courtesy of allowing a tournament run without another tournament? It doesn't matter if it's a short or long tournament. If it was a junior tournament, or if it was in an area outside the SWOCL area, then I would be fine with that. How would you feel if you ran a two or three day tournament and then someone decided to run a one day tournament at the last minute, that could potentially take away players from yours? I don't believe you would be fine with that.

The Niagara Falls tournament is a small tournament and any chance that players are taken away, takes away a chance at a bigger prize fund. My biggest complaint is Tony Li said he doesn't want to cause problems by conflicting with another tournament and decided to anyways. That's why I'm pissed off.

Actions speak louder than words.

John Erickson
Niagara Falls

I think you are going to lose more people from Kitchener by attacking Tony Li, who I suspect is fairly well regarded among his peers, than you will by talking about what sets your tournament apart from others and contrast what a slow time control tournament offers versus a fast time control event. For example, when I played you had those inexpensive and delicious roast beef sandwiches which saved the necessity of travelling afar for lunch. There was a nearby hotel that was relatively inexpensive and you have the backdrop of Niagara Falls which can be chintzy and touristy but still is spectacular visually and can inspire awe and offers lots of opportunity for people watching. I thought you hurt yourself a few years ago with the anti-Razvan posts which seemed to me to be bit gratuitous and also contribute to a negative energy. There are many positive things about your tournament and if you remind people about that you will have better results.

I have been playing in the CFC for over 25 years. I have made it a practice to thank the TD/Organizer of every tournament I go to. I thought I had a good reputation in the chess community. I also thought that Tournament Directors had respect for each other and not run tournaments against one other in the same region. I remember a few years ago, Ottawa ran a tournament on the same weekend as mine. They are in a different region of the CFC and the distance wasn't a factor and I said nothing. No conflict there, in my opinion. I have had players from Kitchener play in my tournament in the past. I know that if you run a one day tournament in my area, I'm not going to play a tournament an hour and a half to two hours away, and I respect and understand any player who does that.

If Tony Li had run a junior tournament, I would have said nothing. He also said that he doesn't want to conflict with other tournaments, his words, not mine. I called him out on that. If that's wrong, then I'm wrong. I remember a few years ago, Toronto always ran a holiday tournament and a month before had posted nothing. Kitchener decided to step into the breach and run a tournament. Then Toronto was able to get everything set up and ran a tournament and criticized Kitchener. In my opinion, Kitchener did nothing wrong in this scenario. There was a big fight on Chesstalk about this.

I avoid Chesstalk because I got slammed for not posting right away after my tournament one year. Six years ago, my dad passed away literally hours after my tournament. Four years ago, I had knee surgery two days after my tournament. I wasn't able to get to my computer for over a week, no laptop, and therefore don't post there anymore.

I try to be reasonable, balanced in my comments. I don't post on Chesstalk a lot and when I do, I try to be the voice of reason.

I thought the idea is to promote chess and if it's allowed to post a tournament at the last minute against another tournament, then you are going to discourage new tournament directors from running events.

Just my opinion.

John Erickson
Niagara Falls Open
TD

The issue with Razvan/Roman was this: He emailed us three days before the tournament and asked to play and for free registration. We responded that he could play, but he would have to pay. He responded by saying that he gets free entry in other tournaments and would not attend because he had to pay. If he had emailed a month earlier about playing, we might have given him free entry. All tournament organizers like the ability to promote players who are coming to their event. Most of the time the headline says, GM/IM/FM fill in the blank, is coming to play. You are hoping that this will spur others to come and play. That was the issue there.

Yes, we still have the roast beef sandwiches. Yes, we still have all the amenities that you mentioned. The biggest difference is we now have a computer on site and print our pairings out, which makes the rounds start better.

John Erickson