Leaving for some other place and time the question of "crucifixion", eh, I charged $120 per onsite day to be chief TD of the CYCC and CO in 2007. That was to direct a 2-section Canadian Open with one (max two) GM(s), and thus no special pairing system would be required. It was slightly more than what I charged in 2003 to direct the same events. But then the committee changed the event to a single section, and after I put them in touch with Nigel Short, they started to bring in GMs left and right. That put a huge $ investment in the GMs and I thought it only right that such an investment should pay off in the possibility of norms, for up-and-coming Canadian players. As experience had shown, that just wasn't going to happen with a single-section Swiss, even one which used the Haley Accelerated Pairings.

If we're looking at an hourly rate, a typical working day at the CYCC-CO was about 14 hours. In addition, there was unpaid time in research, computer programming, and interacting with the committee. This last should not be overlooked. In 2003 I dealt with one organizer, who was demanding but decisive. I don't know whether the 2007 committee was typical of committees or .... And I didn't write down the hours. But I'd have to say that at least 100 unpaid hours were devoted to attempting to interact with the committee alone. So if you're looking for a net hourly wage, it was about 5, for the 2007 CYCC-CO.

After the nasty letter, I discussed dollar figures with Larry Bevand, who estimated that a TD for a tournament such as the Canadian Open should charge about $3,000, in 2007 dollars. Looking at it another way, that's 9 days X $333 per day.

On the other hand, as pointed out elsewhere, you also get TDs, many of them excellent, who refuse to take any money for directing tournaments. But in consequence you get players expecting free TD service. When the volunteers thin out, as can happen at any time, suddenly there are no chess tournaments in an area.

One option would be to set a fee. If the TD refuses to take the fee, he could direct that it be donated to a segregated fund of the CFC, say the Olympic Fund. Just a for instance. That would get players more accustomed to professional TDs.

If the CFC chooses to keep out of the matter of fee setting, that is also a good option! But they should provide "perqs" for steady TDs and organizers of rated events. The provision of titles such as "Club TD", "Regional TD", "National TD" might be necessary, but strikes me as a dweeby perquisite. Maybe listing all those who have TD'd or Org'd in the past year as "Builders". Maybe access to a special area inside the CFC website (and I mean something more substantial than a forum). Or maybe a cash rebate.

Decades ago I imagined the invention of a "Club One" for every person who had directed a CFC tournament (the idea was in fact exactly one tournament, but let's not think of that right now) in each calendar year. The idea would be to have a membership card and even a pin (they were unbelievably cheap from Taiwan in those days) and develop a kind of cachet for the concept of directing a rated tournament.