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Thread: Canadian Open 2011

  1. #11
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    I said something very similar to this to Bob Gillanders at the Canadian Amateur last week.

    In my opinion there's nothing wrong with either style of Canadian Open, but we've had so many "Glitzy" ones in a row...

    I think we should encourage organizers also to either decide to make it a Norm event or not. And if it's going to be a Norm event, then sections and potentially 10 rounds are they way to go (didn't they always used to be 10 rounds long anyway?).

  2. #12

    Default CO 2011 & GM's, etc.

    CO 2010 had 7 foreign GM's. As I understand it they got free entry, and free accomodation ( there were no appearance fees paid; the organizers put their money into the prize fund to make the tournament attractive enough for foreign GM's ) - one of the organizers can correct me if I'm wrong on this.

    So what if for CO2011, all GM's got free entry? Again, no appearance fees will be paid. Only Canadian GM's will get free accomodation. This would scale down the budget somewhat, and make it more Canadian-centric? Would this be considered an acceptable downscaling? Is it not enough downsizing?

    What about playing hall? Some years ago, before the 2009 PwC Toronto Open, Brian Fiedler did a modest player survey on desirable playing conditions. The majority wanted a playing hall in a reasonably decent hotel ! The idea seemed to be that it made the event more " professional ". Can we depart from that now , to downscale? - the Montreal 2008 CO was held in a CEGEP ( community college type school - cafeteria type tables; no tablecloths, as I remember ).

    Bob
    Last edited by Bob Armstrong; 08-11-2010 at 10:28 PM.

  3. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Christopher Mallon
    I said something very similar to this to Bob Gillanders at the Canadian Amateur last week.

    In my opinion there's nothing wrong with either style of Canadian Open, but we've had so many "Glitzy" ones in a row...

    I think we should encourage organizers also to either decide to make it a Norm event or not. And if it's going to be a Norm event, then sections and potentially 10 rounds are they way to go (didn't they always used to be 10 rounds long anyway?).
    My initial reaction is that the CO, as an open-to-all-levels event, even with a top section, is not the best choice for a norm event. In my opinion, norm events work better, even with reserve sections, at special elite events, like the Montreal International. It also seems easier logistically at such events.

    Regarding sections, I deeply believe in having sections for virtually every tournament. However, perhaps in the same way that you have some kind of fondness for 10 rounds, I have a fondness for once a year, going through the crazy yoyo pairings of one big section numbering hundreds of players!

  4. #14
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    I wasn't specifically advocating it being in sections or not, or 9 or 10 rounds, merely that if you are going to make any attempt at promoting norms, then don't do half-measures.

    If you had a >2200 Open section (or even >2000) and 10 rounds you'd have a much better shot at a norm occurring than a massive open section and 9 rounds, no matter what (legal) pairing system you might use.

    On the other hand if you want to cater to the average competitive player, 9 or 10 rounds doesn't really matter, and one big section is perfectly fine.

  5. #15
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    Haha, I was wondering how long before this appeared on Spragett's blog.

    I especially liked this line: "... he already feels confident arguing that there exists a problem where no one else sees a problem:"

    He's not even the only person in this thread saying there's a problem, and I think the total lack of any bid for next year makes it fairly obvious that there IS a problem. But maybe it looks different from Portugal?

  6. #16

    Default The 2011 Can. Open - Tackling the Problem

    Kevin Spraggett, in his blog, seems unaware that the very classy and " successful " 2010 Can. Open was not successful financially - it lost money - organizers' money. It might be noted that the 2009 PwC Toronto Open, also a very classy event, with foreign GM's for a weekend 5-round tournament, also lost money.

    Now, I am not aware of the CO's from 2006 - 2009 ( Kitchener, Ottawa, Montreal, Edmonton ) losing money though.

    But I think Canadian organizers are clearly, and somewhat legitimately, concerned about holding another high class CO - and they are showing it by putting in no 2011 Can. Open bids at the CFC Toronto July AGM.

    Despite Kevin's opinion, I think there is a problem. And Bob G. is right to open the debate about it. Bob G deserves some credit for tackling an immediate and concerning 2010-11 problem, and doing it in the open in a consultative way. And he is getting some CFC member support for his view that maybe all CO's do not have to reach the highest standard every year - that there is room some years for a more limited CO, if that is the type of bid that comes in. Can. organizers should be aware of whether such an option is available to them.

    Bob A

  7. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Christopher Mallon
    Haha, I was wondering how long before this appeared on Spragett's blog.

    I especially liked this line: "... he already feels confident arguing that there exists a problem where no one else sees a problem:"

    He's not even the only person in this thread saying there's a problem, and I think the total lack of any bid for next year makes it fairly obvious that there IS a problem. But maybe it looks different from Portugal?
    lol

    Maybe K.S. could put a little more time into his 'long-awaited' expose on the CFC and Chess in Canada? Maybe he is writing a new chapter now to cover the Gillanders era?

  8. #18
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    Default A minimalist's Canadian Open - 2001

    I was approached by Mt Allison University in 1999 about the possibility of having the 2001 Canadian Open in Sackville, in the summer time, with the students gone home, not much more than a ghost town.

    We ended up advertizing a $13000 prize fund (based on 160 players) and 3 Grandmasters that we (or at least those of my age group) thought would be attractions: Kevin Spraggett, Larry Christiansen, and the late Tony Miles.

    We ended up with 169 participants, and if we subtract the local 15 from Moncton (less than 30 minutes away) we have 154 players, most of whom (minus the invited masters, and gas guzzling commuters) had to shell out for accomodations, travel, food, for the tournament package we put together. The residence rooms were reasonably priced (I can't remember if there were food packages or not), and I suspect the local food joints were all resonably priced.

    So my question is, approximately how many people did we pull in from outside the Toronto area this year; or by using the same formulas, for other years. Is bigger, better ?

    Obviously everyone likes bigger and better, but we can't continue on with good organizers having to lose money.

  9. #19

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    In 2001 we also hosted the CYCC prior to the CO. I thought it was a good synergy. Miles and Christiansen seemed to be just enough GM presence for the crowd and venue.

  10. #20
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    Default Cycc

    Yes. I did a quick scan through the CFC ratings site (with the help of David Cohen's list of champions, as the crosstable archives don't seem to back before 2006 - the crosstables exist, but you have to link to them via a player in the event) and counted 157 players. I would bet no more than a dozen were locals. I would guess only 1/4 at most of these players stayed for the open (maybe I'll count that up sometime).

    Some big names played: "Future" GM's Charbonneau and Bluvshtein, IM's Larsen, Roussel-Roozmon, and Panjwani, WIM Kagramanov, and several FM's including Thavandiran....

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