I've spent most of the last 30 years working for different chess associations. Even so, many CFC members might not really know me. So, here is a brief summary of my chess career as an organizer.
The first major tournament I organized was the Quebec City Winter Carnival tournament in 1981 under the flag of the Quebec chess league. That tournament was dying at the time and I can say that the 1981 edition was a complete success and a strong rehearsal. The same year, I also organized the Canadian Open in the same city. I think it's still the only time this classic tournament was held in the old city.
From 1982 to 1984, I ran a full-time private chess club in Quebec City. At some point we had more than 100 members and different type of activities were on the calendar, including some specials ones like simuls with big names : Nigel Short, Michael Stean, Igor Ivanov…
After completing my studies (Sociology in 1987), I proposed an interesting project to Larry Bevand and its new association (CMA) : the publication of a chess magazine entirely dedicated to children (Échec au Roi. Soon after, an English edition followed (David Smith). I produced 29 issues over a period of 7 years.
This lead me to the FQE in 1994 and I am still here today. At the beginning, I was responsible of the magazine (Échec +). I became the Executive Director in 1995. Over those years I organized an important number of tournaments at different levels. This includes the Quebec Open, the Canadian Open, the CYCC, the Quebec Invitational, the Montreal Open and Invitational (TIM), the Quebec Junior, Team-Quebec (youth)…
So, I believe I have a very good idea of what is needed to organize a chess tournament and my experience might help the CFC.
Richard Bérubé