10. Other business

[Garland Best]

Ok, you just proven my point. You contacted six organizers. Let's go through a list of possible locations for a Canadian Open.

Vancouver
Victoria
Calgary
Edmonton
Regina
Saskatoon
Winnepeg
Brandon
London
Hamilton
Windsor
Kitchener
Toronto and GTA
Peterborough
Kingston
Ottawa
Montreal
Quebec City
Fredricton
St. John
Charletown
Halifax
St. Johns

That's 23 possible venues, and I'm just listing larger cities. Do we not know organizers in most of these areas? This is why we need to name someone as a Tournament Coordinator, to reach out to all possible candidates. It's like doing cold-calling in sales.

Hal, I am not claiming that you are not working hard for the CFC. You do an admirable job as FIDE rep, you organize a number of major tournaments and so on. I can say the same for Vlad. But the fact that we had this happen in 2015, and that it can potentially happen again in 2016 tells me that something has to change in our approach.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

Ok, you just proven my point. You contacted six organizers. Let's go through a list of possible locations for a Canadian Open.

Vancouver
Victoria
Calgary
Edmonton
Regina
Saskatoon
Winnepeg
Brandon
London
Hamilton
Windsor
Kitchener
Toronto and GTA
Peterborough
Kingston
Ottawa
Montreal
Quebec City
Fredricton
St. John
Charletown
Halifax
St. Johns

That's 23 possible venues, and I'm just listing larger cities.

I think you can safely scratch Regina and Saskatoon off the list unless you want to import the organizing committee from elsewhere. A larger city does not in and of itself make a plausible venue. I have had people contact me about the funds held in trust for Saskatchewan but when I explained that they had to start a provincial association to have access, the conversation abruptly ended.

Do we not know organizers in most of these areas? This is why we need to name someone as a Tournament Coordinator, to reach out to all possible candidates.

Naming any random someone for that post without taking into account the personality of the candidate is a recipe for disaster or at least ineffectiveness.

It's like doing cold-calling in sales.

Hal, I am not claiming that you are not working hard for the CFC. You do an admirable job as FIDE rep, you organize a number of major tournaments and so on. I can say the same for Vlad. But the fact that we had this happen in 2015, and that it can potentially happen again in 2016 tells me that something has to change in our approach.

I think that the Sault Ste. Marie bid is a clue of what has to change. We have to start earlier and have these tournaments nailed down two years in advance so there is still lots of time to resolve any problems.

[Fred McKim]

The Canadian Open has for better or worse advanced to a point where it cannot realistically be held without significant sponsorship. Some organizers are simply never in a position to be able to do this.

[Hal Bond]

Vlad and Fred - thank you for your comments. Garland's idealism is remarkable. Just name someone and make it so!

Most of our organizers in Canada are not dialled into their municipal deciders or other partners who can help bring about our wildest dreams. They run a club. Maybe a weekender or two.

Do we have 23 organizers in Canada who can deliver a Canadian Open? Definitely not on speed dial, and definitely not those who haven't defacto declined! If the tournament was sustainably interesting this number would triple easily. I suspect that no one wants to run a Canadian Open by simply brokering entries. They need a leg up somewhere in order to afford a marquis player or bolster the prize fund. Or pay for a venue and a professional staff.

Alternatively we move to professional event organizers. Their fee is typically 35% of gross revenues. That means a cash infusion from a touristic grant and/or a sponsor. These infusions occur occasionally but not often enough. I suspect that this infusion access will be the secret ingredient going forward.

[Garland Best]

I think part of the problem is raised standards on what is required to be called a Canadian Open. A marquis player is not a requirement. A large prize fund is not a requirement. A venue capable of handling 200+ players over 9 days is. Lower the bar.

OK, I'm going to take another swing at this. Outline to me the minimum requirements to have a Canadian Open in 2016. Also tell me what the CFC is willing to kick in to make it happen. You don't have to announce it on the board, an email will suffice. I will then shut up and run away with that information to see what ideas I can come up with. You can do the same with respect to the CYCC as well. However the CYCC is not my priority. The Open is.

[Fred McKim]

I think part of the problem is raised standards on what is required to be called a Canadian Open. A marquis player is not a requirement. A large prize fund is not a requirement. A venue capable of handling 200+ players over 9 days is. Lower the bar.

OK, I'm going to take another swing at this. Outline to me the minimum requirements to have a Canadian Open in 2016. Also tell me what the CFC is willing to kick in to make it happen. You don't have to announce it on the board, an email will suffice. I will then shut up and run away with that information to see what ideas I can come up with. You can do the same with respect to the CYCC as well. However the CYCC is not my priority. The Open is.

Hi Garland. I was TD of the 2001 CO, and ended up as co-organizer after the principal person behind the bid moved. We played in a very small University town (Sackville, NB), with the nearest airport 30 minutes away in Moncton and a bigger airport 2.5 hours away (Halifax).

To me here are the minimum expectations
Days >=8
Rounds >=9
Players >=200 (in smaller communities maybe 175)
Master Level Players ..... how about prizes available to masters >= $10K - but in order to get your players up, you probably need to land at least 2 or 3 GM's at least 6 months prior to the event.
Entry Fee = whatever the market will bear

[Fred McKim]

Hi Garland. I was TD of the 2001 CO, and ended up as co-organizer after the principal person behind the bid moved. We played in a very small University town (Sackville, NB), with the nearest airport 30 minutes away in Moncton and a bigger airport 2.5 hours away (Halifax).

To me here are the minimum expectations
Days >=8
Rounds >=9
Players >=200 (in smaller communities maybe 175)
Master Level Players ..... how about prizes available to masters >= $10K - but in order to get your players up, you probably need to land at least 2 or 3 GM's at least 6 months prior to the event.
Entry Fee = whatever the market will bear

However, I would not vote against a solitary bid only because of the prizes available to master players. And there have been events in the past 25 years with < 125 players.

[Aris Marghetis]

I might be offbase here, but one of my suspicions is that the CO has in recent years morphed into trying to be something bigger than it is. I'm not sure how many COs and QOs I've played in, maybe a dozen? and I can say that Sackville was one of my favourites! In my humble opinion, once you start aiming for the big foreign names, it starts to jig the whole financial structure, quickly leading to a daunting challenge to accommodate 300 players, etc. I suspect the vast majority of 1500-2000 players just want a chesscation where they can regularly meet up with old friends, maybe golf during the day, grab beers after their round, etc. At the same time, we keep pressuring different people to run the event the same way, 9 rounds over 8 days, right after the CYCC (which is right after the World Open), before the Quebec Open, etc. I think we could see more interest if we let potential Organizers figure out winning formulas FOR THEIR SITUATION. That's what the Quebec Open has done for decades. That's what North Bay did for years. I think we might be pleasantly surprised at some fresh new ideas, and not jump all over them on ChessTalk. But this is going to take time and genuine effort. I am quite disappointed at what appears to be complaining towards the CFC that we didn't have a CO. The CFC is just a bunch of volunteers. More people need to step up more, drive rather than complain.

[Fred McKim]

Another idea is to come up with a rotation scheme something like the Chess Challenge

This Rotation could start next year at any number, I'm going to assume that 2017 is taken

1. West
2. Ontario (not GTA)
3. Quebec & Atlantic
4. GTA

If someone can do a successful full court press on AB, we could have 2016 and 2017 in the bag and start talking to potential orgainzers in group 3.